Shadow and Bone
Last year I started watching the show Shadow and Bone. I binged the whole thing because I really liked the story and characters. When I finished season 2, I immediately searched when season 3 would be aired. But, I was disappointed; they would not finish the show..
So for a while I tried to forget about it, but I just really wanted to know how the story would finish, and then thought about how many shows are based on books. So I searched and found out; it is indeed based on books.
It’s a whole trilogy, but not even that; the author has written more stories within this universe, which is called Grishaverse
So I went on Vinted to see if the books are affordable and I found someone who sold the whole trilogy.
In one sigh I finished book one, which is called Shadow and Bone, and found many similarities with the show. But the book is written from one pov, while the show has multiple povs; from the main character, the villain and a really fun group. When I started reading book 2, it was completely different from the show, but it was better imo. sorry I’m not a great reviewer lol but I just have to share!
One of the things that I really liked from the show was that group, called the Crows. They are funny, multiple layered characters and it was fun to see their group dynamic. I’m now reading book 3 and they still are nowhere to be found. I searched and learned that these characters do exist, but they are from a two series book that is written after the events from the trilogy. I’ve read that some people say the Crow series overshadows the Shadow and Bone trilogy. So I can’t wait to read those too.
Story in my own words 🐦⬛
There is a girl who is an orphan living in a world where there are people with special powers. She is a mapmaker and in this world there is a dark ‘land’ where it is dangerous to cross because of certain monsters, called Volcra. This place is created by someone in the past who used these special powers in the wrong way, he is called the Darkling. The place is called the Unsea. To avoid spoilers, I will only say that she finds out that she has very special powers, with which she possibly can restore the land of the Unsea and defeat the villain of the story.
Personal favorite about this story 🙏🏼
One thing that I really like about this story are the cultural elements relating to our own cultures. There are lots Russian words and certain religious aspects. In this world there is a belief of Saints, and because I’m an Orthodox Christian, that was really interesting. For about 3,5 years I am going to the Orthodox Church, coming from Protestant church. The idea of Saints was at first really weird to me, especially the theology of what the Orthodox Church beliefs about this part of our faith. Saints are venerated and treated like family members, brothers and sisters who have lived Christian lives as an example for others and are now in heaven continuously praying for the world. We ask for their prayers every day. We see them as righteous people. But still, they were also human. With flaws and struggles just like every other human. This is something we need to keep in mind, otherwise we would place them above God and that is exactly something many Protestants think we do. The thing that I love from this series, is how we can see exactly this perspective. Someone is believed to be a living Saint, but boy does this person has flaws and is also just another human? Still the person has special abilities to help this world. And that’s what we in the Orthodox Church also see with our Saints, God has given many of them certain abilities to help other people. So that was really deepening for my faith and I didn’t expect that.It was fun to write about this, I’m also reading the Beautiful Creatures books, but I try to focus to finish this series first. It also depends when I’ll have the Crow books 😬
Until next time, Verity Voron 🐦⬛