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A review by writervid
Circle of Shadows by Evelyn Skye
2.0
I wish I could say I enjoyed this book. After loving The Crown's Game (though not so much its sequel) I was hoping that Circle of Shadows would be a win. However, I found the characters to be cliche, the pacing to be off, and the style to be clunky.
When I started reading the first chapter, I experienced many an eye roll at Sora and Daemon. Sora seemed to be an attempt at almost a Fred and George style trickster character, but that felt skimmed over, especially after her character motivations took a complete 180 after one scene. Daemon, too, played into this idea of an unrequited love interest who is down on his luck about his skills. There wasn't any depth in them, so I was never truly invested in their characters. The characters that did seem interesting to me-Fairy and Aki-were never really expanded on, and the character whose tropes I would normally be a sucker for, Virtuoso, felt so one-dimensional that I wanted to skip over scenes with her. The premises of the characters felt cliche. Had there been more depth, I could see myself liking them, but the focus was never on the characters-rather, about stakes that felt totally off kilter. I felt as though the idea that these kids could combat a war effort was totally foolish, particularly because of the ease with which they did and the lack of pressure they seemed to feel. The way the military system and magic systems worked also felt undeveloped and as such, brought about this idea of "ease" which took away pressure.
The style also brought about an eye roll. While there were a few beautiful descriptions, it felt unpolished and unedited. I was also confused, because the setting was never really touched on. I felt lost as to where we were; while I thought I saw elements of Japanese culture, those elements felt inconstant with others, such as the blonde hair needed for the ruling family. Which could be problematic.
I feel as if this book had taken more time with its characters, developed them more, and let its characters drive the plot, this could have been pretty good.
I will not be continuing this series.
When I started reading the first chapter, I experienced many an eye roll at Sora and Daemon. Sora seemed to be an attempt at almost a Fred and George style trickster character, but that felt skimmed over, especially after her character motivations took a complete 180 after one scene. Daemon, too, played into this idea of an unrequited love interest who is down on his luck about his skills. There wasn't any depth in them, so I was never truly invested in their characters. The characters that did seem interesting to me-Fairy and Aki-were never really expanded on, and the character whose tropes I would normally be a sucker for, Virtuoso, felt so one-dimensional that I wanted to skip over scenes with her. The premises of the characters felt cliche. Had there been more depth, I could see myself liking them, but the focus was never on the characters-rather, about stakes that felt totally off kilter. I felt as though the idea that these kids could combat a war effort was totally foolish, particularly because of the ease with which they did and the lack of pressure they seemed to feel. The way the military system and magic systems worked also felt undeveloped and as such, brought about this idea of "ease" which took away pressure.
The style also brought about an eye roll. While there were a few beautiful descriptions, it felt unpolished and unedited. I was also confused, because the setting was never really touched on. I felt lost as to where we were; while I thought I saw elements of Japanese culture, those elements felt inconstant with others, such as the blonde hair needed for the ruling family. Which could be problematic.
I feel as if this book had taken more time with its characters, developed them more, and let its characters drive the plot, this could have been pretty good.
I will not be continuing this series.