Reviews with content warning for Blood - The Shadow of What Was Lost

in all its glory, this book should be a five-star read for me. the world-building, the story-telling, the plot, the writing style—all of it! amazing! i’d love to continue the series, and i will as soon as i find the time to go pick the rest of the books up, but i can’t shake off the feeling that there was something missing.

i think it had to do with the connections the characters shared with one another. something was lacking. i would read how they would feel, but i wasn’t able to connect with it. it didn't feel genuine, though i’m not sure why. perhaps because it appeared that a character would place less importance on a long-standing close friendship than on a recent romantic possibility? i have no idea. i still thought the characters were fantastic, though. they were all so charming in their own unique ways, and they all had such endearing traits.

the fact that the book's major plot twist was actually rather obvious toward the end of the book was another element that i felt was a little bit lacking. i'm not sure if that was the author's intention, but when it became clear that

caeden was tal'kamar

, i wasn't shocked, surprised, or even flabbergasted hehe.

additionally, even though the book kept me entertained as i read it, it never really enthralled me, and i'm not sure why. this book fulfills every mark i enjoy in a high fantasy book featuring cisgender, heterosexual protagonists. nonetheless, i’m eager to get into the next two novels in the series.

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klambson's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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madao3's review

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dark emotional hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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nerdkitten's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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autumnrh's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

A very good story, it was very interesting to see how everything flowed and connected to the end. One of the things I didn’t like about it though is that all the action scenes are done way too fast. It makes it a bit boring when you’re amping to see the magic system I’m action but the fighting is over within a page and half. It also does a good job of making want to commit to the rest of the series to simply find out what the heck is going on.

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sami_not_sammi's review against another edition

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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? It's complicated

5.0

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martinq's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

4.5

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