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A review by jasminnereads
The Shadow Wand by Laurie Forest
2.0
2.5
I found this book to be largely disappointing, especially after loving the second novel, The Iron Flower, so much. In all aspects, this book just felt very messy and not well put together in almost every way.
The only part of I really enjoyed were the last few chapters, as well as getting more insight into Lucas as his character develops and we see more about his family and childhood, explaining largely why he is the way he is, all while trying to undo all he has learned and the horrible teachings that have been instilled into him by his family and upbringing.
Eleanor’s character development, however, seemed to have a huge undoing. I found she made excuse after excuse, and was written very timidly up until the last portion of the book. What happened to the strong, opinionated Eleanor we got to know in book two? I felt like she only became brave when pushed to her limit, by Lucas, when she is strong enough on her own. She doesn’t need the urging of a man. She doesn’t always need someone to hold her hand and I felt that’s what Lucas was to her in this novel and it wasn’t fair to either of these characters and their stories.
I had backlash from the amount of times she went from missing Yvan to wanting Lucas within a matter of seconds, always making up excuses to “settle” for Lucas. Yvan and Lucas both deserved better in my opinion. I felt like Lucas was used as a last resort, someone to quell her loneliness and grief amongst Yvan’s death.
While on the subject, Yvan’s death did not do him justice and the entire time I was hoping it wasn’t true because if it was I probably would’ve dnfed this book right then and there. It would’ve been different if his death did his character and storyline justice but it didn’t. His death was a short scene, a mere minutes long. The author spent longer talking about the trees and Eleanor screaming at them than she did giving Yvan a justified goodbye- a proper burial.
Then Eleanor spent so much time trying to justify to us as well as herself why it was okay that she slept with Lucas mere moments after finding out of Yvan’s death, for the good of all of mankind. I felt like this book was an excuse to create a deeper love triangle or to somehow solve it, which was not done in the least. At the end, just like I knew he would be, Yvan was alive all along. Will she at least take the proper time to grieve Lucas and the relationship they had or will we be met with more excuses?
I do hope this is truly not Lucas’s end because he really does deserve better and I am in mourning at his loss.
If I hadn’t invested so much time and emotions into this series and these characters I may have stopped reading after this one but I am intrigued to see where we go from here and this book wasn’t enough to take away the joy I found in the first two novels. I find the shadow creatures intriguing and I am interested to see Eleanor come into her power, not just her rune power, but the power of the black witch.
I didn’t mind the chapters in the point of views of other various characters, but at times they felt much too long and unnecessary. I think this book really just served as a way to move the story along, and introduce new characters and plot points for the fourth novel so I will take it at face value and just hope the next novel will deliver more in every aspect but I’m not sure it can undo the bad this novel inflicted.
It was interesting to learn more about the Fae islands and I can’t wait to see more of Winter’s story and hope she can be freed and come to love herself in the process. Underneath, this series is still a tale of deeply embedded religious beliefs being undone and the oppressed trying to rise up and find their voices along pain and death and I will always value that and hope the rest of this journey is written in a way that is fitting and fair to these characters and world.
I found this book to be largely disappointing, especially after loving the second novel, The Iron Flower, so much. In all aspects, this book just felt very messy and not well put together in almost every way.
The only part of I really enjoyed were the last few chapters, as well as getting more insight into Lucas as his character develops and we see more about his family and childhood, explaining largely why he is the way he is, all while trying to undo all he has learned and the horrible teachings that have been instilled into him by his family and upbringing.
Eleanor’s character development, however, seemed to have a huge undoing. I found she made excuse after excuse, and was written very timidly up until the last portion of the book. What happened to the strong, opinionated Eleanor we got to know in book two? I felt like she only became brave when pushed to her limit, by Lucas, when she is strong enough on her own. She doesn’t need the urging of a man. She doesn’t always need someone to hold her hand and I felt that’s what Lucas was to her in this novel and it wasn’t fair to either of these characters and their stories.
I had backlash from the amount of times she went from missing Yvan to wanting Lucas within a matter of seconds, always making up excuses to “settle” for Lucas. Yvan and Lucas both deserved better in my opinion. I felt like Lucas was used as a last resort, someone to quell her loneliness and grief amongst Yvan’s death.
While on the subject, Yvan’s death did not do him justice and the entire time I was hoping it wasn’t true because if it was I probably would’ve dnfed this book right then and there. It would’ve been different if his death did his character and storyline justice but it didn’t. His death was a short scene, a mere minutes long. The author spent longer talking about the trees and Eleanor screaming at them than she did giving Yvan a justified goodbye- a proper burial.
Then Eleanor spent so much time trying to justify to us as well as herself why it was okay that she slept with Lucas mere moments after finding out of Yvan’s death, for the good of all of mankind. I felt like this book was an excuse to create a deeper love triangle or to somehow solve it, which was not done in the least. At the end, just like I knew he would be, Yvan was alive all along. Will she at least take the proper time to grieve Lucas and the relationship they had or will we be met with more excuses?
I do hope this is truly not Lucas’s end because he really does deserve better and I am in mourning at his loss.
If I hadn’t invested so much time and emotions into this series and these characters I may have stopped reading after this one but I am intrigued to see where we go from here and this book wasn’t enough to take away the joy I found in the first two novels. I find the shadow creatures intriguing and I am interested to see Eleanor come into her power, not just her rune power, but the power of the black witch.
I didn’t mind the chapters in the point of views of other various characters, but at times they felt much too long and unnecessary. I think this book really just served as a way to move the story along, and introduce new characters and plot points for the fourth novel so I will take it at face value and just hope the next novel will deliver more in every aspect but I’m not sure it can undo the bad this novel inflicted.
It was interesting to learn more about the Fae islands and I can’t wait to see more of Winter’s story and hope she can be freed and come to love herself in the process. Underneath, this series is still a tale of deeply embedded religious beliefs being undone and the oppressed trying to rise up and find their voices along pain and death and I will always value that and hope the rest of this journey is written in a way that is fitting and fair to these characters and world.