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3.46 AVERAGE
3.46 AVERAGE
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
I’m trying, you know I am. Because I re-read this book when I reached 15%-ish but I regret it because I still Mb>do not understand it all. Maybe this book is for you but it is not for me. — 1.5 ⭐️
I mean, the characters still seem odd. Not only the MCs but also the other supporting characters. To be honest, I have no clue whose is the real MCs because too many POVs makes us the reader confused. I know the MCs are probably them (Kost and Gaige) but what’s the point add 2-3 more POVs? Maybe for giving us a different perspective BUT in that certain POVs, it only shows the romance between that character to another. Not even related to the storyline. Also, the characters are needed to be improved more from one storyline to another in writing, for example, Gaige says he did not have those feelings but in the middle of the storyline, he was pushing Kost even further until on the same pages but then he says that he always loved him and care for him and blablabla. What’s the foundation of that? Then, there are some pop-ups characters that out of nowhere because it might make the story foundation interesting, but do we get answers from it? NOPE. There are also not certain characters that has specific development rather than Gaige. All of them are just rather vanilla.
The Storyline is also pretty confusing and I guess no solid ground in what is it about. Perhaps this book was intended to have no plot or sort but somehow I get the plot. The questions about the storyline are:
¹ Is the aim focusing on Gaige finding his power?
² Is the aim looking for the Lost?
³ Does the storyline only occur for Kost-Gaige and The Lost?
⁴ What is the aim of the storyline? - what is the base and the foundation of these?
Because I just don’t get it, as I mentioned earlier that I even re-read this book when I reached 15%-ish and I want to understand more. When I re-read that, I am more confused. I get a grasp of how the magic work in this realm, who is who, and what is these creatures had to do with those, and so on. However, I’m still unsure what the aim of the storyline but if it's focusing on Gaige, then make it to do so not go around in circles! Also, the choice of words for the world-building is hella confusing. It was a poor choice of words. The world-building in this book is not that good either for my liking. So, I just don’t get it at all. The Map helps but when it is connected to the storyline, it is just a pile of rubbish.
I would probably appreciate this book more if they put some moral of the stories in a pile of these ridiculous traits. However, there are not many morals of the story that can be taken from this book as well. Even the romance is not that good, it’s annoying in complete nonsense. I was expecting this book to be one of cute-surprisingly-inspiring-M-M-worth-to-read-Fantasy. But oh boy why am I disappointed?
➊ Make yourself your own anchor
➋ Psychological response on your behavior towards other define your past
➌ Siblings jealousy - common sense
➍ Heroism traits - the most useless person in the room would likely to be the hero of all
Nevertheless, those traits have nothing to do with The Beast. Because the beasts are enormous! I love them. I appreciate the author putting this Bestiary inside the book, how cool is that? (maybe that's the only reason why I give this book more stars).
Next, there is this magical realism in this book which I am totally against it. Mainly because they did not have a certain or specific focus. Such as:
¹ The realm between the living and the dead
² The exact price for raising up the dead
³ The consequences to pull up strings between the dead and the living
Those almost like; it doesn’t matter whether you are living or you are just dead, isn’t it? Even though in the plot was mentioned that when someone was raised, they probably in completely different from who they are while they were still living but not to the point of “amazingly written”.
The ending of this book was a cliffhanger I believe the author intends to write another book. I do hopefully beg for the next book: Dear Maxym, if you really going to write the next book, please do has more solid ground than this. However, even though the cliffhanger might make some readers intends to read the next book, I personally might need to regain my calm composure and lower my expectation before reading the next book. I do know if I would read her other works because this one is a disappointment enough for me.
The only things that I like in this book are: Bestiary, The Quiz, and The People’s explanation at the end of the book.
Thank you for Netgally giving me the privilege of reading this book before the publication date
I mean, the characters still seem odd. Not only the MCs but also the other supporting characters. To be honest, I have no clue whose is the real MCs because too many POVs makes us the reader confused. I know the MCs are probably them (Kost and Gaige) but what’s the point add 2-3 more POVs? Maybe for giving us a different perspective BUT in that certain POVs, it only shows the romance between that character to another. Not even related to the storyline. Also, the characters are needed to be improved more from one storyline to another in writing, for example, Gaige says he did not have those feelings but in the middle of the storyline, he was pushing Kost even further until on the same pages but then he says that he always loved him and care for him and blablabla. What’s the foundation of that? Then, there are some pop-ups characters that out of nowhere because it might make the story foundation interesting, but do we get answers from it? NOPE. There are also not certain characters that has specific development rather than Gaige. All of them are just rather vanilla.
The Storyline is also pretty confusing and I guess no solid ground in what is it about. Perhaps this book was intended to have no plot or sort but somehow I get the plot. The questions about the storyline are:
¹ Is the aim focusing on Gaige finding his power?
² Is the aim looking for the Lost?
³ Does the storyline only occur for Kost-Gaige and The Lost?
⁴ What is the aim of the storyline? - what is the base and the foundation of these?
Because I just don’t get it, as I mentioned earlier that I even re-read this book when I reached 15%-ish and I want to understand more. When I re-read that, I am more confused. I get a grasp of how the magic work in this realm, who is who, and what is these creatures had to do with those, and so on. However, I’m still unsure what the aim of the storyline but if it's focusing on Gaige, then make it to do so not go around in circles! Also, the choice of words for the world-building is hella confusing. It was a poor choice of words. The world-building in this book is not that good either for my liking. So, I just don’t get it at all. The Map helps but when it is connected to the storyline, it is just a pile of rubbish.
I would probably appreciate this book more if they put some moral of the stories in a pile of these ridiculous traits. However, there are not many morals of the story that can be taken from this book as well. Even the romance is not that good, it’s annoying in complete nonsense. I was expecting this book to be one of cute-surprisingly-inspiring-M-M-worth-to-read-Fantasy. But oh boy why am I disappointed?
➊ Make yourself your own anchor
➋ Psychological response on your behavior towards other define your past
➌ Siblings jealousy - common sense
➍ Heroism traits - the most useless person in the room would likely to be the hero of all
Nevertheless, those traits have nothing to do with The Beast. Because the beasts are enormous! I love them. I appreciate the author putting this Bestiary inside the book, how cool is that? (maybe that's the only reason why I give this book more stars).
Next, there is this magical realism in this book which I am totally against it. Mainly because they did not have a certain or specific focus. Such as:
¹ The realm between the living and the dead
² The exact price for raising up the dead
³ The consequences to pull up strings between the dead and the living
Those almost like; it doesn’t matter whether you are living or you are just dead, isn’t it? Even though in the plot was mentioned that when someone was raised, they probably in completely different from who they are while they were still living but not to the point of “amazingly written”.
The ending of this book was a cliffhanger I believe the author intends to write another book. I do hopefully beg for the next book: Dear Maxym, if you really going to write the next book, please do has more solid ground than this. However, even though the cliffhanger might make some readers intends to read the next book, I personally might need to regain my calm composure and lower my expectation before reading the next book. I do know if I would read her other works because this one is a disappointment enough for me.
The only things that I like in this book are: Bestiary, The Quiz, and The People’s explanation at the end of the book.
Thank you for Netgally giving me the privilege of reading this book before the publication date
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-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:
Yes
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
From the start I struggled to get into this, mostly because I found the worldbuilding and magic system under-developed. As I read this as an eARC, I was unaware that it is a spin-off to an existing trilogy, and with that in mind I do not feel qualified to properly review this book.
adventurous
mysterious
medium-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:
Yes
Shadows of the Lost is a fantasy romance in the world of Maxym M. Martineau’s Beast Charmer series. I didn’t realize that this was a spin-off/sequel series until I was almost all the way through the book 😅 It was definitely still understandable without reading the first trilogy, but there were quite a few times that certain aspects of the characters and world were referenced very briefly, as though you already know about them.
I really liked the various pieces of the magic system and this is definitely a great read if you love magical creatures! The romance and the spicy scenes were 👌 I absolutely adored Gage and Kost 😍 I did feel like the first half or so was a little slow and repetitive, but the second half picked up and was much better.
It also took me a little while to get into the audiobook - there are multiple narrators, one for each PoV, but I wasn’t the biggest fan of the narration in the beginning and it took some time to get used to. Also the hour long bestiary recital at the end is interesting but doesn’t make for very good audiobooking 😅 It would have been nicer if the audiobook came alongside a PDF of the bestiary or something so you could actually reference it throughout the story and read through it in a more productive manner.
Thanks to @dreamscape_media for the audio arc via @netgalley
I really liked the various pieces of the magic system and this is definitely a great read if you love magical creatures! The romance and the spicy scenes were 👌 I absolutely adored Gage and Kost 😍 I did feel like the first half or so was a little slow and repetitive, but the second half picked up and was much better.
It also took me a little while to get into the audiobook - there are multiple narrators, one for each PoV, but I wasn’t the biggest fan of the narration in the beginning and it took some time to get used to. Also the hour long bestiary recital at the end is interesting but doesn’t make for very good audiobooking 😅 It would have been nicer if the audiobook came alongside a PDF of the bestiary or something so you could actually reference it throughout the story and read through it in a more productive manner.
Thanks to @dreamscape_media for the audio arc via @netgalley
DNF 59%
I had to stop. I feel like I'm missing half of all the information needed to follow this story. Also, the one narrator sounds very young and I was super afraid that I was about to have to hear him narrate an "intimate" scene and I don't think I could have recovered from that.
If you've read the original series (I didn't realize existed) and have some background then I'll assume you'll like this one too. Unfortunately for me I didn't.
If you've read the original series (I didn't realize existed) and have some background then I'll assume you'll like this one too. Unfortunately for me I didn't.
Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to try this book.
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-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:
Yes
First spinoff book from the Beast Charmer’s series picking up shortly after the events of The Shattered Crown. I loved getting to see Kost and Gaige develop their relationship while also tackling with the difficult emotions and grief from prior events. While mainly a dual POV there are multiple chapters that give a peak into other character’s viewpoints. The continued development of the magic system was really interesting and led to some unique plot twists.
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
I found myself immersed in this novel. Although I discovered that there is a prior trilogy that would likely deepen my attachment to the characters and provide a more comprehensive understanding of the novel's world-building, I still thoroughly enjoyed this installment. I would not recommend reading this without reading the previous books.
The writing style is captivating and engaging, pulling readers into a richly crafted narrative. The characters come to life with depth and complexity, each possessing their own unique charm and quirks. The romance woven throughout the story is beautifully written with lots of yearning, evoking a range of emotions and leaving a lasting impact.
One aspect that stood out to me was the fascinating portrayal of magic. It was refreshing to see how a different magical background shaped the abilities and experiences of one of the characters. This added an intriguing layer of depth to the story, highlighting the diversity within the crafted magical realm.
The audiobook edition was delightful, as it featured different narrators for the various points of view. Each narrator brought their own talent and distinct voice to the characters, enhancing the storytelling experience and making it even more immersive.
One of the book's strengths lies in its exploration of the theme of found family. The bonds formed between characters create a sense of warmth and camaraderie, evoking a strong emotional connection. Additionally, the mystery element adds an extra layer of intrigue, although some aspects may have been somewhat predictable without more nuanced foreshadowing. I also found myself utterly captivated by the presence of the beast companions. These unique and endearing creatures added an element of wonder and companionship, further enriching the story.
Overall, this title boasts a good writing style, interesting characters, and a beautifully crafted romance.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the eARC and libro.fm for the ALC! This review is my honest opinion.
The writing style is captivating and engaging, pulling readers into a richly crafted narrative. The characters come to life with depth and complexity, each possessing their own unique charm and quirks. The romance woven throughout the story is beautifully written with lots of yearning, evoking a range of emotions and leaving a lasting impact.
One aspect that stood out to me was the fascinating portrayal of magic. It was refreshing to see how a different magical background shaped the abilities and experiences of one of the characters. This added an intriguing layer of depth to the story, highlighting the diversity within the crafted magical realm.
The audiobook edition was delightful, as it featured different narrators for the various points of view. Each narrator brought their own talent and distinct voice to the characters, enhancing the storytelling experience and making it even more immersive.
One of the book's strengths lies in its exploration of the theme of found family. The bonds formed between characters create a sense of warmth and camaraderie, evoking a strong emotional connection. Additionally, the mystery element adds an extra layer of intrigue, although some aspects may have been somewhat predictable without more nuanced foreshadowing. I also found myself utterly captivated by the presence of the beast companions. These unique and endearing creatures added an element of wonder and companionship, further enriching the story.
Overall, this title boasts a good writing style, interesting characters, and a beautifully crafted romance.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the eARC and libro.fm for the ALC! This review is my honest opinion.