Review by billies_not_so_secret_diary - Shadows of the Lost

billies_not_so_secret_diary 's review for:

Shadows of the Lost by Maxym M. Martineau

2.0

slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Shadows of the Lost

by Maxym M. Martineau

Fantasy Romance LGBT

Erotica

NetGalley ARC

Gaige used to be able to form bonds with magical beasts until he died and was brought back to life as an Immortal Assassin, losing that bonding gift and exchanging it for the ability to control shadows, shaping them into weapons that could kill just as well as a real one, if he could learn how to control them. This was not the life he wanted, he loved his magical beasts, not the shadows. And every time he loses control the animals of the woods become aggressive.

Kost, the leader of the assassins who chose this life for Gaige can only watch him rage against his new life, fearing every time Gaige loses control that Gaige will succumb to the shadows and be lost to them all.

Written in first person, this book is told from the perspectives of Gaige and Kost, (but a few others do have their own chapters) and is mostly centered around Gaige whining about not wanting the life and not being able to control his shadows. Kost whines about not being able to help Gaige and is racked with guilt because he was the one who decided to have Gaige brought back to life.

At first, I thought the characters were teenagers, but no, they are adults.

And worse, both of them whine about their feelings for the other and how they can't be together, and this whining takes up the first fifty percent of the book. But the world, its magic, the people, etc. is brushed over because it has already been established in the previous series, which I had no idea this book was a spin-off of. Had I known this, I would not have requested this book since I haven't read that series. I am taking away a star for this because I had no background, nothing to connect with, or a reason to care about the characters. It would've been simple for the publisher to make this fact known. And because of the endless whining, this book loses yet another star.

Then it turned into porn. Bye-Bye star...There is nothing listing this story as erotica, and this is erotica. There are details, pages of graphic details of sex acts, and they are not your 'typical' acts. Had I known this was thirty percent of the story, I would not have requested/read it. For me, romance leaves those acts behind closed doors.

So to sum up, this book is sixty percent whining, thirty percent erotica, five percent story, and five percent index/quiz/author info.

Had there been more about the world and the magic, and less whining and porn, I think I might've liked it more! And had I known this was a spin-off, I would have read that series first.

Will I read the original series now? It sounds interesting, but...

Will I read the next book in this new series? Doubtful!

2 Stars

Content Warnings