2.06k reviews for:

Shadows so Cruel

Liv Zander

3.89 AVERAGE

challenging dark emotional fast-paced
adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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

The character growth from all 3 main characters was amazing. The spice was SPICY. The twist and reveal at the end had me sobbing in my bed at 2am. Absolute banger of a book. 
My one criticism is the very last scene/couple of pages could have happened slightly earlier because it threw a wet blanket on top of the not happy, but satisfying resolution of the plot.
adventurous dark sad tense 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
dark emotional sad tense slow-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

No groveling is crazy after what the two male love interests did to Galantia. Felt rushed and not well thought out like the other book. The ending was so bad. 
dark emotional sad
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Book 1 was good, but this one had me in a chokehold from page one. I finished this thing in less than a day because, my god, I just could not put it down. If it’s possible, this one was even darker than the first, but we do get a satisfying sort of redemption arc, and oh, so much heartbreak and grief. The plot goes hard in this one as well, and for most of the story, my heart was trying to escape my chest lol.

The ending of this one put my heart through the wringer, and I still don’t even know what to say or feel about it. I just know that I loved this book and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys their fantasy dark and their romance darker.

Please do yourself a favor and check the triggers and content warnings, though—this duet has some very dark elements and is definitely not suited for everyone.

- Dark Romantasy
- Why Choose
- Protector MMC vs Dark MMC
- Sheltered & Innocent FMC
- Pain kink
- Shifters
- Royal Politics
- Part of a Duet
- Non-con & Dub-con
- Enemies-to-Lovers
- Trauma & Grief
- Found Family
- Heartbreak
- Violence & Gore
- Betrayal & Secrets
adventurous challenging dark tense medium-paced
dark emotional sad tense fast-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
adventurous emotional tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

It could have been a nice story, but the actual writing kind of broke it for me. The heroine changed her mind very quickly very often, and psychologically, I could make sense of her reactions. The plot itself and the world were nice. The mmc was stupid. I didn't really care for any of them. Didn't seem rational or real to me. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

i was not expecting what happened in this book at all. i felt all the emotions😭