FATE: THE WINX SAGA

Ah, Winx. Sort of. I binged all six episodes of this show on Netflix in a single day and my back hated me for it. 

The show is extremely different from the old cartoon. Hints of the original remain, but it's mostly been darkened up like a lot of similar teen shows. I thought I'd probably hate it, but...I fuckin' loved it. A lot. You just can't go into it expecting anything like what you're used to. Come in with an open mind and it's brain candy. 

So is this book. 

The book summarizes the six episodes from different points of view. Bloom's sections (headed "Fire") are the only ones in the first person. The other characters all use third person. It's an odd choice, but it also works. I do think they could have gotten away with first person for all of the PoV sections though. There are some with the teachers that could have remained in third person. 

But you've got different sections, each headed with an element. As mentioned, Bloom is Fire. Stella is Light. I think she gets the fewest sections. Aisha is Water, Terra is Earth, Musa is Mind. I want to say we saw more of Musa and Terra than Aisha. Then there are ones generically titled Specialist. They're Sky or Riven. I was sad there were no PoV sections for Beatrix, as I loved her. (Of course I did.) But maybe being in her head even in third person would have given too much of the plot away. 

The book is missing a lot of the dialogue from the show. It cuts out the rather prodigious swearing, too. They said "shit" a lot on the show. But the book does add a handful of interesting scenes and backstory that would have rounded out the show better. It's interesting getting into Riven's head, too. 

So I definitely recommend this if you're planning on watching the show. As a stand alone, it's just okay, but paired with the show, it's pretty excellent.