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A review by memoryoflife
Shadow Run by Michael Miller, AdriAnne Strickland
adventurous
emotional
lighthearted
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
4.0
This book actually has some significance to me; it was the very first book I ever got in my first book box! I was subscribed to LitJoy Crate back in 2017, and this was the book I got in their March box. So when I decided to re-read it after six years, I was equal parts excited and nervous. Would this book hold up? After all, I had originally read it when I was fifteen; this year, I'll be turning twenty-one in June.
Well, I'm rather pleased to report that "Shadow Run" has held up! In a way, it felt like going into it blind because my poor memory meant that I didn't remember much of the book, if anything at all. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this from start to end.
This book's strength is definitely in its characters. The two main protagonists, Nev and Qole, are equally intriguing, with plenty of depth to their personalities. They're not perfect; both of them make mistakes, or lash out, or allow their emotions to get the better of them... but that makes them all the more endearing.
In particular,Nev went through more character development by having his entire worldview challenged; he had to come to the realisation that his family deceived and manipulated him to further goals that he was explicitly against, something that led to him finally choosing to stand for what he believes is right, and go against them. Which was extremely compelling to me; it's not an easy thing to do, to turn your back on everything that once made up who you were, but he does it in the end. In contrast, Qole doesn't go through as massive a journey as Nev — though that's like comparing apples to massive watermelons; they're not exactly the most comparable. I think Qole's journey was more focused on her mysterious Shadow affinity, something deadly that could kill her or drive her insane, but something uniquely hers anyways. And another part of it was... learning to open up, I think. To trust her crew more, to trust Nev, a complete stranger, more. Which was absolutely lovely to see.
In addition, I felt like their relationship developed really well throughout the course of the plot; it felt natural and earned, and I was rooting for them by the very end. Though with that said, I do have one rather big nitpick. The authors often wrote in one-liners around the start of their relationship with observations that felt really... unnecessary. Things like calling a character handsome or cute, and then immediately wondering why you thought of that. Or a character noticing another character looks really good, or smells nice, or that their warm touch feels pleasant, and then also immediately flustering with embarrassment and breaking off. It feels especially out of place during the first part of "Shadow Run" becauseQole and Nev barely know each other when these observations begin to creep in. You're telling me that, while they're both still hostile to each other (because Nev tried to kidnap Qole), Qole suddenly thinks Nev looks good? Or that his warmth feels nice? That she's suddenly embarrassed around him? It just feels odd and jarring. Thankfully, the relationship manages to eek past this issue; the two of them do have scenes where they bond properly, and their relationship shifts into proper territory instead of weird, off-putting observations and reactions. But it was still enough of an issue for me that I was complaining about it to a friend while reading the first half of the story.
Going back to the characters, the side characters are all extremely strong. I genuinely got invested in them all — Arjan, Eton, Telu and Basra. I do wish that Telu got some more development and screentime compared to everyone else, but I still found her extremely endearing! Honestly, they all felt like a genuinely amazing found family along with Qole, and none of them felt grating or boring to read. I think my favourite side character is Basra for sure;he shines like crazy in the last act of the book, where he whips out the revelation that he's the 13th iteration of the galaxy's richest investor, and then uses that knowledge to help get Arjan back, and stop the Dracortes from, well... continuing to torture him? Slaughtering everyone? Both of those things. It's basically the "stoic/not very emotional character tears everything apart to save the one person they love" trope, and my god, it is a trope I am WEAK for. Basra single-handedly brought the book up from 3.75 to a solid 4 stars, turning the last act into an extremely enjoyable ride.
But yeah! I genuinely enjoyed reading Shadow Run. I love all of these characters, and I'm excited to get through the second book. I don't usually gravitate to Sci-Fi, so I'm genuinely pleased when I enjoy a book of that genre.
Well, I'm rather pleased to report that "Shadow Run" has held up! In a way, it felt like going into it blind because my poor memory meant that I didn't remember much of the book, if anything at all. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this from start to end.
This book's strength is definitely in its characters. The two main protagonists, Nev and Qole, are equally intriguing, with plenty of depth to their personalities. They're not perfect; both of them make mistakes, or lash out, or allow their emotions to get the better of them... but that makes them all the more endearing.
In particular,
In addition, I felt like their relationship developed really well throughout the course of the plot; it felt natural and earned, and I was rooting for them by the very end. Though with that said, I do have one rather big nitpick. The authors often wrote in one-liners around the start of their relationship with observations that felt really... unnecessary. Things like calling a character handsome or cute, and then immediately wondering why you thought of that. Or a character noticing another character looks really good, or smells nice, or that their warm touch feels pleasant, and then also immediately flustering with embarrassment and breaking off. It feels especially out of place during the first part of "Shadow Run" because
Going back to the characters, the side characters are all extremely strong. I genuinely got invested in them all — Arjan, Eton, Telu and Basra. I do wish that Telu got some more development and screentime compared to everyone else, but I still found her extremely endearing! Honestly, they all felt like a genuinely amazing found family along with Qole, and none of them felt grating or boring to read. I think my favourite side character is Basra for sure;
But yeah! I genuinely enjoyed reading Shadow Run. I love all of these characters, and I'm excited to get through the second book. I don't usually gravitate to Sci-Fi, so I'm genuinely pleased when I enjoy a book of that genre.