Have you ever noticed how fucking boring the premise of the Shadow and Bone books is? A girl who got automatically elevated to sainthood allies with a prince who has all the money and connections in the world to defeat the guy everyone hates. There is no struggle. No strife. No need for the heroine to prove herselfâeveryone is already worshipping her. No need to scrape for resources, allies, or control. Nikolai, being a filthy rich prince, basically works like a wish-fulfillment machine to save the poor helpless heroine, hand her the army when she stomps her foot, and provide her with absolutely unnecessary luxuries. What fun is there in the heroine's journey if she has all the advantages from the start?
The story would be much better if Alina were an underdog and her antagonist were someone like Nikolai.
Someone who is picture-perfect at the first glanceâan (officially) legitimate heir, charming, sociable, beloved by Ravkans, innovative, progressive, with flowery speeches about equality, justice, and liberation.
And then you find out he cares about Grisha only as long as he can exploit them; his riches are a result of his family bleeding the country dry for centuries, his innovations are all fraud and the stolen work of someone else, and his commitment to the law doesn't apply to his family, whose crimes he happily covers. Basically, the only thing you need to change about canon Nikolai is to make him actually politically savvy, not just a pretentious buffoon.
If the heroine had to expose the rot under this seemingly impeccable facade, that would be a good message about deceptive appearances. If instead of a cozy circlejerk of her supporters, she had to deal with people who don't believe her, dismiss her allegations against the prince, and accuse her of trying to ruin a good man's reputationâthat would be an actual social commentary about powerful men who get away with crimes due to their popularity and personal charm.
If she had to work hard to gain allies and supporters, if she learned to lead them and take responsibility for people under her command - that would be actual character growth.
If she had to fight to take down someone who represents the whole system and has wide support of the population, then her victory would require courage, persistence, and intelligence instead of a pair of shiny hands.
And, of course, if instead of the leader of the oppressed minority she targeted the actual oppressor, the political implications of the books were far less rancid.
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