My review for Shadow and Bone for Film Festival Today is up!

One’s enjoyment of this series may vary because familiarity with ­and affinity for the source material will undoubtedly affect the overall viewing experience here … performances across the board are fantastic … the visual effects are stunning, and the music and sound design are tremendous. From the jump, the world feels grounded without being exorbitantly gritty … Sadly, what kills the show’s momentum – repeatedly – is the cutting away to the city of Ketterdam and its characters … Many of their scenes, setups and lines of dialogue are rehashed from Six of Crows and cobbled together in this new context for surface-level fan service that … implies that they are not worthy of the same time and effort as the Shadow and Bone characters, story, or screen time…

After reading a smattering of other reviews, it seems I’m a little harsher on the series than other critics, but I stand by what I say here. I wanted to love this series, and there are many aspects of it that I did adore, but others – the ones that meant a lot to me as a fan – really let me down. It all leaves me wondering, with the choices they made, where do they go from here?

Source: Series Review: “Shadow and Bone” Is a Paradoxical Mix of Opportunities Won and Lost