You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.59 AVERAGE
3.59 AVERAGE
Thank you to Hidden Hollow Book Tours and the author for my #gifted copy of AN INCARNATION OF SHADOW AND LIGHT. This review is entirely my own thoughts and opinions.
*ੈ✩‧₊˚༺☆༻*ੈ✩‧₊˚
An Incarnation of Shadow and Light is a character-centric fantasy full of political machinations, power struggles, unique world building and grey morality. Gabriel and Zoe are the Moon and Sun Incarnates of their city and prepped to step into the roles of ruling, which they've prepared most of their lives for. Until Niklas, an exiled Moon Incarnate from an enemy kingdom, interrupts their coronation to usurp their thrones—throwing their lives into utter chaos, sending them on a journey to seek help and find darker answers.
*ੈ✩‧₊˚༺☆༻*ੈ✩‧₊˚
MY THOUGHTS:
This is definitely one of those books I thought I would enjoy more but ended up feeling "meh" about it through most of the read. The world building is simple and easy to follow. The author does a good job at creating a detailed world while keeping it easy to follow. The pacing was pretty solid, keeping a moderate pace throughout the tale. The characters were all unique with their own faults and complications.
Gabriel is a socialite with a rotten past who will do anything to keep his easy going life of being worshipped. Zoe is the level headed best friend who takes her responsibilities of ruling and going by the book seriously. Niklas is a warm hearted bear of a man who just wants his father's acceptance and love. Silje is an assassin starved of love and will manipulate, kill, and abuse to force people to love and adore her.
While I started with liking Zoe and not really caring for Gabriel, by the end of the book, that switched. While the conclusion to Gabriel's story made sense with his character and storyline, Zoe's not so much to me. Silje reminded me of Azula from Avatar: The Last Airbender, just not as well written. Niklas was a solid character for me. There was an additional POV of Dabria, a soldier who turned traitor to save her skin the night of the usurpation. And honestly, I'm not sure what service her story had to the overarching tale? You could remove all her POVs and it wouldn't change much.
Overall, this was a mediocre read for me that took me a bit too long to finish, so 3 stars.
*ੈ✩‧₊˚༺☆༻*ੈ✩‧₊˚
An Incarnation of Shadow and Light is a character-centric fantasy full of political machinations, power struggles, unique world building and grey morality. Gabriel and Zoe are the Moon and Sun Incarnates of their city and prepped to step into the roles of ruling, which they've prepared most of their lives for. Until Niklas, an exiled Moon Incarnate from an enemy kingdom, interrupts their coronation to usurp their thrones—throwing their lives into utter chaos, sending them on a journey to seek help and find darker answers.
*ੈ✩‧₊˚༺☆༻*ੈ✩‧₊˚
MY THOUGHTS:
This is definitely one of those books I thought I would enjoy more but ended up feeling "meh" about it through most of the read. The world building is simple and easy to follow. The author does a good job at creating a detailed world while keeping it easy to follow. The pacing was pretty solid, keeping a moderate pace throughout the tale. The characters were all unique with their own faults and complications.
Gabriel is a socialite with a rotten past who will do anything to keep his easy going life of being worshipped. Zoe is the level headed best friend who takes her responsibilities of ruling and going by the book seriously. Niklas is a warm hearted bear of a man who just wants his father's acceptance and love. Silje is an assassin starved of love and will manipulate, kill, and abuse to force people to love and adore her.
While I started with liking Zoe and not really caring for Gabriel, by the end of the book, that switched. While the conclusion to Gabriel's story made sense with his character and storyline, Zoe's not so much to me. Silje reminded me of Azula from Avatar: The Last Airbender, just not as well written. Niklas was a solid character for me. There was an additional POV of Dabria, a soldier who turned traitor to save her skin the night of the usurpation. And honestly, I'm not sure what service her story had to the overarching tale? You could remove all her POVs and it wouldn't change much.
Overall, this was a mediocre read for me that took me a bit too long to finish, so 3 stars.
I received this book in return for an honest review, so here we go! SPOILER FREE ✌
DNF at 20%. Had high hopes after reading all of the reviews saying this was a Shades of Magic + Six of Crows love child.
Yeah, this isn’t it.
Bad writing. Poor structure. Intriguing concept, but I just couldn’t get past those cons.
Yeah, this isn’t it.
Bad writing. Poor structure. Intriguing concept, but I just couldn’t get past those cons.
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
adventurous
dark
funny
An Incarnation of Shadow and Light" by S. Christianson is an enthralling journey into a world filled with morally gray characters, intricate magic systems, and diverse representation.
You know that the two things I most love in this world are fantasy and queer books and this is the epitome of both.
The world-building is captivating. The sun and moon dichotomy, adds a unique and mesmerizing dimension to the story, which I personally loved. The magic system isn't just a background element; it's a central force in the political intrigue and this also adds depth and richness to the wb.
What I truly loved about this books is its morally gray and diverse cast of characters. The LGBTQIA+ representation, including bisexual, lesbian, and non-binary characters, is super well written in my opinion. and their complexity and development add layers to the story, making it all the more engaging.
"An Incarnation of Shadow and Light" is a solid debut, that offers a captivating blend of complex characters, a thoughtfully crafted magic system, and a world ripe for exploration. If you're a fan of morally gray characters, intricate world-building, and diverse representation, this book is a must-read!
You know that the two things I most love in this world are fantasy and queer books and this is the epitome of both.
The world-building is captivating. The sun and moon dichotomy, adds a unique and mesmerizing dimension to the story, which I personally loved. The magic system isn't just a background element; it's a central force in the political intrigue and this also adds depth and richness to the wb.
What I truly loved about this books is its morally gray and diverse cast of characters. The LGBTQIA+ representation, including bisexual, lesbian, and non-binary characters, is super well written in my opinion. and their complexity and development add layers to the story, making it all the more engaging.
"An Incarnation of Shadow and Light" is a solid debut, that offers a captivating blend of complex characters, a thoughtfully crafted magic system, and a world ripe for exploration. If you're a fan of morally gray characters, intricate world-building, and diverse representation, this book is a must-read!
“Desperation,” Ada had once told Dabria, “is a beast of endless hunger. You feed it, but it doesn’t feed you.”
genre: NA fantasy
pages: 485
writing: multiple POV
rating: ★★★.★ [3.75/5]
spice: kissing
This was a solid debut for this fantasy series and featured a very unique magic system:
In this world, some people are bestowed magical powers hailing from either the sun or the moon. If you're a chosen of the sun, then during those 12hrs you can wield magic but the moment the sun sets, you'll be powerless and the moon chosen ones come into power. At the start of the story, only two magic wielders, also known as Incarnate, are left: Zoe, daughter of the sun, and Gabriel, son of the moon.
No one knows why only select people receive magic, the chosen ones will appear sporadically and powers might manifest in an orphan or a prince, a kind person or a greedy liar. The world is split into different nations who all view Incarnate differently, there are those who view them as Saints, others as a means to an end, or as abomination which are hunted to near extinction.
On their coronation day, Zoe and Gabriel are confronted with a mysterious stranger who presents themselves as another Incarnate and throws their world into chaos. A game for power ensues which will bring out the worst in everyone as they are desperate to hold onto their status.
The world building reminded me a lot of Six of Crows, the gang infested gambling town, the snowy fundamentalist nation hunting these 'witches' and the court who views Incarnate as living saints. I did find it odd that these fantastical worlds resembled Europe very closely and even used Norwegian words which took me out of the fantastical setting.
I did love the vast representation of queer characters and how easily they were intertwined with the story. Gabriel was probably my favourite character of the lot with his easy humour but morally grey actions.
The story wrapped up pretty nicely and can definitely stand on its own with enough backdoors left open to expand the story for a potential second book.
Plus, the book has absolutely beautiful character art inside.
Quotes that made me laugh:
Then he was promptly handcuffed to a chair, but not even in a fun way, before finally being told to wait.
“I’m going to die tomorrow, if I can’t get properly drunk or fucked then I’m going to be as annoying as possible.”
Niklas knocked the glass out of her hand and it shattered against the floor. “I’m going to pretend,” Silje said dangerously, “that I dropped that.”
genre: NA fantasy
pages: 485
writing: multiple POV
rating: ★★★.★ [3.75/5]
spice: kissing
This was a solid debut for this fantasy series and featured a very unique magic system:
In this world, some people are bestowed magical powers hailing from either the sun or the moon. If you're a chosen of the sun, then during those 12hrs you can wield magic but the moment the sun sets, you'll be powerless and the moon chosen ones come into power. At the start of the story, only two magic wielders, also known as Incarnate, are left: Zoe, daughter of the sun, and Gabriel, son of the moon.
No one knows why only select people receive magic, the chosen ones will appear sporadically and powers might manifest in an orphan or a prince, a kind person or a greedy liar. The world is split into different nations who all view Incarnate differently, there are those who view them as Saints, others as a means to an end, or as abomination which are hunted to near extinction.
On their coronation day, Zoe and Gabriel are confronted with a mysterious stranger who presents themselves as another Incarnate and throws their world into chaos. A game for power ensues which will bring out the worst in everyone as they are desperate to hold onto their status.
The world building reminded me a lot of Six of Crows, the gang infested gambling town, the snowy fundamentalist nation hunting these 'witches' and the court who views Incarnate as living saints. I did find it odd that these fantastical worlds resembled Europe very closely and even used Norwegian words which took me out of the fantastical setting.
I did love the vast representation of queer characters and how easily they were intertwined with the story. Gabriel was probably my favourite character of the lot with his easy humour but morally grey actions.
The story wrapped up pretty nicely and can definitely stand on its own with enough backdoors left open to expand the story for a potential second book.
Plus, the book has absolutely beautiful character art inside.
Quotes that made me laugh:
Then he was promptly handcuffed to a chair, but not even in a fun way, before finally being told to wait.
“I’m going to die tomorrow, if I can’t get properly drunk or fucked then I’m going to be as annoying as possible.”
Niklas knocked the glass out of her hand and it shattered against the floor. “I’m going to pretend,” Silje said dangerously, “that I dropped that.”
⁝⁝ ARC REVIEW ⁝⁝
❝Do I get a last wish? If so, I would love a bottle of wine and someone beautiful to drink it with. Preferably two people, but I don't want to seem greedy here.❞
❝I can get you a bottle of wine and sit with you while you drink. But I can't guarantee it'll be good.❞
❝The wine or the company?❞
❝Either.❞
✦ DETAILS & TWs
❝Do I get a last wish? If so, I would love a bottle of wine and someone beautiful to drink it with. Preferably two people, but I don't want to seem greedy here.❞
❝I can get you a bottle of wine and sit with you while you drink. But I can't guarantee it'll be good.❞
❝The wine or the company?❞
❝Either.❞
✦ DETAILS & TWs
The moment I saw the cover and read the blurb, I was hooked. Of course, that leaves a lot of pressure on the story to live up to the promise, and I can honestly say this book blew me away. Christianson did an excellent job with the world and magic building, creating a unique world for the reader to step into. The characters are unforgettable - there are no heroes among them, yet they find a way to crawl under your skin, and you can't help but feel drawn to them. They each have their own motivations for what they do, and stay true to their characters throughout the story. No spoilers, but don't go in expecting a grand redemption arc. The plot moved along fairly swiftly, with enough twists that I had no idea where I would end up next. While there aren't any cliffhangers...I wouldn't mind a sequel, or at least another book set in the same world where magic is power, quite literally and figuratively. The biggest disappointment in this book was that it ended.