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bookishreveriess 's review for:
Shadow Crusade
by Jessaca Willis
Actually 3.50 stars, not just 3.
Throughout Shadow Crusade by Jessaca Willis, we follow the story of Halira Devonshire, a girl whose life changes forever the moment her parents are killed by ravenous demons. After such a traumatizing encounter with the monsters that only get stronger with every passing day, Halira decides to join her best friend Dominic in a life-changing journey by signing herself up for the Shadow Crusade. The Shadow Crusade ends up being humanity’s last hope for surviving the blight and defeating the last primordial Qaeus before he eventually unleashes his chaos upon them. The world-building, the demon-lore and Halira’s adventure all sounded very promising at the beginning, but once the crusader training begun I couldn’t help feeling a little disappointed. I mean, learning about the importance of shadowsteel weapons and how easily they can slice through a demon wasn’t boring, and neither was learning about the mystery surrounding the catacombs or the importance of the ink the crusaders use to paint marks across their faces before entering the blight. All of that ended up being super interesting and unique, but the pacing of it all ended up being too slow for my own good.
Therefore, even though the lectures and the training for the new recruits helped the world building expand and make the story more intriguing, I personally felt like it lasted a lot longer than it should’ve. This sadly made the story feel long and uneventful, yet something that kind of managed to make up for it was the mystery behind Halira’s family and those who lived in what is still known as the Forgotten Forest of Eyve. Another thing that I actually enjoyed about this book were the characters–or most of them anyways. For example, I didn’t really enjoy Halira’s best friend or her sister, but I did love the part they played when it came to pushing Halira forward to do something with her life after her parents died. And from the little group of people that we get to meet once Halira joins the Shadow Crusade, my favorite one was Silver; a girl that seemed quiet and reserved but ended up being a lot stronger and smarter than she looked!
In the end, Shadow Crusade was a lot harder to get through than I thought it would be but I can’t complain much. The pace was slow and heavy, but I still managed to enjoy unexpected character interactions and most of the plot twists! I may have not been a big fan of the fact that what was left of Halira’s family treated her like garbage but that actually ended up building up quite an interesting conclusion–which I won’t spoil at all but do know that it was pretty good! If you’re a fan of dark fantasy books full of demons, powerful and mysterious beings, a little romance and a few other surprises, then you might want to give this one a try!
Throughout Shadow Crusade by Jessaca Willis, we follow the story of Halira Devonshire, a girl whose life changes forever the moment her parents are killed by ravenous demons. After such a traumatizing encounter with the monsters that only get stronger with every passing day, Halira decides to join her best friend Dominic in a life-changing journey by signing herself up for the Shadow Crusade. The Shadow Crusade ends up being humanity’s last hope for surviving the blight and defeating the last primordial Qaeus before he eventually unleashes his chaos upon them. The world-building, the demon-lore and Halira’s adventure all sounded very promising at the beginning, but once the crusader training begun I couldn’t help feeling a little disappointed. I mean, learning about the importance of shadowsteel weapons and how easily they can slice through a demon wasn’t boring, and neither was learning about the mystery surrounding the catacombs or the importance of the ink the crusaders use to paint marks across their faces before entering the blight. All of that ended up being super interesting and unique, but the pacing of it all ended up being too slow for my own good.
Therefore, even though the lectures and the training for the new recruits helped the world building expand and make the story more intriguing, I personally felt like it lasted a lot longer than it should’ve. This sadly made the story feel long and uneventful, yet something that kind of managed to make up for it was the mystery behind Halira’s family and those who lived in what is still known as the Forgotten Forest of Eyve. Another thing that I actually enjoyed about this book were the characters–or most of them anyways. For example, I didn’t really enjoy Halira’s best friend or her sister, but I did love the part they played when it came to pushing Halira forward to do something with her life after her parents died. And from the little group of people that we get to meet once Halira joins the Shadow Crusade, my favorite one was Silver; a girl that seemed quiet and reserved but ended up being a lot stronger and smarter than she looked!
In the end, Shadow Crusade was a lot harder to get through than I thought it would be but I can’t complain much. The pace was slow and heavy, but I still managed to enjoy unexpected character interactions and most of the plot twists! I may have not been a big fan of the fact that what was left of Halira’s family treated her like garbage but that actually ended up building up quite an interesting conclusion–which I won’t spoil at all but do know that it was pretty good! If you’re a fan of dark fantasy books full of demons, powerful and mysterious beings, a little romance and a few other surprises, then you might want to give this one a try!