1) go to Theme Options > Blog > Blog layout > set the Image Sizes For Blog you need to crop images.
2) If you set the min-height for the title of the post you’ll get white space below titles that has fewer strings https://prnt.sc/17ngq6d Is it ok for you?
3) Do you want the shadow on hover or with the default state?
If you need with the default state then add the below code to Theme Options > Custom CSS
