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art_books_chemistry's review
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
We've all wished to be sucked into the world of the Fae to have wondrous adventures or fall in love with a faerie, right? Well, O'Sullivan does a fabulous job of describing how I think it would really go if one of us was without warning thrown into such a world, and I think we'd take it about as well as Eala does in A Kingdom of Souls and Shadows: i.e. not particularly well at all. Of course a grown adult would question everything and be skeptical, which made this story all the more immersive.
The setting of this book is absolutely perfect, since it's set in Ireland. I could picture exactly the way Eala described seeing what real "rolling green hills" were like the first time, there is no green like that of the Emerald Isle; it absolutely feels magical just existing there. O'Sullivan wonderfully mixed real history, fictional history, and folklore in such a way to send the reader on a journey that never gets boring since it's never the same thing twice. You fall for her characters because they are real; they have logical human reactions to various events and you can feel their passion through the pages.
I did guess the two major twists at the end fairly early, one moreso than the other but I still enjoyed the reveals. There were still other things that went on that I couldn't have come up with myself so it was still overall well balanced mystery-wise. And learning about how O'Sullivan created her bubble of world in this reality connected fantasy was fascinating and different.
Thank you The Nerd Fam for the gifted ARC!
The setting of this book is absolutely perfect, since it's set in Ireland. I could picture exactly the way Eala described seeing what real "rolling green hills" were like the first time, there is no green like that of the Emerald Isle; it absolutely feels magical just existing there. O'Sullivan wonderfully mixed real history, fictional history, and folklore in such a way to send the reader on a journey that never gets boring since it's never the same thing twice. You fall for her characters because they are real; they have logical human reactions to various events and you can feel their passion through the pages.
I did guess the two major twists at the end fairly early, one moreso than the other but I still enjoyed the reveals. There were still other things that went on that I couldn't have come up with myself so it was still overall well balanced mystery-wise. And learning about how O'Sullivan created her bubble of world in this reality connected fantasy was fascinating and different.
Thank you The Nerd Fam for the gifted ARC!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Torture, Grief, and Death of parent
Moderate: Child death, Violence, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Gun violence and Vomit