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3.95 AVERAGE
3.95 AVERAGE
DNFed. Everything was revealed way too early on and the insta-love annoyed me.
adventurous
challenging
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I didn't expect that I would love this book so much. I really like Shaye's strong personality. Miss girl can fight. Shaye and Atlas' banter is funny and witty. The story is fast-paced.
I was just looking for more explanations about their magic and some backstory, but it's like for me to find out in the next book.
I was just looking for more explanations about their magic and some backstory, but it's like for me to find out in the next book.
adventurous
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:
Complicated
adventurous
medium-paced
First I’ll start of with the parts I didn’t like as much.
I felt like the beginning moved a little to quickly for my liking and Shaye got information a little to easy.
Secondly (and this is a problem I have with lots of books), though it’s marked as enemies to lovers it feels more like “dislike to lovers”.
That being said I still enjoyed the romance as long as I didn’t put the expectation of enemies to lovers on it.
I liked all the characters and I loved that Shaye built relationships with all of them and not just the love interest.
I love the brothers and their dynamic. I’m hoping for more of them in book two.
The magic system and lore is interesting and something I’d love to see explored more in the rest of the series.
I’m excited to see where this story goes and how everything proceeds from here!
I felt like the beginning moved a little to quickly for my liking and Shaye got information a little to easy.
Secondly (and this is a problem I have with lots of books), though it’s marked as enemies to lovers it feels more like “dislike to lovers”.
That being said I still enjoyed the romance as long as I didn’t put the expectation of enemies to lovers on it.
I liked all the characters and I loved that Shaye built relationships with all of them and not just the love interest.
I love the brothers and their dynamic. I’m hoping for more of them in book two.
The magic system and lore is interesting and something I’d love to see explored more in the rest of the series.
I’m excited to see where this story goes and how everything proceeds from here!
adventurous
emotional
funny
inspiring
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
I had this rated higher.. but then I thought about it more and I actually didn't like it. I was trying to make myself find silver linings. The FMC was beyond annoying. The MMC is supposed to be this brooding shadow daddy, but he's the Walmart version. The pacing is whack. So many things happen in such a short time. She tries to have these big reveals that don't work because she info dumped for 50 pages and I'm just like... BFFR.
adventurous
funny
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is the the first book of the new adult fantasy romance series titled Shadow and Starlight. A princess is kidnapped by her enemies but quickly learns her past is not what she thinks, and that maybe her enemy isn’t what she thinks either. Tropes include shadow daddy, found family, banter, slowburn, enemies to. . . almost lovers, political intrigue, who did this, and you came.
The Lovely: I loved the found family aspect of this story, as well as the relationships between characters (main and otherwise). Their bond was effortless and heart-warming, and you could tell it was something the FMC hadn’t experienced before. The relationship between the main characters is enemies to very reluctant allies to maybe there’s something more there (but we should be enemies). Thus, this is quite a slowburn - think tea light level fire. I loved the progression and how the MMC treats the FMC.
The Mundane: I liked the plot, however, there was a lot happening for the first 3/4 of the book - multiple kidnappings, many instances of mortal peril and lots of rescues. It felt like too much was happening at a time, causing the story to have what I felt was a frenzied pace so,e of the time.
The Dreadful: And now for the FMC. She is a walking disaster of bad luck (and poor choices). By the 20% mark she had been abducted the eve before her wedding, attacked by 3 creatures (separate attacks), saved 3 times and was falling for her captor. In under two days. By the 2/3 mark she had been kidnapped again (unrelated to kidnapping #1), in mortal peril another 4 or 5 times and was definitely having romantic thoughts and feelings about her captor. What really bugged me about this was she had to be saved by others, usually the MMC, in all but one of those situations (and even then she had some help). I hoped she would get to the point where she could save, or st least protect, herself but that didn’t happen by the end of the book.
Rating: 3.5/5 Stars 1/5 spicy flames
Recommendation: While the FMC’s constant need for saving annoyed me (how did she survive?), the other aspects made up for that downside. I do plan to read the next book in the series when it releases as I love the side characters and want to know how the pieces of the plot fit together. If you like very new adult fantasy with wonderful found family, I think you would like this book.
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
This book is absolutely amazing!! At first I was a little put off by the “princess” attitude, but as the story continues and the characters develop, I fell in LOVE with everyone! I can’t choose a favorite brother, and the slow burn is SO good! I can’t wait for book 2!
✨ B O O K R E V I E W ✨
A Song of Shadow & Starlight
By: Morgan Gauthier @authormorgangauthier
Pub. August 2, 2023
312 pages (KU)
A few weeks back I bought tickets to @imaginariumbookfestival and surprised @nerd.of.words - so we can’t wait to make a girls weekend out of it next year (and meet all the authors and fellow booksta friends)!
Since then, she has expertly made us a spreadsheet of authors and books we need to read beforehand (it’s a long list, y’all, but we are ready!). She influenced me to read this book and I’m so glad I did
A Song of Shadow & Starlight
By: Morgan Gauthier @authormorgangauthier
Pub. August 2, 2023
312 pages (KU)
A few weeks back I bought tickets to @imaginariumbookfestival and surprised @nerd.of.words - so we can’t wait to make a girls weekend out of it next year (and meet all the authors and fellow booksta friends)!
Since then, she has expertly made us a spreadsheet of authors and books we need to read beforehand (it’s a long list, y’all, but we are ready!). She influenced me to read this book and I’m so glad I did
I had so much fun reading this book!
The characters are fantastic, the adventure and the journey is exciting, the main character is totally finding her strength (you go Shaye!), and the cliffhanger ending is just enough to leave you wanting more for the next book. *chefs kiss*
This is also one of the first books I annotated using my kindle, and there are soooo many good quotes. You know it’s off to a great start when the actual first sentence is one that gets highlighted. Book two comes out in April 2024 and I am PUMPED! This is definitely one I’ll be getting a hard copy of (can we also just appreciate how beautiful the cover is?!).
Read this book!!!
The characters are fantastic, the adventure and the journey is exciting, the main character is totally finding her strength (you go Shaye!), and the cliffhanger ending is just enough to leave you wanting more for the next book. *chefs kiss*
This is also one of the first books I annotated using my kindle, and there are soooo many good quotes. You know it’s off to a great start when the actual first sentence is one that gets highlighted. Book two comes out in April 2024 and I am PUMPED! This is definitely one I’ll be getting a hard copy of (can we also just appreciate how beautiful the cover is?!).
Read this book!!!