A review by r_bookish_rambles
The Land of Shadows by Seth Lowen

adventurous slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

 
I had such high hopes for this book as I am always chasing the high of the classic high fantasy novels. Imagine my surprise when I found out just how similar it was to the novels I was reminiscing about.
Nothing about this book felt original besides the names. The entire book from start to finish was nearly a copy and paste of different plots, settings, ect between The Wheel of Time, Harry Potter, and literally any other high fantasy/magic novel. In every single chapter there was something I had seen or read about before which was mind-boggling to me. It felt like the entire book was cherry picked from a handful of other stories and mashed together.
It was hard to get past the copy paste in the first place, but I also found that the characters were overly bland. There was nothing unique about the brothers themselves besides their somehow incredible luck at having a famous dad and also miraculously being able to use the magic without a hitch, which was more than a little cliche. The villain also was so cookie cutter to just about every other villain I’ve read about it seemed almost pointless to have him in the story.
The magic system absolutely made 0 sense to me with hardly any background for the reader. It appeared it was within the brothers and students at the academy for no reason. As much as I normally love magic academies, this one fell short on so many levels. The brothers arrive in book 1 and we are subjected to chapters and chapters of meaningless time at the academy with no real understanding of their classes and lives besides the two of them joining the clan and participating the eventual school wide tournament.
This was not a good time for me, I will be honest. Nothing makes me more peeved at a book than not being unique, especially in such a popular genre. I had high hopes but all of them dashed.