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4.06 AVERAGE
4.06 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
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:
No
adventurous
medium-paced
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Nov 15, 2019
4/5 stars
I find it difficult to describe the synopsis for The Shadow of What Was Lost, because it’s one of those novels where when one question gets answered said answer only seems to breed more questions. Essentially, The Shadow of What Was Lost is a multiple perspective story in which we follow a young man named Davian (I really think he should have been aged up a bit but that’s besides the point) who is told to flee his magic school and deliver a mysterious box to some unknown person, his best friend decides to join him on his quest, and our little group expands along the way. Our story takes place in a world in which the magic users, known as the gifted, are oppressed and kept in check by people called administrators and magical tenets, and prophecies, correct or not, play a very large role. In the grand scheme of things, the wall separating our characters from a great evil is rumoured to be deteriorating. I won’t say much else, because spoilers, but The Shadow of What Was Lost reminds me a lot of The Lord of the Rings, in a good, much less descriptive way.
The first time I read this story, I loved it. I’ve since read a lot more adult fantasy and it’s become much more apparent the second time around that this is a debut novel. I don’t mean that in a bad way, but more so that Islington has a lot of room to grow in terms of writing. I did notice quiet a few times of characters “letting out a breath they didn’t know they were holding” which was mildly annoying, but I got over it.
I’m looking forward to seeing our group of characters develop in the sequel, but I do think Islington did a good job at fleshing them out in this first instalment. I also really enjoyed the world, it has a medieval sort of feel to it and is easy to image thanks to Islington’s world building.
Jan 9, 2018
4.5/5 stars
4/5 stars
I find it difficult to describe the synopsis for The Shadow of What Was Lost, because it’s one of those novels where when one question gets answered said answer only seems to breed more questions. Essentially, The Shadow of What Was Lost is a multiple perspective story in which we follow a young man named Davian (I really think he should have been aged up a bit but that’s besides the point) who is told to flee his magic school and deliver a mysterious box to some unknown person, his best friend decides to join him on his quest, and our little group expands along the way. Our story takes place in a world in which the magic users, known as the gifted, are oppressed and kept in check by people called administrators and magical tenets, and prophecies, correct or not, play a very large role. In the grand scheme of things, the wall separating our characters from a great evil is rumoured to be deteriorating. I won’t say much else, because spoilers, but The Shadow of What Was Lost reminds me a lot of The Lord of the Rings, in a good, much less descriptive way.
The first time I read this story, I loved it. I’ve since read a lot more adult fantasy and it’s become much more apparent the second time around that this is a debut novel. I don’t mean that in a bad way, but more so that Islington has a lot of room to grow in terms of writing. I did notice quiet a few times of characters “letting out a breath they didn’t know they were holding” which was mildly annoying, but I got over it.
I’m looking forward to seeing our group of characters develop in the sequel, but I do think Islington did a good job at fleshing them out in this first instalment. I also really enjoyed the world, it has a medieval sort of feel to it and is easy to image thanks to Islington’s world building.
Jan 9, 2018
4.5/5 stars
adventurous
challenging
dark
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:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
I’ve been eyeing this book for a while and I’m so glad I finally picked it up. Captivating from the first sentence I struggled to put this down. Very well written and the story never feels clunky. Unlike other books with split characters I never had a favorite perspective in this book, I wanted to know what was going on with everyone.
adventurous
challenging
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The world-building in this book is incredibly unique and imaginative, but also left me with more questions than answers. The plot twists were non-stop—definitely kept things exciting—but the multiple POVs, sometimes even showing the same moment from different timelines, made it quite hard to follow. The characters felt very bland, just existing to move the plot forward, and you can tell it’s Islington’s debut. Still, the potential of the story has me curious enough to continue with the trilogy.
Content Warnings
Graphic: War, Injury/Injury detail
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
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:
Complicated