**I walk through the woods and make it to the clearing on the other side. A curtain hangs, held together by two trees, and people fret about getting ready. Today, the park is putting on a play. I take a seat and curl my legs beside me tucked close, getting ready for the performance. The show lasts only a short while, but the actors were talented and put on an exceptional play. At the end, we all applaud and I take the walk back home.**

I have officially watched the entirety of the Shadow and Bone show! I have wanted to watch it for several years now and just never got around to it, partly because I didn’t have Netflix at the time, and also because I was very nervous about going into this. I tend to not really enjoy book to screen adaptations and was very apprehensive about watching it. However, I finally started watching it a few weeks ago and just finished about last week.

I actually thought this was a very well done adaptation! I do think it was interesting that they changed it so Shadow and Bone and Six of Crows were taking place at the same time. This completely changed the Crows’ storyline, but I think it worked. Season 1, I didn’t really care for the SoC story, and was instead 100% invested in the S&B story. Going into season 2, my thoughts reversed until a few episodes in when I started enjoying the S&B content again.

I thought the casting worked pretty well. I could see each of them as their character and each was portrayed well. I feel like there are times when you watch something and it feels like acting, missing that natural flow, but I didn’t ever feel that with this show. The writing seemed to be good too. I like that this actually felt like an adaptation. Even though there were changes, there were still a lot of similarities compared to an adaptation where everything is different. Some of the abilities seemed pretty cool, but I do think there were a few scenes where they didn’t look that great. The amplifiers were very different from what I was expecting too. I’m not too mad about this though because they could always be worse.

I was so grateful that one of my favorite scenes/quotes was adapted. This was the scene between Baghra and Kirigan where the two are talking towards the end of season two. When I read Ruin and Rising, the scene between these two characters with the, “Know that I loved you” quote was an all-time favorite. The quote and the scene stood out to me. It was done differently in the show, but had the same effect and I loved getting to see it.

I do wish we got a longer time on Ruin and Rising. I feel like we didn’t get to see much with the hunt of the firebird. We also didn’t get to see Alina with the white hair or Genya’s quote, “I am not ruined. I am ruination.” Ruin and Rising is my favorite book in the series so I very much wish we had more time with it. And the cliffhanger! It makes me so sad we’ll never get a real ending to this show since it was canceled. There were so many cliffhangers and unresolved plotlines that I wish we could have gotten answers to.

It took me quite a while to get invested in the crows. I honestly had no interest at all during season one. It took until the start of season 2 for me to have any interest whatsoever. After that, I started enjoying their screen time more and was invested in their plots and schemes.

Overall, I was pleasantly surprised with how this adaptation came out. It makes me more open to other adaptations and I’m excited to see which ones I may find.

I would also like to add that this past week marked two years of bookishcore! Thank you to everyone who has read my posts and subscribed, and for bearing with me as I try to get more consistent again. Happy 2 years! I’m excited to see what the next year will bring.

xoxo,

Just another reader