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3.99 AVERAGE
3.99 AVERAGE
WHY DID I LOVE THIS? This is going to be the most informal review I've ever written.
I just read the synopsis and it sounds like absolute drivel. The writing is full of unnecessary italics and some unusually placed question marks. They refer to everyone as "the male" or "the female" ("the male looked at her" or "he was her male"). The main character needs a male protector. I'm so confused about how much I loved this, but I did.
Goodreads has informed me that this is #13 in The Immortals After Dark series, but I haven't read anything else by this author. It's #1 of the Dacians series so I figure it's okay that I skipped a lot (her entire body of work).
I bought this book years ago when vampires were still kind of a thing, after a woman who worked at the local bookstore recommended it. I can't let anything on my shelf go unread so I knew I'd have to get to it one day, with dread. I was becoming convinced that the people who work in bookstores and recommend stuff must not actually read much. Shit though, I think I just found my new go-to fantasy romance author.
The good things:
I loved how violent and fantastic everything was.
Creatures were getting beheaded. A LOT.
The real human world exists, but this doesn't take place there. People wear fantasy-style dresses and clothes and such like yesssssss feed my imagination.
There was a whole gladiator tournament thing that did not shy away from blood and guts.
The female protagonist was pining over someone who wasn't into her but hey, I actually understood WHY.
That person she was pining over, Caspion, was a legitimate manwhore too, and not just a flirter. I'm so tired of the best-guy-friend flirting with other women, and the main best-girl-friend reading too much into it. This guy was confirmed to be going to brothels so it wasn't just in her head.
The main protagonist was a virgin but not a prude. Yay!
I thought the love interest, Trehan, actually sounded interesting. And his dirty talk wasn't cringe worthy, even for a vampire.
I don't know, maybe in a different mood I'd have hated everything about this. It's quite alpha male and the writing is irksome in some ways, but I had a great time. I can't bring myself to dock more than a star off for all of its in-your-face issues.
I just read the synopsis and it sounds like absolute drivel. The writing is full of unnecessary italics and some unusually placed question marks. They refer to everyone as "the male" or "the female" ("the male looked at her" or "he was her male"). The main character needs a male protector. I'm so confused about how much I loved this, but I did.
Goodreads has informed me that this is #13 in The Immortals After Dark series, but I haven't read anything else by this author. It's #1 of the Dacians series so I figure it's okay that I skipped a lot (her entire body of work).
I bought this book years ago when vampires were still kind of a thing, after a woman who worked at the local bookstore recommended it. I can't let anything on my shelf go unread so I knew I'd have to get to it one day, with dread. I was becoming convinced that the people who work in bookstores and recommend stuff must not actually read much. Shit though, I think I just found my new go-to fantasy romance author.
The good things:
I loved how violent and fantastic everything was.
Creatures were getting beheaded. A LOT.
The real human world exists, but this doesn't take place there. People wear fantasy-style dresses and clothes and such like yesssssss feed my imagination.
There was a whole gladiator tournament thing that did not shy away from blood and guts.
The female protagonist was pining over someone who wasn't into her but hey, I actually understood WHY.
That person she was pining over, Caspion, was a legitimate manwhore too, and not just a flirter. I'm so tired of the best-guy-friend flirting with other women, and the main best-girl-friend reading too much into it. This guy was confirmed to be going to brothels so it wasn't just in her head.
The main protagonist was a virgin but not a prude. Yay!
I thought the love interest, Trehan, actually sounded interesting. And his dirty talk wasn't cringe worthy, even for a vampire.
I don't know, maybe in a different mood I'd have hated everything about this. It's quite alpha male and the writing is irksome in some ways, but I had a great time. I can't bring myself to dock more than a star off for all of its in-your-face issues.
This was good. Really well done characters. If you've read her first series than it's a world that you're already familiar with. It's always nice to know Nix is about even if it's just for a bit. The plot was a little bit predictable but the story telling is done so well you don't really mind.
I really enjoyed this book. It reads a little different to me than a traditional IAD book. The plot is more of a novella plot, where it isn't very complex like the rest of KC's IAD books are. Pieces do start to wind around each other in the end which was fun to see. I did feel like the love story was wrapped up really quickly and almost too easily. Lothaire is amazing in every scene he is in.
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Shadow’s Claim is the twelfth book in Kresley Cole’s book. I read Shadow’s Claim for the first time in 2019. I had the book on my TBR shelf since it came out and finally made time to read it. I finished reading it the second time this year, in 2022. I listened to it in audible version and read it too when I could hear it. I was happy to re-read Trehan’s book again, but I still have an issue with Bettina. I think I may not like Sorceress’s much, but I’m trying to like them. It also didn’t help how she treated Trehan.
Storyline/My Thoughts: Shadow’s Claim is also the first book in the spin-off series called ‘The Dacians,’ so I was excited to see where Kresley Cole would take the first book in the spin-off series. If you read Lothaire, then you would’ve been introduced to some of the Dacian characters. The main character in Shadow’s Claim is the Prince of Shadows himself, Trehan Daciano. He ends up meeting his mate unexpectedly when he’s trying to go after a Demon who was not supposed to leave his realm. Trehan is automatically drawn to his mate, even though her feelings for someone else are stronger in this book. Poor Trehan!
Princess Bettina of Abaddon is forced to hold a contest to find a suitor that will prevail at all the tough battles her guardians put them up against, and these are not easy contests. There is a lot of death that happens. Unfortunately, she already wants to be with her friend, but he is not the one for her. She ends up meeting a very handsome stranger in her room one night who she thinks is her friend. Bettina will end up having her feelings go haywire after that one night with the stranger and then seeing him again during the contests. Trehan is determined to prove himself to Bettina, even though she’s in love with someone else.
This book didn’t get that many stars like others in the series. Don’t get me wrong; I thoroughly enjoyed the book. I loved Trehan and getting to know him more. Trehan did have some qualities that came off as stalkerish, but once he found out that Bettina was his mate, it’s kind of hard to shut off those feelings. I liked getting to know his background and how he’s an assassin. This book gave me more details of the Dacians and gave me a different POV of Lothaire and what happened in his book. I love getting different POVs of storylines that I already read.
Here’s the reasoning behind the lesser stars from other books: Bettina’s character. For some reason, I don’t like sorceresses because I was not too fond of Sabine’s style/character either. I think it’s due to the personalities, though. Bettina is naive and childish compared to other heroines. I also listened to these books instead of reading them, and Robert Petkoff had me not liking Bettina. I love Robert telling the story, though, because he brings everything to life. I didn’t connect with Bettina and how she acted in the story. From the beginning, she was so into her friend, Cas, and Cas goes through women like crazy. He knows Bettina is not his mate, but he will help Bettina in the book.
I did enjoy the story and the world-building of the Dacians. I’m looking forward to reading more about them in the next spin-off book. The very ending has Bettina and another sorceress hanging out together, which I’m not going to give any details away about it, but it was eye-opening. I’m onto the next IAD book as I’m typing up this review to re-read it. This series is my favorite to re-read. I don’t care how many times I read it, I always find something new (like Marvel movies), and I always feel like I’m home again with all the characters.
Standalone or Part of Series: It’s part of the Immortals After Dark series, and I would recommend reading in order.
Steaminess: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
Trope(s): Fated Mates
Would I recommend this book? Yes. I recommend this book to Paranormal Romance readers. It may have only gotten 3.5 stars from me, but that doesn’t mean other readers won’t enjoy it more.
Read this one for the Vaginal Fantasy Book Club, May 2013. I generally don't like books that take place "in another plane." You know? It's usually gods and goddesses or angels and I imagine them walking around on clouds and junk and it just really doesn't appeal to me. And I'm not sure if it was the lack of description of this world, but I dug this one pretty well. I thought the main female character was incredibly indecisive and naive in regards to her friend, but in the end, I enjoyed this one. I was waiting to see how I'd like this one before I picked up the alt read (also by the same author) for the VF Book Club, but now I definitely will.
Upon reread and reading of Shadow’s Seduction, I definitely like this one more than when I first read it. I really should’ve read Shadow’s Seduction first bc they partially take place at the same time. It definitely felt very long though with Bettina’s waffling. Rounding down since others in the series for 4 stars and I liked them better.
⭐️⭐️⭐️.5/5 🌶️🌶️.5/5
_________
The real torture of this series is that fucking love triangle.
Not even a triangle bc Cas was so terrible and such a waste of space he couldn’t even pretend to care for her one bit. Why wasn’t she angry at him for not backing down at the final fight?? Why couldn’t she stop talking about him??? My least favorite things with plot setups like this is if it makes ZERO sense for the main character to be so in love with the fucked side of the triangle. It makes them look pathetic and absolutely senseless.
Trehan deserved so much more. She girlbossed and gaslit him down to the last page. The book felt like a return to books at the beginning of the series, at least tone-wise which was nice.
She chose deadmau5 tickets over the delivery of severed heads of her abusers?????? Okay well absolutely couldn’t fucking be me. Whenever the story/romance found its stride, it was always interrupted minutes later by mentions of Cas.
🌶🌶.5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
The real torture of this series is that fucking love triangle.
Not even a triangle bc Cas was so terrible and such a waste of space he couldn’t even pretend to care for her one bit. Why wasn’t she angry at him for not backing down at the final fight?? Why couldn’t she stop talking about him??? My least favorite things with plot setups like this is if it makes ZERO sense for the main character to be so in love with the fucked side of the triangle. It makes them look pathetic and absolutely senseless.
Trehan deserved so much more. She girlbossed and gaslit him down to the last page. The book felt like a return to books at the beginning of the series, at least tone-wise which was nice.
She chose deadmau5 tickets over the delivery of severed heads of her abusers?????? Okay well absolutely couldn’t fucking be me. Whenever the story/romance found its stride, it was always interrupted minutes later by mentions of Cas.
🌶🌶.5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
⭐️⭐️⭐️.5/5 🌶️🌶️.5/5
_________
The real torture of this series is that fucking love triangle.
Not even a triangle bc Cas was so terrible and such a waste of space he couldn’t even pretend to care for her one bit. Why wasn’t she angry at him for not backing down at the final fight?? Why couldn’t she stop talking about him??? My least favorite things with plot setups like this is if it makes ZERO sense for the main character to be so in love with the fucked side of the triangle. It makes them look pathetic and absolutely senseless.
Trehan deserved so much more. She girlbossed and gaslit him down to the last page. The book felt like a return to books at the beginning of the series, at least tone-wise which was nice.
She chose deadmau5 tickets over the delivery of severed heads of her abusers?????? Okay well absolutely couldn’t fucking be me. Whenever the story/romance found its stride, it was always interrupted minutes later by mentions of Cas.
🌶🌶.5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
The real torture of this series is that fucking love triangle.
Not even a triangle bc Cas was so terrible and such a waste of space he couldn’t even pretend to care for her one bit. Why wasn’t she angry at him for not backing down at the final fight?? Why couldn’t she stop talking about him??? My least favorite things with plot setups like this is if it makes ZERO sense for the main character to be so in love with the fucked side of the triangle. It makes them look pathetic and absolutely senseless.
Trehan deserved so much more. She girlbossed and gaslit him down to the last page. The book felt like a return to books at the beginning of the series, at least tone-wise which was nice.
She chose deadmau5 tickets over the delivery of severed heads of her abusers?????? Okay well absolutely couldn’t fucking be me. Whenever the story/romance found its stride, it was always interrupted minutes later by mentions of Cas.
🌶🌶.5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
One of the better IADs, in my opinion. Trehan was just a delightful hero, if you're into instalove. Bettina is irritating, as everyone warned me. Her inability to choose between the guy who will love her for all eternity and some slutty demon that doesn't like her, ugh, girl, it got old - real fast. But I was actually caught up in the whole tournament plot, it was compelling and even though there is a whole lot of death in this book, it didn't feel icky. Which was unsettling, but the story kept me interested, to a point. The one alarm bell for me was that the most interesting part of this book was when Lothaire showed up near the end and I perked up and then went ... wait, have I been unperked this whole time? And I realized I had, I'd been kinda forcing myself to finish it, like medicine.
I will say, now that I've read the entirety of IAD save Munro, that I just don't think Kresley Cole is a perfect match for me. I'm not into so much gore and reading this book concurrently with some historicals made the violence really apparent. If you're into a lot of blood and guts along with hot sex, these books will probably be great for you.
I will say, now that I've read the entirety of IAD save Munro, that I just don't think Kresley Cole is a perfect match for me. I'm not into so much gore and reading this book concurrently with some historicals made the violence really apparent. If you're into a lot of blood and guts along with hot sex, these books will probably be great for you.