Shadow and Bone author Leigh Bardugo: ‘People sneer at the things women and girls love’ | Leigh Bardugo | The Guardian

"Adaptation is scary," Bardugo says now. "I don't begrudge any author the right to say that they don't want to do it, because we've all seen it go wrong. It would be heartbreaking to be locked out of the house that you built. But I got lucky, because the people I collaborated with cared deeply - not just about the material, but the people who love it."

To understand how popular Bardugo's books are - more than 3m sold in English, translated into 41 languages, a No1 show on Netflix and countless passionate fans, including one Tiktoker steadily adapting the books into an unofficial musical - is to understand why young adult fiction itself is so significant.