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A review by princessleopard
A Reflection of Shadows by Anne Renwick
4.0
Preface: I received a free copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.
Explicit content: Several detailed sex scenes, violence, death
Actual rating: 4.25 stars
This was an enjoyable read! I wasn't expecting much from the genre and the fact that it was a standalone, but this was a pleasant surprise. Obviously the main focus of the story is the romance, and it's really well done. The characters are likable, engaging, and three-dimensional, and their relationship is never problematic or worrisome. There's never drama for the sake of drama, misunderstandings, all the sort of stuff that plagues most romance-focused stories. Rather, the drama comes from their hesitation to get married, and the actual plot that makes up the backbone of the story.
The plot, too, is interesting, and both sides of the story weaves together nicely. I don't want to get into too much detail, as it kinda ends up in a weird direction, but the untangling of what was going on and who was involved was fun. This couple already has a Batman-and-Catwoman vibe, and them playing detective together really cemented that.
However, the book does have its flaws. The last 25% or so is really a drag. People get captured and are essentially just prisoners trying to get out for the bulk of this section of the story. They have a very miserable time, and the villains aren't really interesting or sympathetic enough to redeem all the misery. The pace slowed way down, too, since the characters are just trapped in one place for a long period of time, and there's nothing really left to discover or do. I think it would have been much more interesting if only one character was imprisoned and the other had to figure out where they were and how to break them out, or something more action-driven.
The steampunk element was also a little underwhelming in my opinion, as the story doesn't really dive into what makes their technology and stuff possible or how their timeline diverges from ours, but it brought in some nice color, so I can't complain too much.
Other than that, though, this story was very enjoyable. I'd recommend it for fans of the fantasy romance genre, especially if they have an interest in steampunk or period romance.
Explicit content: Several detailed sex scenes, violence, death
Actual rating: 4.25 stars
This was an enjoyable read! I wasn't expecting much from the genre and the fact that it was a standalone, but this was a pleasant surprise. Obviously the main focus of the story is the romance, and it's really well done. The characters are likable, engaging, and three-dimensional, and their relationship is never problematic or worrisome. There's never drama for the sake of drama, misunderstandings, all the sort of stuff that plagues most romance-focused stories. Rather, the drama comes from their hesitation to get married, and the actual plot that makes up the backbone of the story.
The plot, too, is interesting, and both sides of the story weaves together nicely. I don't want to get into too much detail, as it kinda ends up in a weird direction, but the untangling of what was going on and who was involved was fun. This couple already has a Batman-and-Catwoman vibe, and them playing detective together really cemented that.
However, the book does have its flaws. The last 25% or so is really a drag. People get captured and are essentially just prisoners trying to get out for the bulk of this section of the story. They have a very miserable time, and the villains aren't really interesting or sympathetic enough to redeem all the misery. The pace slowed way down, too, since the characters are just trapped in one place for a long period of time, and there's nothing really left to discover or do. I think it would have been much more interesting if only one character was imprisoned and the other had to figure out where they were and how to break them out, or something more action-driven.
The steampunk element was also a little underwhelming in my opinion, as the story doesn't really dive into what makes their technology and stuff possible or how their timeline diverges from ours, but it brought in some nice color, so I can't complain too much.
Other than that, though, this story was very enjoyable. I'd recommend it for fans of the fantasy romance genre, especially if they have an interest in steampunk or period romance.