shadow and bone takeaways

Obviously, Shadow and Bone was a must-watch for me. I haven't read the series yet (thanks to a 13 week wait time at the library), but it's on my list for 13 weeks from now! And, I absolutely loved the show. It was a rainy weekend endeavor and over far too quickly and if you haven't watched it yet, stop here. Don't scroll down for my thoughts that will contain mild spoilers.

Okay, are you ready for this? So many thoughts and ideas from Shadow and Bone, where to even begin...

The characters were all wonderfully interesting, and my faves were Inej, Kaz and Jesper (and Milo the goat) and OF COURSE the Darkling himself. My only wish is that I wanted more (8 episodes wasn't enough). More backstory on my fave characters and more time in the world with them. I would have loved to spend so much time with Alina and Genya at the Little Palace, watching trainings and lessons and all the Grisha using their powers

I also thought the concept of the Fold was super intriguing. What a great name, the Fold. While Mount Doom really sets up your expectations (it's bad), I loved how ambiguous the name the Fold was, and also how it's kinda like a character in the plot (esp at the end!). I also love how the Darkling created it, and can use it, but it still seems like a bit of a mystery to him, too. This will be so fun to explore more, and it got me thinking about my own book.

I probably use the word woods thousands of times in Luna's story (how many times can you describe trees and leaves and rocks and WOODS please make it stop). They're an integral part of the story, but until watching the Fold in Shadow and Bone, I'd never considered giving the woods a different type of name or a backstory for their creation to explain why they are so unusual (and not just weird woods). Whether or not that backstory is part of book one or two, writing it will be so helpful.

This is definitely an idea I'm toying with now, and trying to incorporate into this third draft. My woods are nothing like the Fold, but they do deserve the same kind of careful crafting and complexity that the Fold had, and I'm excited for this unexpected inspiration moving forward with this draft.

ALSO, most importantly, I'd like to change the name of the woods so I don't have to keep saying the woods over and over and over. I'm leaning towards the Silvis. Are you intrigued? Have a suggestion of your own? Share in the comments, please!