I don’t know how to express this well but I really like how flowers and ribbons are motifs that Bardugo emphasizes especially in Kaz Brekker’s backstory and Nikolai’s life which I feel are sort of foils of each other. Both of them mask their feelings for their crush - Nikolai with humor and Kaz by not addressing them at all. While Nikolai came from wealth and Kaz from destitution, I feel they both desire the same simple things. To have their loved one safe and to maintain some sort of power but not abusing their power (Kaz taking Haskell down) (Nikolai trying to choose a rightful leader). They both have a sense of moral and justness that they cling to.
Kaz remembers the detail of Saskia’s red ribbon. It’s a symbol of his lost innocence, childhood, his love for life and others. I thought it stood out because this was a detail disclosed to us in a flashback but Kaz didn’t verbally share it with us , the readers. It is only when he repeats this detail to Pekka when we realize this red ribbon is personal to him and deeply affected him. Kaz is a deeply sentimental person at heart and he is still a child hurt by the loss of losing everything that made him happy. He lost the red ribbon. And you see why he is so deeply vengeful. He remembers everything he lost.
For Nikolai. he seems to have this sort of fetish . Well I don’t like fetish word. But obsession with Zoya’s ribbon. It’s Something that signals his crush on her throughout the book.
Geraniums, Inej’s mother’s favorite flower, comes up a lot. And right after Inej talks about Kaz and how he won’t give her flowers. But obviously Kaz is this man who is providing for her. He gives her a ship. He thinks of what she wants. We do get a flower moment in CK when Kaz dumps the geraniums into the canal and swoops a cloak around Inej like a phantom in the night. It’s sweeping. It’s romantic and over-the-top.
Not sure about other flower moments but it is mentioned quite a lot in the books like the blue irises for Alina as a symbol of the Darkling’s manipulation and Mal’s care for her.
I love how flowers symbolize the thought and care that the partner shows for the other. I guess that’s usually what most people use flowers for in books but I like how its mentioned consistently through different relationships in the books.
Alina was like yeah I have a choice between my childhood best friend who while flawed loved me for who I am and not what I can do for him or this Prince while my friend is only romantically interested in me because of the power it would bring and is also four years older than me or this genocidal tyrant who wants to use me for my power and murder all my friends and she choose the first one because she has a fucking brain
Why is everyone talking about soc3 my anxiety CANNOT- “what if leigh pulls a no mourners, too many funerals and kaz is the only one left” or “what if kaz sacrifices himself for the others” or “what if wesper get separated” or “what if nina turns bad” or- Y'ALL NEED TO STOP MANIFESTING THIS SHIT
This post will contain spoilers for the new Shadow and Bone show on Netflix
I have to say I absolutely loved the show and I think that it has been one of the better book to tv show adaptations so far. This is just going to be what I love about the show from character to character (sorry if it’s too long)
Alina: this show made me like her a lot more than I did in the books. I like that she was more willing to stand up for herself in the show. Yes, she was still weaker than other Grisha and she didn’t know what was going on in the Little Palace but she talked back whenever she could and made sassy remakes and I loved that about her.
Mal: I actually liked Mal in the books, not my favorite but didn’t hate him. I am in love with that man now! He was so sweet to Alina and was just trying to get back to her, his True North. I keep seeing post today saying that this show made people like Mal and in my opinion that probably had to do with that fact that we see what he’s doing while Alina is in the Little Palace. In the books we never see his POV and I think following what he was doing probably helped viewers sympathize with him. I wonder if people will still like him in future seasons because I think that when the “un likable” behavior happens more so it will be interesting to see if the attitude towards him will change or stay the same.
The Darkling: I never understood the people that wanted Alina with the Darkling solely based on the books because he is so mean to her, even though they have great chemistry but watching Ben Barnes play him made me understand the hype with this character. What the show did right was showing that the Darkling does, in his own way, care about Alina. Watching it, I believed that he had genuine feelings for her and it wasn’t just about using her and that made me like him more.
Kaz: I am in love with his twisted man! Out of the whole Grishaverse he is my favorite #2 favorite character and the show did great casting Freddie Carter in the role. Now I will say, Kaz seems “weaker” and not as ruthless as he does in the books. I think that’s, hopefully, going to be to show his growth, as he gets closer to his goal of Pekka Rollins I hope we see him became more and more like the Kaz in SoC.
Inej: the love of my life! I love how she is both so soft spoken but also so firm in her believes and what she wants for herself. And Amita is what I pictured Inej to look like, which I love. Like Kaz, I think later seasons (if we get more) will show her becoming more comfortable taking lives when necessary even if she hates it and I can’t wait to see how her relationships to both Kaz and Jesper develop.
Jesper: he stole the show!! He was so charming and witty and just so funny and I loved his energy, he was everything I wanted that character to be. Every time he used his guns my heart was so happy. His friendship with Inej is my new favorite thing and the whole thing with Milo was so cute! In conclusion, Jesper owns my heart
Other things I loved about the show: Nina and Matthias meeting and falling for each other was great to see and I loved that Nina “betrays” him to save him and not just to escape. I loved them both and I think the casting for them was great. I liked that Zoya switching sides as soon as she sees what the Darkling is doing and they didn’t make her a blind follower of his ( I know in the book she does the same but sometimes adaptations change characters and I didn’t want them to change her so I was happy) she could have been more snarky but I’ll give it a pass because she didn’t get a lot of screen time. I also really loved the pacing of the show. I hated how the antlers were fussed into Alina’s neck, it made me want to vomit and I’m glad they fixed that because I didn’t want to continue to look at that a whole second season.
Overall I loved the show and I want season 2 right now and I am going to rewatch it tonight
I didn’t spell check this so sorry for any awkward language and/ or spelling errors
The only way I can watch shadow and bone as soon as it premieres would be if I go to sleep as soon as I get home from work, set an alarm for 2am, and then watch the first 4/5 episodes before going back to work and then watching the last three episodes as soon as I get off work Friday afternoon, will it ruin my sleeping schedule? Probably. Will I be super tired the whole day at work where I’m supposed to be a good nanny to the kids I take care of? Yes. Will it be a little much to do all of that? Yes. Am I considering it because I’m impatient? Yes
