This Moth’s Thoughts on the Grishaverse

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A long time ago, I read Shadow and Bone and part of Six of Crows by then-new author Leigh Bardugo. It wasn’t a great experience. On the one hand, I appreciated the Russian-themed worldbuilding. On the other, I never fell in love with Bardugo’s characters, the way many have; and her apparent sanctioning of intense violence and flagrant law-breaking never sat well with me. Despite the fact these things turned me off so much that I’ve never finished reading either series, I was interested in the premiere of the Netflix show, “Shadow and Bone.”

I can pretty much sum up my thoughts on the show in the gif above. That scene was among my favorites — and it isn’t in the books. The show effectively demonstrates the seriousness of Alina’s situation — she didn’t ask to be the Chosen One, but she is, and she was used by a really evil dude and now the fate of the whole world is in her inexperienced hands — while putting in a number of lighter moments, such as the invention of Milo the Goat.

The characters were overall more relatable, less Superhero In An Instant (Six of Crows was particularly unbelievable for me in this regard), and the plot had been streamlined and was easier to follow (I really struggled with Bardugo’s writing style). The special effects were well done, and the pacing in each episode was decent. As a TV show, it was fun.

But just under the surface, all the reasons I couldn’t connect to the source material were still there.

Here are my major complaints with the Grishaverse:

Alina is the biggest Mary Sue EVER. She’s even worse than Bella Swan. Yes, I just said that. Especially in books 1 and 2 of Twilight, Bella is *aware* how much she’s playing with fire by being attracted to Edward. Alina Starkoff, in comparison, is the MOST naive, MOST helpless, MOST so-unlikely-to-be-the-Chosen-One-that-OF-COURSE-she’s-the-Chosen-One in the history of YA fantasy. When Bella does become a vampire, despite her earlier misgivings (and some definitely questionable plot devices), she embraces her new role. Alina is NOT a spunky young orphan trying to make her way in the world. She NEVER STOPS WHINING. She gets to leave the battlefront of an extremely dangerous war, and is taken to a lavish palace where her every need is met, and she cries and cries that she’s let her friends down. Alina has been given the chance to save her country — which will certainly help out her friends in the army! — and all she does is moan about discovering her amazing powers and being revered as a saint and…just, everything.

There’s a bloody love triangle with 3 equally unlikeable people. I was really over love triangles before they’d truly gained momentum in YA fic, so I kind of just went with it and placed my own bets on the outcome. (For the record, I was Team Jacob, and Team Gale.) But in Alina’s case, I literally DIDN’T CARE whether she chose the Darkling or Mal — mostly because I hated all three of them. If all of our protagonists had died, I would’ve considered that a fitting ending to the Grisha trilogy.

The sympathetic portrayal of the Darkling is unsettling. The Darkling is an egomaniac who wants to take over the world. Yes, he started out as just a power-hungry individual from a marginalized community, and yes, there were injustices against the Grishas that they didn’t deserve. HOWEVER, once he crossed the line from wanting to defend his people, to killing whoever got in his way, whatever the cost — which he absolutely did, long before Alina entered the picture — the idea of presenting him as a “misunderstood” character is greatly disturbing.*

*The only thing Bardugo does right, in my view, with the Darkling is making it clear the narration supports Alina defeating him, and that as a boyfriend he would be very abusive and controlling. But I maintain my conviction that the presentation of him as a narcissistic murder who’s also a natural leader just looking for respect for his peers is NOT okay. It means there are fans who actually ship Alina and the Darkling, a relationship based on deceit and manipulation. The indication that Alina may one day be able to forgive the Darkling for his crimes because of how he suffered in his past, regardless of his own very terrible actions, is concerning to say the least.*

When you can’t even cheer on the heroes of the tale. For me, this applies to both Shadow and Bone and Six of Crows. In the first, Alina is the WORST candidate for Underdog Heroine. In the second, Kaz Brekker is described by the narration itself as the most cold-hearted bastard — so why in the hell would we root for him to succeed?! I can handle flawed protagonists, even morally gray characters with tragic backgrounds. But when you’re actively hoping they all get killed as you read, this is a problem.

All in all, I don’t regret the week I spent watching the Netflix adaptation, but I wholeheartedly stand by my dislike of the source material. And in a way, I do still feel bad that I never could connect to these stories, when so many people have bonded. It’s the strange dichotomy of my life — I appreciate the fandoms of popular series, understand their passion; and yet, my own beliefs on why a program or novel is not for me will remain iron-clad.