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A review by small_alex
Daughter of Shades by Sylvia Mercedes
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
I really enjoyed this!!! I don't usually like YA (even upper YA), and to be honest, the naivety of the FMC was definitely my least favorite part, but it was an absolutely reasonable amount of naivety for a 19 year old to have so I do not fault the book for that. It's 100% just a personal preference thing.
Now that that's out of the way, I really liked the FMC! She's impulsive and reckless and definitely a 19 year old, but she's funny and courageous and her shade magic is so freakin cool. I am obsessed with her shadow wolf and their relationship. I respect the FMC for hiding her inexperience and not letting the imposters syndrome show. The MMC was decent too. He gave major angry himbo energy when he kept walking into those curses, and I respect him for going back for her. The tension between them was very entertaining, and I cracked up every single time he shot up after being kissed awake from a curse. (Okay was the 'kiss to break the curse' shit a little dramatic? yes. Did it bother me? Oddly enough, not really, since it was funny) . I'm very excited to see how they act in the next book.
In terms of the pacing, it was pretty good! The beginning definitely grabbed my attention, but then the next few chapters dragged on a bit for me up until she made it to the castle. They weren't boring really, I was just impatient to get to the point. Like yes the solo hunt was definitely a good way of introducing the FMC and demonstrating her inexperience alongside her drive. And then the mind invasion thing was also very important for the little lore dump. And I did reallyyyy like the Lure bit with that 'mystery man' especially because it made for an amazing moment where she realized who he was and tried to just bail lmao . Basically what I'm saying is that the beginning was not slow at all, I was just antsy to meet the man and get to the enemies to lovers plotline. So. That's on me. The pacing was fast throughout. Very good.
The magic system???? So freakin cool. I don't 100% understand how it works, but that didn't detract from the experience. I'm just a little confused about how she and the man both seem secretly OP but in completely different ways. Like I don't know what the standard is for these people. I also don't understand the inborn situation (is that what they called it... or no... where the human and shade soul are like inextricably linked like that infant apparently was...) like how is that any different from the FMC? Or is it not different and that's the secret memory she can't access? Bc her relationship with her shade is definitely unique. Idk I'm just a little lost with that whole thing. Also wtf is up with the man omg he and his shade DEFINITELY do not have the same relationship as the FMC goddamn. Can't wait to see what all of THAT drama is about.
All in all, like I said, this was really good. I like the writing style quite a bit, and I'm very excited to learn more about all these secrets we kept getting teased with. I just wish this was NA instead of YA (which, again, totally personal preference obviously. Not at all a genuine critique of the book/author).
Now that that's out of the way, I really liked the FMC! She's impulsive and reckless and definitely a 19 year old, but she's funny and courageous and her shade magic is so freakin cool. I am obsessed with her shadow wolf and their relationship. I respect the FMC for hiding her inexperience and not letting the imposters syndrome show. The MMC was decent too. He gave major angry himbo energy when he kept walking into those curses, and I respect him for going back for her. The tension between them was very entertaining, and I cracked up every single time
In terms of the pacing, it was pretty good! The beginning definitely grabbed my attention, but then the next few chapters dragged on a bit for me up until she made it to the castle. They weren't boring really, I was just impatient to get to the point. Like yes the solo hunt was definitely a good way of introducing the FMC and demonstrating her inexperience alongside her drive. And then the mind invasion thing was also very important for the little lore dump. And I did reallyyyy like the Lure bit with that 'mystery man'
The magic system???? So freakin cool. I don't 100% understand how it works, but that didn't detract from the experience. I'm just a little confused about how she and the man both seem secretly OP but in completely different ways. Like I don't know what the standard is for these people. I also don't understand the inborn situation (is that what they called it... or no... where the human and shade soul are like inextricably linked like that infant apparently was...) like how is that any different from the FMC? Or is it not different and that's the secret memory she can't access? Bc her relationship with her shade is definitely unique. Idk I'm just a little lost with that whole thing. Also wtf is up with the man omg he and his shade DEFINITELY do not have the same relationship as the FMC goddamn. Can't wait to see what all of THAT drama is about.
All in all, like I said, this was really good. I like the writing style quite a bit, and I'm very excited to learn more about all these secrets we kept getting teased with. I just wish this was NA instead of YA (which, again, totally personal preference obviously. Not at all a genuine critique of the book/author).