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A review by lindseytripp
Empire of Shadows by Jacquelyn Benson
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
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
3.75
๐๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ข๐ซ๐ ๐จ๐ ๐๐ก๐๐๐จ๐ฐ๐ฌ by ๐๐๐๐ช๐ฎ๐๐ฅ๐ฒ๐ง ๐๐๐ง๐ฌ๐จ๐ง
Raiders of the Arcana series โฌโดโด๐ ๐ช๐โฏ
3.75 โ
Empire of Shadows is such a fun start to what I imagine will be an adventurous, historical fiction fantasy series! We kick it off strong with our FMC, Ellie, fighting for womenโs rights and we love a strong feminist woman! Unfortunately, she gets fired from her job shortly after her boss finds out that her protest led to her (one little) arrest. Ellie leaves her job, but not without first stumbling upon a map that could send her on an adventure of a lifetime! Sure, she may have stolen this piece of history from her boss but she has good intentions! She just wants to protect and preserve what she might find from other more dangerous characters with less favorable intentions.
I loved the way this story began! It felt very much like The Jungle Cruise and Indiana Jones with promise of exciting adventure and fun-quippy banter. We have a strong willed FMC, Ellie, who is not scared to speak her mind and a physically strong/protective MMC, Adam, who allows our FMC to be herself.
The excitement and snarkiness continued for me up until the actual adventure into the jungle began. After that it somewhat fell flat for me and the quippy banter somewhat disappeared for me. Iโm not saying it disappeared completely, it just didnโt hit for me like the first part of the book. The antics Ellie and Adam got themselves into were definitely dangerous and exciting; I just felt like I was missing the comic relief that the earlier parts of the book gave me. I think the only way I can really explain it was that it was a lot of descriptions of what was going on and not a lot of fun dialogue to go along with it. I felt like I was just watching things happen to the characters rather than experiencing it with them. But, truly, aside from that, I did enjoy this book and its adventure. I look forward to the other books in the series and I canโt wait to see what Ellie and Adam get up to next!
Thank you to @netgalley and @crimsonfoxpub for this ARC!
You can start your Raiders of the Arcana adventure beginning April 2nd!
Raiders of the Arcana series โฌโดโด๐ ๐ช๐โฏ
3.75 โ
Empire of Shadows is such a fun start to what I imagine will be an adventurous, historical fiction fantasy series! We kick it off strong with our FMC, Ellie, fighting for womenโs rights and we love a strong feminist woman! Unfortunately, she gets fired from her job shortly after her boss finds out that her protest led to her (one little) arrest. Ellie leaves her job, but not without first stumbling upon a map that could send her on an adventure of a lifetime! Sure, she may have stolen this piece of history from her boss but she has good intentions! She just wants to protect and preserve what she might find from other more dangerous characters with less favorable intentions.
I loved the way this story began! It felt very much like The Jungle Cruise and Indiana Jones with promise of exciting adventure and fun-quippy banter. We have a strong willed FMC, Ellie, who is not scared to speak her mind and a physically strong/protective MMC, Adam, who allows our FMC to be herself.
The excitement and snarkiness continued for me up until the actual adventure into the jungle began. After that it somewhat fell flat for me and the quippy banter somewhat disappeared for me. Iโm not saying it disappeared completely, it just didnโt hit for me like the first part of the book. The antics Ellie and Adam got themselves into were definitely dangerous and exciting; I just felt like I was missing the comic relief that the earlier parts of the book gave me. I think the only way I can really explain it was that it was a lot of descriptions of what was going on and not a lot of fun dialogue to go along with it. I felt like I was just watching things happen to the characters rather than experiencing it with them. But, truly, aside from that, I did enjoy this book and its adventure. I look forward to the other books in the series and I canโt wait to see what Ellie and Adam get up to next!
Thank you to @netgalley and @crimsonfoxpub for this ARC!
You can start your Raiders of the Arcana adventure beginning April 2nd!