#nina and jesper having crushes on inej LIKE CAN WE HAVE DUMB CUTE SHIT LIKE THIS!?!?

[sanktaofthieves]

the second season drawing such clear lines with jesper, kaz and inej's love for each other really grinds my gears, they love each other, what else is there?

the book having most of the crows all a little in love with one another was one of the best parts of it.

[jojiship]

Shadow and Bone Season 1 Review

First, I want to say that I’ve never read the books (and i don’t plan to either.) This review is focused on the show. Second, this is my personal opinion, so it’s, of course, subjective. 

- I think the best way to start talking about this show is talking about the reason why I watched it, Ben Barnes aka the Darkling. As soon as I heard, I knew I was going to watch it because I find him to be a good actor and he’s my celebrity crush. Ben did an amazing job, especially in episode seven. He stole every scene that he was for me, but my opinion in this is extremely subjective. as for the Darkling, he was a great villain. He was charming and scary, had an interesting backstory and his motivations were easy to understand. Do I still think that he deserves to die? Hell, yes. He literally killed so many people with the Fold and I don’t know how people can look beyond that. It’s also interesting that he had a good point in the past, but he went about it in such a wrong way that he is easily the worst person in the show. As for Darklina, that’s a no from me as a ship. I won’t even get in the age gap, power imbalance and Darkling manipulating Alina etc., I will just say that he is the reason she lost her parents and became an orphan. That’s enough reason for me not to ship them. Also, the chemistry between Ben and Jessie was the best in the show. I hate to admit it, but it’s the truth.

- Alina was great. I think she is a great protagonist for the show. Jessie did an amazing job at portraying Alina. I love how she matured through the course of the season, but still did some dumb shit like get in the Crow’s carriage. In my mind, she should have listened to Baghra (idk if that’s her name). I liked to see a rather selfish and reckless protagonist. What she did in the first episode with the maps was deeply selfish (even though she wanted to be with Mal) as it risked all of the cartographers. I’m pretty sure that all of her team died in the Fold while that blonde guy ended up getting shot to death. I love it when protagonists are deeply flawed and I love it even more when selfishness is one of their traits. Other than, I did love that she doubted Baghra at first. It truly showed how much Darkling had manipulated Alina to that point. As for her powers, they were so cool to see and I liked that she didn’t immediately become powerful. It was quite gradual. Also, I can’t imagine what his anger and vengeance is going to do to next season.

- I heard that book Mal isn’t that good, but I also know people can be hyper critical to characters that are good people, especially when it comes to ships and love triangles. In the show, I loved him. I loved seeing his love for Alina, his persistence and his loyalty as well. As for Malina, I found them cute. Archie and Jessie have great chemistry too. With the childhood best friends to lover trope, I’m in between most of the time. Sometimes, I love it, sometimes, I hate it. I like it with Malina. I thought that I’d love it, but the same flashbacks being repeated over and over again, drove me to the walls. They have been friends for years. I’m sure that they have other memories than that. Stop showing me the same ones for eight episodes.

- Genya, my love. I didn’t expect it, but she definitely impressed me. First, her power was just so efficient. I wouldn’t have any of the powers, but Genya’s was the best and most efficient. She was interesting character, funny and I love that she was cool, but also could be very warm. It could make life so much easier, especially for my frizzy hair. I felt bad for her, of course. She was definitely being used by the King (good for her for poisoning him) and Darkling. The fact that she felt so indebted to the Darkling that she followed him no matter what, is sad. Her friendship with Alina was lovely to see (more female friendships please) and her crush on David. Hopefully, we will see more of her in season 2.

- Zoya is such a bitch and I love it. She annoyed me at first with how she acted around Alina, but when she betrayed the Darkling, that was beautiful to see. It’s what he deserved. I also liked that she still didn’t like Aina. She respected her and her powers, but still didn’t like her.

-  The ‘Shadow and Bone’ part was done much better than the ‘Six of Crows’ part. The crows were underwhelming at some points despite their chemistry as a group. Yes, they were entertaining to watch, but simply, boring at times too. I hope this isn’t the case of them being overhyped by the fandom. I hope their story gets better in season two. 

- Kaz was the most underwhelming character of the crows. I think the writers deliberately made him mysterious, but they made him too mysterious for me to enjoy it. I know he wants revenge for whatever that Pekka Rollings guy did to him. I really hope he steps up in the second season. I liked some moments of him, but out of all main six, he’s definitely my least favourite. As for Kanej, they seemed fine, but in my opinion, their chemistry wasn’t that great. Other couples had better chemistry than them.

- Inej was definitely my favourite crow. She was exciting to watch, especially with how she hesitated with killing people and her faith in Saints. I love seeing badass female character that still hold into their faith, despite their past trauma.I will love to find out more about her and her past. How she met Kaz, what exactly happened to her brother etc. 

- Jesper was so funny. He definitely was the funniest character. I love playful characters like him. However, just like Kaz, he lacked depth. I would have loved to find out more about him as well. The writers were holding back with Jesper as they were with Kaz, but I think they were holding way too much. The fight scene with Ivan makes me wonder if Jesper is a Grisha. If he is, I have no idea what kind he is.

- Don’t have much to say about Nina and Matthias other than they had chemistry (second best after Darklina) and I loved their bickering. Excited to see what the show have in store for them.

Can’t wait for the next season. I’ve heard a lot about Wylan and Nikolai, so I’m exited to see them in season 2. 

General Rating: 8.5 (Blame the crows’ storyline for this)