Reviews

Shadow by Amanda Sun

novahkiin's review

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4.0

At first, going into this, I’ll admit I was kind of skeptical. I did only pick this series up because of the pretty covers (I really should stop doing that, I know, but I can’t), so I knew very little about it. Honestly, I didn’t even realize it had anything to do with Japanese culture and mythology. Why? Because I almost never read anything regarding the book before going into it, even the little blurbs.

So, when I first jumped into it, I was surprised at what I found. However, I wasn’t disappointed, because I love mythology and Asian (specifically Hindu and Shinto, actually) cultures was one of my sub studies when I was working on my degree. I was pretty pulled in, even though the skepticism lingered.

I did find myself rolling my eyes here and there at some of the ways that the Japanese lingo was thrown in, but other times I was pleasantly aware at how well it helped define the fact that they were not actually speaking English to one another. It was a mix, and it depended on how each was executed, but I liked seeing both sides of the story. I especially was interested in the school aspects, since student culture and lifestyle in other countries is super, super interesting to me.

I really think this was a nice segue into the series, and I’m glad I bothered to peak at the reading order guide before diving directly into Ink, like I was going to at first. I’m excited to continue into the series, which I’ll be doing immediately.

kimching232's review

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3.0

I understand that this is merely a prequel to the actual first book, Ink, but it felt very much incomplete. The story was very confusing too, but it certainly got me interested in Ink. It's a good thing that I have a copy from Netgalley!

stars_are_weird's review

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4.0

I got this book for free from B&N

Not bad for a free book. It definitely has me thinking about finding the entire series.

kitsunebi_reads's review

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5.0

It fleshed out the begining of Ink and gave me a little glimps into where the characters were coming from. Loved it

anzuk's review

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2.0

Meh.

yoshiluvstoread's review

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5.0

Oh, I liked this very much! I'll definitely go on to read this series.

zinokato's review

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3.0

I'm actually intrigued to read Ink, I thought this novella was interesting but I'm scared because of the negative reviews I've seen. But I think it's only fair that I give Ink a chance so it's starting on my TBR pile!

anabelsbrother's review

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3.0

I read this first to see if it's interesting enough for me to pick up Ink. It is...different? I guess. I'm not really familiar with Japanese culture, like Katie, I don't know anything beyond Hello Kitty and sushi.

Verdict: Will definitely be reading Ink next.

saltythyme's review

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5.0

Review to follow.

luvtoread_ad's review

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3.0

I liked the story line but had some issues. I didn't like the males POV, which is Tomohiro, it was hard to remember who was who when Tomohiro was telling his story. I didn't really like any of Tomorhiro's friends and the characters that were described in his POV. I know this prequel is based in Japan and with some Japanese culture but I just didn't enjoy it. I did like Katie's POV and for that reason I gave it this rating.