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A review by teastarsandbooks
An Incarnation of Shadow and Light by S.A. Christianson
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Thank you to Hidden Hollow Book Tours and the author for my #gifted copy of AN INCARNATION OF SHADOW AND LIGHT. This review is entirely my own thoughts and opinions.
*ੈ✩‧₊˚༺☆༻*ੈ✩‧₊˚
An Incarnation of Shadow and Light is a character-centric fantasy full of political machinations, power struggles, unique world building and grey morality. Gabriel and Zoe are the Moon and Sun Incarnates of their city and prepped to step into the roles of ruling, which they've prepared most of their lives for. Until Niklas, an exiled Moon Incarnate from an enemy kingdom, interrupts their coronation to usurp their thrones—throwing their lives into utter chaos, sending them on a journey to seek help and find darker answers.
*ੈ✩‧₊˚༺☆༻*ੈ✩‧₊˚
MY THOUGHTS:
This is definitely one of those books I thought I would enjoy more but ended up feeling "meh" about it through most of the read. The world building is simple and easy to follow. The author does a good job at creating a detailed world while keeping it easy to follow. The pacing was pretty solid, keeping a moderate pace throughout the tale. The characters were all unique with their own faults and complications.
Gabriel is a socialite with a rotten past who will do anything to keep his easy going life of being worshipped. Zoe is the level headed best friend who takes her responsibilities of ruling and going by the book seriously. Niklas is a warm hearted bear of a man who just wants his father's acceptance and love. Silje is an assassin starved of love and will manipulate, kill, and abuse to force people to love and adore her.
While I started with liking Zoe and not really caring for Gabriel, by the end of the book, that switched. While the conclusion to Gabriel's story made sense with his character and storyline, Zoe's not so much to me. Silje reminded me of Azula from Avatar: The Last Airbender, just not as well written. Niklas was a solid character for me. There was an additional POV of Dabria, a soldier who turned traitor to save her skin the night of the usurpation. And honestly, I'm not sure what service her story had to the overarching tale? You could remove all her POVs and it wouldn't change much.
Overall, this was a mediocre read for me that took me a bit too long to finish, so 3 stars.
*ੈ✩‧₊˚༺☆༻*ੈ✩‧₊˚
An Incarnation of Shadow and Light is a character-centric fantasy full of political machinations, power struggles, unique world building and grey morality. Gabriel and Zoe are the Moon and Sun Incarnates of their city and prepped to step into the roles of ruling, which they've prepared most of their lives for. Until Niklas, an exiled Moon Incarnate from an enemy kingdom, interrupts their coronation to usurp their thrones—throwing their lives into utter chaos, sending them on a journey to seek help and find darker answers.
*ੈ✩‧₊˚༺☆༻*ੈ✩‧₊˚
MY THOUGHTS:
This is definitely one of those books I thought I would enjoy more but ended up feeling "meh" about it through most of the read. The world building is simple and easy to follow. The author does a good job at creating a detailed world while keeping it easy to follow. The pacing was pretty solid, keeping a moderate pace throughout the tale. The characters were all unique with their own faults and complications.
Gabriel is a socialite with a rotten past who will do anything to keep his easy going life of being worshipped. Zoe is the level headed best friend who takes her responsibilities of ruling and going by the book seriously. Niklas is a warm hearted bear of a man who just wants his father's acceptance and love. Silje is an assassin starved of love and will manipulate, kill, and abuse to force people to love and adore her.
While I started with liking Zoe and not really caring for Gabriel, by the end of the book, that switched. While the conclusion to Gabriel's story made sense with his character and storyline, Zoe's not so much to me. Silje reminded me of Azula from Avatar: The Last Airbender, just not as well written. Niklas was a solid character for me. There was an additional POV of Dabria, a soldier who turned traitor to save her skin the night of the usurpation. And honestly, I'm not sure what service her story had to the overarching tale? You could remove all her POVs and it wouldn't change much.
Overall, this was a mediocre read for me that took me a bit too long to finish, so 3 stars.