Let's Discuss! | Is Shadowhunters Worth Watching?

Hello everyone and welcome back to my blog! If you've been following this blog for a while, you might remember a series I did on my blog called "Adaptation Talk." In that series, I either reviewed or listed my opinions on some big name adaptations. One of those was Shadowhunters.

Shadowhunters recenlty concluded, with Freeform cancelling the series after 3 seasons. Since the show had not yet covered all the source material, there was a special 80 minute episode at the end that covered the last novel, City of Heavenly Fire. The show has a total of 55 episodes, including the longer finale episode. Considering that all episodes are free to watch on Freeform's website and they had only 3 seasons, Shadowhunters can be easily binge-watched this summer.

But is Shadowhunters a good enough TV show to merit watching?

The season 3 poster

The short answer is maybe, depending on whether or not you read (and are a fan  of) the books. If you haven't, you'll most likely enjoy the show for what it is: an urban fantasy show that tackles political issues (both in our reality and in the fantastical world), battles with some solid choreography, and a shit ton of hot people and their romances. But if you read the books? Well, Shadowhunters is mainly a disappointment, since it's not a good adaptation. What I mean by "good adaptation" is not whether the show is good or not, but that it doesn't follow the books. Essentially, Shadowhunters takes the structure of Cassandra Clare's novels, with the same world, power structures, and roughly the same rules and laws, but makes monumental changes to the plot, switching the sequences, altering interpersonal realtionships, and at times completely disregarding huge plot points of the novels.

Since I have read the novels, I've always struggled between enjying Shadhowunters for what it is and being disappointed. I did read all six Mortal Instruments books a while ago, but I do remember key points, so when the show didn't deliver on them (like having the Alliance rune during the battle with Valentine, or having Jace and Sebastian linked, or the whole Simon/Maia/Izzy love triangle) I was let down.

However, the show did have its merits as well. Now that I have completed the series, I'll give you a pros and cons list of the show, and let you decide if you should watch the show or not.

My Favorite Jane Austen Adaptations!

Hello everyone and welcome back to my blog! I'm Genni, and today I'll be talking about my favorite Jane Austen adaptations. I'll be the first to admit that I have not seen every Jane Austen adaptation, and honestly, it might be impossible. People are still inspired by the author today, and there are countless adaptations out there.

Last semester, I took a class focusing wholly on Austen and her novels. We read Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Emma, Persuasion, Mansfield Park, and some of her stories she wrote as a teenager. We also watched adaptions based on these stories, except for Persuasion because we ran out of time. 

Without further ado, here are my favorite Jane Austen adaptations, in no particular order.

Clueless (1995)

It wasn't until this class that I realized that Clueless was a loose adaptation of Emma. I've seen this movie before as a young teenager, but watching it more recently was wonderful. I actually forgot a lot about the plot (the only thing I remembered was Cher's closet, tbh) and it was so fun to see a modern take on Emma. Alicia Silverstone is amazing as Cher. She perfectly embodies a spoiled rich girl who wants to do good but has no perspective. I think Cluless is a classic, and it has managed to remain timeless despite it's 1990s release.