Tag: fantasy

#SixforSunday – Tropes I Want To See More Of

The Biblioshelf2 Comments

Happy Sunday Bibliofriends,

This week’s Six For Sunday continues our tropes theme and this time we’re discussing tropes we want to see more of. Any of my favourite tropes from my first Six For Sunday post this month I could read and read forever so I’ve tried to include a few of the less common tropes that I’d want to read more of here.

For those who don’t already know, Six for Sunday is weekly meme hosted by Steph over at A Little But A Lot. 

Something where everyone dies at the end

I don’t think I’ve ever read a book where every single person dies at the end but maybe it could be fun different right?!

Anything with Water – seas, rivers, waterfalls, mermaids, pirates

Its not really a trope but anything with a water feature or where water is a major part of the world and I’m desperate to read it!

Coming Full Circle

Something which links right back to the very start whilst still containing the closure of the ending. I can’t quite explain how I see it in my head and I don’t just mean everything in the world going back to normal like it was at the beginning, but I’d love to see some reference which makes the beginning of the story relevant at the end.

Curve-ball Endings (done well)

Something where although I know this story has finished, the author has left the possibility wide open for another character or spin-off novel to take place within the world. Or a curve ball that comes so out of the blue that I’m shocked and left reeling by the end of it.

Enemies to Lovers / Forbidden Romances

We’ve covered this – I love this trope… more, more, more please!

Evil Triumphs

Sometimes, just sometimes I wish we’d see more of the villains winning in the story as opposed to the good side winning all of the time.

Tell me your favourite tropes which you wish appeared more often? Do you ever consider writing your own novel just to feature an underrated trope? As always, leave me a comment to chat or drop me your Six for Sunday links below and I’d be happy to visit.

T xx

#Friday56 – These Divided Shores

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Aloha, it’s finally freakin’ Friday!

This week’s Friday 56 comes from These Divided Shores by Sara Raasch which is the sequel to These Rebel Waves. This is another part of my ‘series I’m trying to finish’ episodes and I’m kinda sad to be saying goodbye to Grace Loray and it’s wonderful botanical magic.

Hosted by Freda’s Voice, the Friday 56 is a weekly bookish prompt. It’s quite easy to do and could cover no end of different books and genres so seems great if you’re looking for a quick snippet to discover something new!

Rules:

*Grab a book, any book.
*Turn to page 56 or 56% in your eReader (If you have to improvise, that’s ok.)
*Find any sentence, (or few, just don’t spoil it)
*Post it.
*Add your (url) post here in Linky. Add the post url, not your blog url.
*It’s that simple.

You cannot even trust yourself,her mind echoed.

But I trust him, she told the broken pieces that had once been her heart.

I enjoyed returning to Grace Loray to see what happened to Vex, Lu and Ben in this sequel to These Rebel Waves. The Botanical Magic in this series was really something special and I loved finding out the different ways it was used in the story.  If you want to find out more about These Divided Shores then you can check out my full review here.

Have you read These Rebel Waves or These Divided Shores? As always, drop me a comment to chat!

T xx

 

Biblioshelf Musings: These Divided Shores

The Biblioshelf2 Comments

Hello Bibliofriends!

This week’s Biblioshelf Musing is ‘These Divided Shores’ by Sara Raasch which is the sequel to ‘These Rebel Waves’. I first read TRW when it arrived in the August 2018 Mutinous Pirates Fairyloot box. At first, the series wasn’t quite what I was expecting as the pirates were more riverboat looters (Stream Raiders) than the swashbuckling kind (which I guess speaks more about my stereotyping of what I consider pirates to be…). Given the motivational push of lockdown and my birthday, I finally took the plunge and ordered the sequel to tick the sequel off my TBR list.
[🚨Although there are no spoilers ahead for These Divided Shores, this review may naturally feature some spoilers for the first book in the series These Rebel Waves.]

Book: These Divided Shores by Sara Raasch
Genre: Fantasy / YA
Publication Date: 27th August 2019
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Pages: 560
Rating: 📚📚📚

Synopsis (from Goodreads)

The thrilling sequel to These Rebel Waves—full of deadly magic, double crosses, and a revolution—from Sara Raasch, the bestselling author of the Snow Like Ashes series.

As a child, she committed unforgivable acts to free Grace Loray from King Elazar of Argrid. Now Elazar’s plan to retake the island has surpassed Lu’s darkest fears: he’s holding her and his son, Ben, captive in an endlessly shifting prison, forcing them to make a weapon that will guarantee Elazar’s success. Escape is impossible—unless Lu becomes the ruthless soldier she hoped never to be again.

Vex failed to save Lu and Ben—and that torments him as much as his Shaking Sickness. With the disease worsening, Vex throws himself into the rebellion against Argrid. The remaining free armies are allied with the stream raider syndicates—and getting them to cooperate will take a strength Vex thought burned on a pyre six years ago.

Imprisoned, betrayed, and heartbroken, Ben is determined to end his father’s rampage. Watching Elazar sway the minds of Grace Loray as he did those of Argrid, Ben knows he has to play his father’s game of devotion to win this war. But how can a heretic prince defeat the Pious God?

As armies clash and magic rises, Lu, Vex, and Ben will confront their pasts . . . or lose their futures forever.

Botanical Magic

For me, the botanical magic elements are my favourite part of the series. Both books have a few page inserts between different phases of the story which contains a drawing of a magical plant and it’s various attributes and uses. This type of magical system felt so fresh compared to the wand-waving, elemental ‘magic-from-within’ types. I was really interested in the parts of the plot which discussed the accessibility and uses of these plants by both Grace Loray and Argrid. If you like plants and potions then you’ll probably enjoy reading about this magical system!

Grace Loray

The setting of These Divided Shores really compliments the botanical magic system in the novels. Places such as the Backswamp and the numerous streams and rivers which dominate the island all added to the jungle feeling and, even though I’m not from the US, it gave me a bayou feeling from somewhere like Louisiana or Florida mixed with a little bit of Amazon. As I’ve mentioned before, I’m a sucker for any types of ‘water’ features in books or settings so Grace Loray was right up my street and the waterfall episode in the first book was one of my standout parts of the whole series.

Vex, Ben and Character Diversity

I really enjoyed how we got to explore the relationship between cousins Vex and Ben. It brought a fresh dynamic to the story rather than focusing on just the romantic relationships between other characters. I also enjoyed the way in which same-sex relationships were portrayed in the book. One of my pet hates is when same-sex couples feel forced into novels just for the sake of whereas in the Stream Raiders series they were included strongly but subtly at the same time, reinforcing them as normal parts of everyday Grace Loray lifestyles. Gunnar is a particular favourite character and it was nice to see a strong, masculine character also addressing his emotions and feelings openly.

Mini Battle, Mini Battle, Big Battle, End

For me, the pace and plot in These Divided Shores was a little on the slow side to get me through to the end of all 560 pages. In short, the aim of the book is to try and stop Argrid from making permanent magic and enforcing everyone to their rules. The Stream Raiders, having their own cultures and beliefs want to keep Grace Loray as part of a haven for all those who don’t want to surrender to the Pious God. To me, I don’t think I needed all of those pages, and what felt like battle after battle, for all of that to be resolved in the way it was. It always seems that post-battle resolutions get thrown in very quickly at the end even though quite often many nations and lives end up needing to be rebuilt. The ending of These Divided Shores felt slightly rushed compared to all that had happened before the final chapter. Thankfully, I enjoyed the setting, magic and characters enough to finish it all off but at times I did find it rather slow-going for me.

 

The Stream Raiders series is definitely different to other fantasy books I’ve read and I’m glad that I actually bought the sequel to finish it off and see what happened to the characters and magical island which I had enjoyed reading about the first time round. If you enjoy stories about uprisings and the tactics behind different revolts then you’d probably enjoy it. Equally, if you’re after a different style of fantasy setting to the typical medieval castle types then you might just enjoy a little trip along the streams, rivers and botanical magic of Grace Loray!

Have you read These Divided Shores? What is your favourite type of fantasy setting? As always, drop me a comment to chat!

T xx

#SixforSunday – Overdone Tropes

The Biblioshelf2 Comments

Happy Sunday Bibliofriends,

We’re continuing the trope theme this month in the #SixforSunday meme. For those who don’t already know, Six for Sunday is weekly meme hosted by Steph over at A Little But A Lot. 

This week seems a lot similar to last we in that we have gone from hated tropes to overdone tropes. I think the main reason for me hating tropes is because I feel like they’re repetitive and overdone so this week was a little difficult to not just repeat last week’s post! So here are some of my most hated, overdone tropes and the ones which really tipped me over the edge!

Love Triangles

Unpopular opinion alert coming up: Katniss, Peeta and Gale are just one love triangle I really can’t fathom! Add to that mix Bella, Edward and Jacob as well as The Darkling, Alina and Mal… this is probably my biggest pet-peeve when it comes to tropes. I honestly can;t think off the top of my head of one love triangle I actually think was done well in literature apart from Buffy, Spike and Angel and that doesn’t really count!

Love at first sight

Can I add Bella and Edward in here again…? There’s a fair bit of Twilight bashing, sorry fans! So other than the classic Romeo and Juliet, insta-love just seems so predictive and grates on me how characters don’t get the chance to build up to those kind of feelings rather than have them rushed in by the author.

Ye Olde Worlde

So I really didn’t understand the world in the Red Queen series, it felt slightly medieval but then there was the dystopian kind of surveillance cameras and other bits dotted around that threw me off the scent a little as to what time period the book was placed in. I don’t always have to have a novel neatly fit into one time or another, however if there are mash-ups, time-hybrids or fictional liberties then I at least need these blatantly spelling out and woven into the world rather than me having to second-guess whilst trying to keep up with the characters and plot at the same time. Likewise with The Beholder…where did the radio transmitter come from?!

Copycats

I recently finished reading Shadow and Flame by Mindee Arnett which is the sequel to Onyx and Ivory; whilst I really enjoyed reading it and rated it 3.5 stars, part of me just couldn’t help get a sense of deja-vu when reading it. I won;t add any spoilers in here for anyone who may yet read the books, but it just felt like the plot was littered with little motifs or nods to things that have happened in other major book series out there (a darkened magically poisoned hand slowly killing its host remind you of anyone…?).

Happily Ever Afters

7 of the books I’ve read this year so far have had a happily ever after kind of feeling to them. Whilst I do enjoy a happy ending sometimes it seems far too good to be true. I hate to be on the pessimistic side but I like my endings with a tinge of sadness or sacrifice – think of Crooked Kingdom, Kingdom of Ash and Anna K – with sweeping epics and engrossing stories sometimes the Disney-fied “and they all lived happily ever after” just doesn’t cut it and match up to the storyline for me to believe in it enough.

A Blink And You Miss It Ending

Descendant of the Crane had such a massive build-up and whilst I really enjoyed reading it, the ending felt like the drop on a rollercoaster – one fell swoop and suddenly the novel stopped. I would much rather read seven books in a longer series and feel like everything has happened proportionately, than read over 300 pages of build up for a ten page ending.

Which tropes do you feel need a massive overhaul? Which tropes do you love so much that you don’t care how often they’re overdone but you just have to read them? As always, leave me a comment to chat or drop me your Six for Sunday links below and I’d be happy to visit.

T xx

#Friday56 – Shadow and Flame

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Woop Woop – TGI Friday!

This week’s Friday 56 comes from Shadow and Flame by Mindee Arnett which is the sequel to the fantasy novel Onyx and Ivory. I got this as part of my birthday haul in my bid to try and finish off some of the series I’d already started from way back when!

Hosted by Freda’s Voice, the Friday 56 is a weekly bookish prompt. It’s quite easy to do and could cover no end of different books and genres so seems great if you’re looking for a quick snippet to discover something new!

Rules:

*Grab a book, any book.
*Turn to page 56 or 56% in your eReader (If you have to improvise, that’s ok.)
*Find any sentence, (or few, just don’t spoil it)
*Post it.
*Add your (url) post here in Linky. Add the post url, not your blog url.
*It’s that simple.

Signe wasn’t a wilder or magist, only a woman from the Esh Islands of unknown birth and background. Still, she possessed many talents, including senses keen enough to provoke envy in any assassin or spy – and one secret that made her the most important woman in the Rising.

Signe was one of the sassiest and most mysterious characters in this book. I really like the way her friendship with Kate goes through its trials and tribulations. It isn’t often that you witness people facing up to the consequences of their actions like this pair of friends. If you want to hear more about Shadow and Flame then you can check out my full review here.

Have you read Onyx and Ivory or Shadow and Flame? What kind of Wilder magic would you rather have? As always, drop me a comment to chat!

T xx

Biblioshelf Musings: Shadow and Flame

The Biblioshelf1 Comment

Howdy Bibliofriends!

This week’s Biblioshelf Musing is Shadow and Flame which is the sequel to Onyx and Ivory by Mindee Arnett. If you follow my other posts you’ll know that I’m not that great at keeping up with sequels. That being said, in my new little world of trying to maintain good ‘atomic habits’, the motivational need to clear some series space on my shelves prompted me to add Shadow and Flame to my birthday book haul.
🚨 There may be some spoilers ahead for the first book in the series but if you want to read one of my very early reviews then you can find my thoughts on Onyx and Ivory here.

Book: Shadow and Flame by Mindee Arnett
Genre: Fantasy / YA
Publication Date: 4th June 2019
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Pages: 482
Rating: 📚📚📚

Synopsis (from Goodreads)

From acclaimed author Mindee Arnett comes the thrilling conclusion of the stunningly epic, action-packed, and romantic fantasy adventure about a powerful girl possessed of strange magic, the outcast prince she loves, and the kingdom that has torn them apart.

Kate and Corwin are on the run, desperate for allies in a new world of war among the kingdoms of Rime. As the book opens, Kate suffers a massive loss, one that will shape the struggle for freedom of all wilders and magic folk—that is, if Kate can learn to control her own power.

The World of Rime

Wow, it felt so good to be back in Rime. I have to say that in a bookish world swamped with lots of medieval-style fantasy settings, the Kingdom of Rime felt really homely and not overdone. To be honest I think the setting may be one of my favourite parts of the whole novel. In Shadow and Flame we get to do a little more exploration of Seva and the Mistfold which is where the story kicks off. I can’t quite describe why I like it so much but the references to everweeps and the mysterious statues all just add to it being a nice place to spend some reading time in my head. Finding out the source of the Wilders’ magic and it’s link to the kingdom was one of those niche little things that I enjoyed whilst reading. I’m really hoping that we can come back to this world someday just to explore the places on the map that we didn’t really see.

Signe and the Esh Islands

One of those places is the Esh Islands where Signe is from. Signe is such a mysterious character and she has a really unusual appearance with ruby-like gems surrounding her mouth. As part of the Furen Mag, we find out much more about Signe’s identity throughout the book, however the ending left me feeling like there was a little more to this character and her heritage that I wanted to know an awful lot more about. We finally discover the secret of the mystical Black Powder, but it all just leaves me wanting a spin-off series about Signe and the Furen Mag.

Paragon and Uror

The Paragon and the Uror are central devices used to carry out the plot and battle between good and evil in the Rime Chronicles. It’s quite hard to talk about them without giving away major spoilers but as far as ‘roles for heroes’ go, these were pretty effective and I liked the symbolism of the black/white themes that accompanied their descriptions.  They were both fairly predictable within the story but I really did enjoy the storytelling around the way they were represented – who doesn’t love a magical horse right?!

To Sway or not to Sway

Kate’s wilder ability is to control people’s minds with Sway. The book goes into great detail about how the ability to invade someone’s mind or force them to do things against their will comes with a heavy burden and a price to pay. This is part of a major conscience battle for Kate and I like the way the author explores the way her use of her wilder ability affects some of her closest friendships – it’s not often that we get to see the psychological ramifications of something like this taking a key focal part in a fantasy tale.

All in all, The Rime Chronicles were a nice, fun read. The characters were nice, the plot was nice, the magic system was nice – nice, nice, nice. I occasionally read parts of the story and had a deja-vu moment as if I had heard of that ‘blackened, poisoned hand’ somewhere before… but on the whole, it was an enjoyable story which I’m definitely glad to have picked up and completed. Predictable in places, slightly rushed at the end after the final battle and although I feel like I’m ready to say goodbye to the world of Corwin and Kate, I’m definitely not quite ready to part with the whole of the Kingdom of Rime and would look forward to more books from this quaint little fantasy-fictional world.

Have you read the Rime Chronicles? Would you rather be a Wilder and pull your magic from the Earth around you, or a Magist who creates magic through making magical orbs and portals? I think I’m definitely more on the Wilder side. As always, drop me a comment to chat!

T xx

#SixforSunday – Tropes I Hate

The Biblioshelf2 Comments

Happy Sunday Bibliofriends,

We’re continuing the trope theme this month in the #SixforSunday meme. I can’t decide whether it was easier to think of last week’s ‘tropes I love’ or this week’s ‘tropes I hate’. I think tropes are tricky territory for authors as some of them are extremely overdone, however get one and do it well and it can make for an amazing top-rated story.
For those who don’t already know, Six for Sunday is weekly meme hosted by Steph over at A Little But A Lot.

Love Triangles

OMG the to-ing and fro-ing between different people, then my heart makes a case for each different person, and someone always seems to wind up disappointed… – I just find it annoying!

Love at first sight

I mean come on…call me a cynic, but really?!

Ye Olde Worlde

I think I’m done with the purely medieval settings – I need another element in there to make things exciting. What really annoys me is when I can’t actually work out what kind of historical period a novel is set in because it starts off medieval and then someone throws surveillance cameras or radio gadgets in there which just doesn’t fit together in my head!

Copycats

Sometimes it’s so obvious when a novel has copied elements or themes from other bigger novels/series and I hate it when they’re really obvious and stand out in the story.

Happily Ever Afters

Sometimes a little bit of heartache or sacrifice makes a plot line stronger or stick out in my mind. It can get quite boring when everything seems to work out all fine and dandy, especially when it takes about 500 pages to get there.

A Blink And You Miss It Ending

Just as above, I hate wading through about 500 pages of deep world-building, politics, character arcs and quest missions just to find out that the main part of the story or ending magical moment only lasts a few pages before the world is healed and evil is banished forever more.

What are your pet hates when it comes to tropes? Which tropes do you think have been done to death and make you eye-roll at the words in front of you? As always, leave me a comment to chat or drop me your Six for Sunday links below and I’d be happy to visit.

T xx

#SixforSunday – Tropes I Love

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Happy Sunday Bibliofriends,

We’re starting a new theme this month in the #SixforSunday meme. July is all about tropes! For those who don’t already know, Six for Sunday is weekly meme hosted by Steph over at A Little But A Lot.

The Chosen One

From Harry Potter to Buffy the Vampire Slayer I’m such a fan of the ‘chosen one’ narrative. The idea that there is just one person whose destiny it is to try and stop the evil gets me really invested into a character.

The Powerful Artefact

Talismans, magical rings, powerful weapons, special maps, historical artefacts – I am an absolute sucker for motifs like this. It’s these little story knick-knacks which get my fantasy senses all a-tingling.

The ‘Here Comes the Cavalry’ Theme

When it seems like all hope is lost and evil is about to outnumber and triumph against the good – there’s that moment where all of a sudden, the cavalry arrives and turns back the tide against the forces of darkness. A bit like Gandalf at the Battle of Helm’s Deep and Doctor Strange in Avengers: Endgame – those moments of rallying the troops always seem to bring a little tear to my eye.

The Flawed-Hero/Villain (Anti-hero with a redemption arc)

Severus Snape is absolutely leading the way in this one and is one of my favourite characters in all of fiction. I know there has been a lot of debate about whether he is inherently a good guy or just someone that came out OK in the end but to me he is the ultimate flawed hero. I love any character whose motivations are unclear and you spend most of the series/novel considering whether they’re good or bad only to find out that they were really a good guy in the end.

Enemies to Lovers / Forbidden Romance

There’s just something angsty about this trope which, when it’s done well, has me hanging on every last word. This is sometimes where I start to delve into the realms of fanfiction ever so slightly (guilty pleasure!) but I much prefer this type of romance trope to any of the others out there, especially when the immediate soulmate type of romances are just so typical, predictable or cringe!

Cliffhangers

Is there any other way to end a book mid-series than with a jaw-dropping cliffhanger (I’m looking at you Holly Black in The Wicked King)?! I need that edge-of-my-seat thrill ride that leaves me hanging and craving the next instalment.

What’s your favourite trope? If you’re loving some of the ones above then feel free to shout out some recs! Drop me your Six for Sunday links below and I’d be happy to visit!

Enjoy the last stretch of the weekend everyone.

T xx

#Friday56 – Descendant of the Crane

The Biblioshelf2 Comments

FriYAY is here at last!

This week’s Friday 56 comes from Descendant of the Crane by Joan He. I squealed with excitement the moment I was accepted for this from NetGalley so big thanks to them, Titan Books and Joan He for the opportunity to read this book.

Hosted by Freda’s Voice, the Friday 56 is a weekly bookish prompt. It’s quite easy to do and could cover no end of different books and genres so seems great if you’re looking for a quick snippet to discover something new!

Rules:

*Grab a book, any book.
*Turn to page 56 or 56% in your eReader (If you have to improvise, that’s ok.)
*Find any sentence, (or few, just don’t spoil it)
*Post it.
*Add your (url) post here in Linky. Add the post url, not your blog url.
*It’s that simple.

IMG_1625

Descendant of the Crane is the perfect balance of political intrigue and mystery all set in a fantastical oriental inspired world. The ending was an absolute rollercoaster of revelations and the Epilogue just left me wanting more, more, more! If you enjoyed Forest of a Thousand Lanterns and Song of Sorrow then Descendant of the Crane may be the love-child of the two that you’ve been searching for. You can check out my full review here!

Have you read Descendant of the Crane? What’s your favourite Asian fantasy? As always, leave me your #Friday56 links or drop me a comment to chat!

T xx

Biblioshelf Musings – The Shadows Between Us

The Biblioshelf3 Comments

Howdy Bibliofriends!

This was my first time reading anything by Tricia Levenseller and if it’s anything to go by then it definitely won’t be the last time I read anything by her!

I received The Shadows Between Us in the Feb 2020 FairyLoot Rulebreakers box and can definitely see how this book fitted into the brief. Neither Alessandra or the Shadow King play by the rules or conform to convention. Billed as a Slytherin Romance I was expecting lots of sneaking, cunning and trickery throughout this book – let’s just say, it did not disappoint!

Book: The Shadows Between Us by Tricia Levenseller
Genre: Fantasy, Romance (YA)
Publication Date: 25th Feb 2020
Publisher: Feiwel and Friends [FairyLoot Exclusive]
Pages: 326
Rating: 📚📚📚📚

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Alessandra is tired of being overlooked, but she has a plan to gain power:
1) Woo the Shadow King.
2) Marry him.
3) Kill him and take his kingdom for herself.
No one knows the extent of the freshly crowned Shadow King’s power. Some say he can command the shadows that swirl around him to do his bidding. Others say they speak to him, whispering the thoughts of his enemies. Regardless, Alessandra knows what she deserves, and she’s going to do everything within her power to get it.
But Alessandra’s not the only one trying to kill the king. As attempts on his life are made, she finds herself trying to keep him alive long enough for him to make her his queen—all while struggling not to lose her heart. After all, who better for a Shadow King than a cunning, villainous queen?

“They’ve never found the body of the first and only boy who broke my heart.
And they never will.
I buried Hektor Galanis in a hole so deep, even the devils of the earth couldn’t reach him.”

When your protagonist introduces the book with these lines, you know you’re going to be dealing with someone who oozes sass and feistiness. Alessandra absolutely delivered on this – imagine Downton Abbey’s Lady Mary mixed in with dash of Bellatrix Estrange and a hint of Anne Boleyn… that’s your girl!

Her determination to reach her goal was relentless and nobody was about to foil her plans no matter how powerful or what role they had at court; ‘hell hath no fury’ and all that…!

I enjoyed the change in Alessandra’s character as parts of her plan had to evolve and things didn’t necessarily go her way. She had to undergo a transformation of getting over past hurts and learning the art of compromise and teamwork. Although Alessandra’s personality comes across to the reader through narration and interactions with other characters, it also comes through in the way that she dresses.

Clothing in particular plays a huge role in this story. I love the way Levenseller picked one element of her world to focus on as the main source of description throughout. Rather than write huge chunks describing, castles, towns and kingdoms, Levenseller shows the reader the vibrancy and attitude of the Shadow King’s court through fashion. In a way, this was a brilliant move. I am a massive fan of world building and would happily read a book with an extra 150 pages just so I can get a clearer picture in my mind of the way the author wants us to view their creative universe – but to see the way in which changes at court or in people’s emotions/feelings were reflected through what they were wearing added a decadent feeling to the whole narrative. This also echoes the importance of fashion and clothing throughout history. Think back to Tudor times when certain colours and materials were only available to those with the right money for dyes and textiles; then fast-forward to the present day and think of how haute-couture is only available to those who can afford the price-tag or garner the right publicity and influence.

The plot-line was a relatively simple one to follow and with most of the narrative being dialogue, it really helped to speed up the pace of the novel and digest what was going on. In true Slytherin style, the amount of deceptions and variety of motivations from different characters helped to keep me guessing who was actually trustworthy right until the very end – but even then I didn’t think the ending would necessarily be as simple as it was.

If you like your romances with a hint of black magic, then The Shadows Between Us would probably be right up your street. This was a wickedly dark, entrancing read which had me gripped right from the first page. It is filled with secrets, court politics and a romance developed from deception. I enjoyed the way that Alessandra was a woman championing her equal rights and standing up for herself and what she believed in. She came across as a woman with ambition who was willing to work her ass off to get there, rather than stomp around pouting with a sense of entitlement. The romance between her and the Shadow King is one of my new favourite relationships from the fictional world – they are so well-suited to each other and I’m a little gutted that there isn’t a sequel just so I can see what happens next.

Have you read The Shadows Between Us? Would you recommend any other Tricia Levenseller books? What other Hogwarts House romance are you craving in your bookish lives? As always, drop me a comment to chat! 🙂

T xx