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amenalf53's review
3.0
Interesting but unbalanced length
I found this story interesting, full of original and unique descriptions about magic, souls, and curses. I enjoyed the heroine’s competence and drive to prove herself, as well as her conflict with her training. At the same time, though, I found the plot... unsettled. Until about 70% through, I had the impression that the story would be a lot longer and would cover her whole time in Wodechran. Then I realized that the story was focused on a specific adventure... that honestly wasn’t well set up. The muddle of mismatched expectations is why I give this book 3 stars.
I will certainly read the next one.
I found this story interesting, full of original and unique descriptions about magic, souls, and curses. I enjoyed the heroine’s competence and drive to prove herself, as well as her conflict with her training. At the same time, though, I found the plot... unsettled. Until about 70% through, I had the impression that the story would be a lot longer and would cover her whole time in Wodechran. Then I realized that the story was focused on a specific adventure... that honestly wasn’t well set up. The muddle of mismatched expectations is why I give this book 3 stars.
I will certainly read the next one.
tellie's review
4.0
For me, this was totally a 'judge a book by the cover' moment. As soon as I saw it, I knew I had to read it. Surely something with cover art this awesome had to be a fantastic read right? For me, book one did not disappoint. The world that had been created for this series is like none I have seen before, and the entire concept of 'shades' is fascinating. I love some of the characters and I am keen to see how they grow in future books.
tanacef's review against another edition
2.0
I had trouble getting into this story and struggled to finish. I thought the plot was a little uninteresting and I also had trouble connecting with the characters. Ayleth was alright. But was I supposed to like Terryn by the end? Unfortunately, I didn’t. I was waiting for the hints or beginnings of the slow-burn romance mentioned in the book summary, but I wasn’t quite getting it. Between Ayleth and Terryn? I hoped not... Terryn is not all that likable and they had no chemistry, but there wasn’t much character development for either of them. I liked Gerard though.
katharine2k's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
tinydonats's review
2.0
Hm, this one has me a bit torn. I almost dropped it after chapter 9 because I felt slow. We were 9 chapters in and hadn’t even gotten to anything in the summary of the book on Goodreads. The plot hadn’t started yet. However, the next chapter after that was fast paced and flowed quickly so I ended up finishing the book easily enough.
The characters don’t have strong personalities in this book. I’m inclined to believe that they will perhaps in the next book because this whole book felt a prologue. It answered no questions and basically only introduced characters and the premise. I don’t know what the purpose of this book is and that’s not a good thing.
Also, because I don’t know the personality of MC, I didn’t feel like her reasons for leaving home for this contest were justified. We don’t know how she was raised or what kind of person she is, we can infer that she was raised strictly, but her tendency to go against the rules and do things without permission would go against that notion of strictness. So she’s rebellious? But why? What in her life happened to make her distrust the one who raised her? Yes we readers know Hollis is lying, but MC shouldn’t know since her memory is being tampered with. In her mind, Hollis is the only person who cares about her. It just doesn’t convince me of her motives and I don’t like having to work so hard to justify a character’s actions. That’s the job of the writer IMO.
Idk it wasn’t a strong first book for me. Again, we didn’t answer any questions at all in this book so I am curious. However, there’s 7 books in this series and that is a commitment I’m not sure I can give at this point :/ I might be risking a reading block if I continue
The characters don’t have strong personalities in this book. I’m inclined to believe that they will perhaps in the next book because this whole book felt a prologue. It answered no questions and basically only introduced characters and the premise. I don’t know what the purpose of this book is and that’s not a good thing.
Also, because I don’t know the personality of MC, I didn’t feel like her reasons for leaving home for this contest were justified. We don’t know how she was raised or what kind of person she is, we can infer that she was raised strictly, but her tendency to go against the rules and do things without permission would go against that notion of strictness. So she’s rebellious? But why? What in her life happened to make her distrust the one who raised her? Yes we readers know Hollis is lying, but MC shouldn’t know since her memory is being tampered with. In her mind, Hollis is the only person who cares about her. It just doesn’t convince me of her motives and I don’t like having to work so hard to justify a character’s actions. That’s the job of the writer IMO.
Idk it wasn’t a strong first book for me. Again, we didn’t answer any questions at all in this book so I am curious. However, there’s 7 books in this series and that is a commitment I’m not sure I can give at this point :/ I might be risking a reading block if I continue
emskiewings's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
hopeful
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
unapologetic_romantic's review against another edition
4.0
I can only assume I was being a wee bit harsh on my first reading of Daughter of Shades.
This was a good book! A captivating story with interesting characters and a teasing subplot that I hope developed more in the last two books.
Both Ayleth and Terryn where much more enjoyable (and I really enjoyed both to begin with!) the second time around, I just really really loved reading this story again and don’t know why I only gave it 3 stars the first time around!
————————————————————————————————
Yes I’m giving this book 3 stars, but I’m actually really pleased with it.
The beginning was slow and the action didn’t start to pick up until over halfway through, but then it got interesting.
I’m loving the Witchwood, a dark malevolent forest where shades/shade-taken live, along with evil witches who fought in a devastating war against the chosen king. They’re trapped in this forest by the great barrier, which was made and created by the Red Hoods, or the Order of Evandier, guardians of sorts.
Ayleth, our main heroine is a young, untested veneatrix, one of the Order of Evandier. She’s restless, stuck in a backwater station, and wants to break free, to be more! Cut to running away from ‘home’ and into a dangerous new reality we meet Terryn, tall, stoic dude whose been groomed for an all important role in guarding the great barrier. However Ayleth has just stepped right into his path, challenging him for the role he’s been waiting for for whoever knows how long.
From there we venture into the Witchwood and it’s a delightful turn to the story. I really enjoyed this part. I want more!
To sum up, the 400 pages of this book don’t feel that long. I feel as if I’ve just finished the first half of the novel and I’m ready to dive into the rest of the adventure. Push through the first half and you’ll be rewarded with an intriguing adventure that’s spread out before you!
This was a good book! A captivating story with interesting characters and a teasing subplot that I hope developed more in the last two books.
Both Ayleth and Terryn where much more enjoyable (and I really enjoyed both to begin with!) the second time around, I just really really loved reading this story again and don’t know why I only gave it 3 stars the first time around!
————————————————————————————————
Yes I’m giving this book 3 stars, but I’m actually really pleased with it.
The beginning was slow and the action didn’t start to pick up until over halfway through, but then it got interesting.
I’m loving the Witchwood, a dark malevolent forest where shades/shade-taken live, along with evil witches who fought in a devastating war against the chosen king. They’re trapped in this forest by the great barrier, which was made and created by the Red Hoods, or the Order of Evandier, guardians of sorts.
Ayleth, our main heroine is a young, untested veneatrix, one of the Order of Evandier. She’s restless, stuck in a backwater station, and wants to break free, to be more! Cut to running away from ‘home’ and into a dangerous new reality we meet Terryn, tall, stoic dude whose been groomed for an all important role in guarding the great barrier. However Ayleth has just stepped right into his path, challenging him for the role he’s been waiting for for whoever knows how long.
From there we venture into the Witchwood and it’s a delightful turn to the story. I really enjoyed this part. I want more!
To sum up, the 400 pages of this book don’t feel that long. I feel as if I’ve just finished the first half of the novel and I’m ready to dive into the rest of the adventure. Push through the first half and you’ll be rewarded with an intriguing adventure that’s spread out before you!
small_alex's review
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
I really enjoyed this!!! I don't usually like YA (even upper YA), and to be honest, the naivety of the FMC was definitely my least favorite part, but it was an absolutely reasonable amount of naivety for a 19 year old to have so I do not fault the book for that. It's 100% just a personal preference thing.
Now that that's out of the way, I really liked the FMC! She's impulsive and reckless and definitely a 19 year old, but she's funny and courageous and her shade magic is so freakin cool. I am obsessed with her shadow wolf and their relationship. I respect the FMC for hiding her inexperience and not letting the imposters syndrome show. The MMC was decent too. He gave major angry himbo energy when he kept walking into those curses, and I respect him for going back for her. The tension between them was very entertaining, and I cracked up every single time he shot up after being kissed awake from a curse. (Okay was the 'kiss to break the curse' shit a little dramatic? yes. Did it bother me? Oddly enough, not really, since it was funny) . I'm very excited to see how they act in the next book.
In terms of the pacing, it was pretty good! The beginning definitely grabbed my attention, but then the next few chapters dragged on a bit for me up until she made it to the castle. They weren't boring really, I was just impatient to get to the point. Like yes the solo hunt was definitely a good way of introducing the FMC and demonstrating her inexperience alongside her drive. And then the mind invasion thing was also very important for the little lore dump. And I did reallyyyy like the Lure bit with that 'mystery man' especially because it made for an amazing moment where she realized who he was and tried to just bail lmao . Basically what I'm saying is that the beginning was not slow at all, I was just antsy to meet the man and get to the enemies to lovers plotline. So. That's on me. The pacing was fast throughout. Very good.
The magic system???? So freakin cool. I don't 100% understand how it works, but that didn't detract from the experience. I'm just a little confused about how she and the man both seem secretly OP but in completely different ways. Like I don't know what the standard is for these people. I also don't understand the inborn situation (is that what they called it... or no... where the human and shade soul are like inextricably linked like that infant apparently was...) like how is that any different from the FMC? Or is it not different and that's the secret memory she can't access? Bc her relationship with her shade is definitely unique. Idk I'm just a little lost with that whole thing. Also wtf is up with the man omg he and his shade DEFINITELY do not have the same relationship as the FMC goddamn. Can't wait to see what all of THAT drama is about.
All in all, like I said, this was really good. I like the writing style quite a bit, and I'm very excited to learn more about all these secrets we kept getting teased with. I just wish this was NA instead of YA (which, again, totally personal preference obviously. Not at all a genuine critique of the book/author).
Now that that's out of the way, I really liked the FMC! She's impulsive and reckless and definitely a 19 year old, but she's funny and courageous and her shade magic is so freakin cool. I am obsessed with her shadow wolf and their relationship. I respect the FMC for hiding her inexperience and not letting the imposters syndrome show. The MMC was decent too. He gave major angry himbo energy when he kept walking into those curses, and I respect him for going back for her. The tension between them was very entertaining, and I cracked up every single time
In terms of the pacing, it was pretty good! The beginning definitely grabbed my attention, but then the next few chapters dragged on a bit for me up until she made it to the castle. They weren't boring really, I was just impatient to get to the point. Like yes the solo hunt was definitely a good way of introducing the FMC and demonstrating her inexperience alongside her drive. And then the mind invasion thing was also very important for the little lore dump. And I did reallyyyy like the Lure bit with that 'mystery man'
The magic system???? So freakin cool. I don't 100% understand how it works, but that didn't detract from the experience. I'm just a little confused about how she and the man both seem secretly OP but in completely different ways. Like I don't know what the standard is for these people. I also don't understand the inborn situation (is that what they called it... or no... where the human and shade soul are like inextricably linked like that infant apparently was...) like how is that any different from the FMC? Or is it not different and that's the secret memory she can't access? Bc her relationship with her shade is definitely unique. Idk I'm just a little lost with that whole thing. Also wtf is up with the man omg he and his shade DEFINITELY do not have the same relationship as the FMC goddamn. Can't wait to see what all of THAT drama is about.
All in all, like I said, this was really good. I like the writing style quite a bit, and I'm very excited to learn more about all these secrets we kept getting teased with. I just wish this was NA instead of YA (which, again, totally personal preference obviously. Not at all a genuine critique of the book/author).
licensetoshelbs's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Minor: Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Death of parent