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A review by themadbloodstone
Sanctuary of the Shadow by Aurora Ascher
Did not finish book. Stopped at 51%.
GOD I REALLY WANTED TO GIVE THIS BOOK THE BENEFIT OF THE DOUBT BUT HOLY SHIT IS IT AWFUL !!
At first it started off amazing. There was very subtle worldbuilding that kept me intrigued, wanting to learn more about the world’s lore as the story progressed, and Harrow, Raith, and Mal were interesting characters. I wanted to know why Harrow was drawn to Raith and needed to protect him. But then I reached the halfway point. (VERY DETAILED SPOILERS)I really, really, really wanted to give this book the benefit of the doubt, that the twist with Raith being the wraith responsible for killing Harrow’s mother and entire family wouldn’t happen because it was so obvious it was headed that way. I was really like, “No, that’s so dumb, maybe it only seems that way and a much better twist will be revealed.
Nope! Raith really was the one who killed the Seers. And, to top that all off, Harrow was a CHILD when he killed her family. Gave me the most biggest ick. The lore became uninteresting, and the worldbuilding was minimal and a drag. The Queens’ explanations and character arcs were so stale and gave me no reason to see why Raith deserved redemption. Harrow’s actions and Raith’s actions gave me no reason to see why Raith deserved redemption. It got shittier from there, and I skipped ahead to find maybe a little hope for something better. Just a dumb battle over a violent man and desperate attempts to remind readers, “Aw, he’s still sweet and innocent, he was just made evil but now he’s nice”. Blah. Instalove is not love, and this isn’t even instalove, it’s just horny! And guess what the epilogue was? Harrow and Raith’s fucking baby, named after Harrow’s mother, and a bittersweet ending. Yay.
I really wanted to like this book but it’s terrible. I literally threw the book across the room. It’s not worth the read, honestly. I’m sure there’s better romantasies out there but this one just reminded me why I keep away from them. I gotta go wash my palette now. I’m just glad this was an ARC. No money spent!
At first it started off amazing. There was very subtle worldbuilding that kept me intrigued, wanting to learn more about the world’s lore as the story progressed, and Harrow, Raith, and Mal were interesting characters. I wanted to know why Harrow was drawn to Raith and needed to protect him. But then I reached the halfway point. (VERY DETAILED SPOILERS)
Nope! Raith really was the one who killed the Seers. And, to top that all off, Harrow was a CHILD when he killed her family. Gave me the most biggest ick. The lore became uninteresting, and the worldbuilding was minimal and a drag. The Queens’ explanations and character arcs were so stale and gave me no reason to see why Raith deserved redemption. Harrow’s actions and Raith’s actions gave me no reason to see why Raith deserved redemption. It got shittier from there, and I skipped ahead to find maybe a little hope for something better. Just a dumb battle over a violent man and desperate attempts to remind readers, “Aw, he’s still sweet and innocent, he was just made evil but now he’s nice”. Blah. Instalove is not love, and this isn’t even instalove, it’s just horny! And guess what the epilogue was? Harrow and Raith’s fucking baby, named after Harrow’s mother, and a bittersweet ending. Yay.
I really wanted to like this book but it’s terrible. I literally threw the book across the room. It’s not worth the read, honestly. I’m sure there’s better romantasies out there but this one just reminded me why I keep away from them. I gotta go wash my palette now. I’m just glad this was an ARC. No money spent!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content and Genocide
Moderate: Death of parent