Alina Lives in the 'Shadow and Bone' Novel — Will She Die in the Netflix Series?

Netflix's new fantasy show Shadow and Bone will rework two overlapping series in Leigh Bardugo's Grisharverse: Shadow and Bone and Six of Crows. The story is set in a world that's divided in two by a barrier of eternal darkness, where unnatural creatures dine on human flesh. If you're looking for another fantasy series to binge-watch, Shadow and Bone will totally hit the spot! With tons of action, teen angst, and magic, you can't go wrong.  

Shadow and Bone centers around Alina Starkov (Jessie Mei Li ), a young soldier and citizen of the Kingdom of Rava, who unexpectedly discovers a power that may finally unite her country. As she starts to sharpen her abilities, dangerous forces come together to gang up on her, and the only person willing to help is General Kirigan (Ben Barnes). 

Although the adaptation is based on the novels written by author Leigh Bardugo, the author says the show will not be exactly like her books.

One of the biggest questions on fans' minds is whether Alina dies in Shadow and Bone. Read on for what we know.

In an interview with Express, Leigh talks about the series and her books. “For me, I don’t think an adaptation should be page-to-page accurate," she shares. "The important thing is to keep the soul of the stories, the hearts of the characters, to retain the arcs of their journeys." 

It will be interesting for fans to see how much of the series will reflect the books. 

Often, movies and television shows stray from the books they're based on, and since Leigh has told fans to expect some changes, are the lives of characters at stake? Could Alina actually die in the series? According to a fandom page, in Ruin and Rising, the third book in the series, Alina does die — sort of. 

"Alina knows she cannot fight the Darkling with just two amplifiers," per the Grishaverse Wiki. "She runs away into the darkness where Mal finds her. He gives her a knife and convinces her to kill him. She stabs him in the chest, and he collapses. With the death of the third amplifier, Alina's power suddenly leaves her and manifests itself in any normal person within several miles. The Darkling is enraged and mournful that he has lost his Sun Summoner, and while he is distracted, Alina kills him with the same knife that stabbed Mal."

The post continues to say, "The newly created Sun Summoners destroy the Fold and also partially return Nikolai to his former self. Tolya and Tamar manage to save Mal. However, Alina has lost her power. She fakes her death, sealing her legacy as Sankta Alina, the Sun Saint, and claims a new identity."

Maybe instead of faking her death, Alina does actually die in Shadow and Bone, or perhaps it plays out just like in Ruin and Rising, and Alina, the person, dies in the series but claims a new identity. Who knows?! You'll have to watch and see if she dies or not.  

Season 1 of Shadow and Bone premieres on Netflix on April 23.