Like every YA Fantasy out there, Shadow and Bone opted for the over-flogged good boy v bad boy v wide-eyed heroine trope and it’s tedious.
The much-anticipated fantasy series, Shadow and Bone (based on The Grishaverse Series by Leigh Bardugo) finally aired on Netflix and while the show has a number of familiar fantasy elements – a gifted people that have control over earth, water, and fire; the rejected stone come to save the builder, an animal companion, a stern magical teacher, and a YA mandated monotonous love triangle – the show falls flat on every fantasy metric that counts.

The world-building is minimal – we see some grass,  frozen mountains, a crowded casino, and then a palace. Character development pretty much happens for just two characters (Kaz and Inej) and the dialogue is either unimpressive or face-palm-inducing (like when Alina says to Kirigan in what she considers a seducing tone and body language "I’ll be waiting”). Many of the original book fans seem to be very wowed by the bland statement made by brooding bad boy Kirigan which goes “Fine, make me your villain”. Even though he in fact did not want to be the villain in her story, he wanted to be her lover.




If you’re a little confused by this review, it would be because up until the fifth of eight episodes, the story walked, talked, and smelled like a love story with the heroine (Alina played by Jessie Mei Li) determined to stay by her best friend/lifelong crush (Mal played by Archie Reneaux) only to discover her fabled Grisha powers as a Sun Summoner and be whisked away by resident bad boy General Kirigan (played by Ben Barnes). It’s not long before she falls for his brooding act and is completely taken by the idea that he needs her and only her can soothe his pains. She soon forgets and seeks to erase all ties with her best friend on the other side of the world who is getting riddled with bullets and arrows just so he can reach her.

Did it ever occur to her that she could leverage her status as the world saviour and demand Mal be brought to her? Apparently not. She was too busy soothing ‘Aleksander’s’ demons which is oddly optimistic behaviour as Alina had been discriminated her entire life yet remained wide-eyed and blindingly naïve as even someone whose eyes have been gouged out by searing light could see that Kirigan was not in love with her but her powers and would have stared exactly the same way at a generously sun-bathed ferret. But then the plot magically resets and she’s back with her 'true north' who only wants her to be safe.



More jarring about this series is the disjointed storytelling – there are maybe three distinct perspectives/storylines – the love triangle, the scheming trio (Kaz, Inej, and Jesper), and
star-crossed lovers Nina and Mathias who until they suddenly come on screen, I always forget they exist in that world (which is fitting as the show creator merged two different storylines).

 I’m typically a huge fan of cross-road moments where different characters off doing their own thing cross paths and then it all makes sense but the finale, A Tale of Two Boats was an oddly unsatisfying crossroads moment. Maybe the show is simply building up to an impressive second season, maybe not. We will have to wait and see.


The stars of this show (asides Ben Barnes and how well he fake-broods) would be the thieving trio Kaz, Inej, Jesper and even The Conductor; their chemistry is apparent and we do see little but worthwhile character development in the main three as they are not who they were when they set out -   with the perpetually brooding and revenge-motivated Kaz being more open about his feelings and opening up to the possibility of religion or hope, Inej choosing what parts of her religion she wishes to take to heart and Jesper – well he’s just Jesper but every one of them is a little less motivated by coins as they were when the show started.

Overall, the show was entertaining. Would I watch a second season of Shadow and Bone? Yes, it does make time pass a little quicker. Would I sing praises about its world-building and storytelling? Definitely not.