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The Shadow Curse #1
The Shadow Kingdom
Elliot West stands vigil as Watchman, on the lookout for signs the Shadow Curse may be spreading across the Barrier Strait to her small northern isle. But in all the centuries since the curse was cast, no one, including Eli, has seen a thing, and even she is beginning to wonder if it’s all some grand hoax. That is, until she's ambushed by the Lojkin, an warrior clan from the Shadow Kingdom who believe drinking the blood of someone with color will restore their own- stolen generations ago by the Curse.
Against her will, Eli is taken across the sea to the cursed Shadow Kingdom, waiting to be slaughtered as a sacrifice to foreign gods. Just when it seems her death is imminent, a young man with strange shifting tattoos and a questionable motive, helps her escape, setting them on a dangerous path through strange lands in an attempt to get home.
Against her will, Eli is taken across the sea to the cursed Shadow Kingdom, waiting to be slaughtered as a sacrifice to foreign gods. Just when it seems her death is imminent, a young man with strange shifting tattoos and a questionable motive, helps her escape, setting them on a dangerous path through strange lands in an attempt to get home.
- GenresFantasyYoung Adult
320 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2018
136 people want to read
About the author
C.J. Inkson
4 books8 followersC.J. Inkson is the author of several young adult novels including The Shadow Kingdom and Fortune's Queen. She loves books about magic, romance, adventure and fantasy. Growing up in the vast planes of the north, books were an escape that led her to a career in writing where she can always explore new, endless worlds.
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
November 22, 2018
Very interesting read!! I loved the concept of the Shadow Cursed and the world without color. I really identified with Eli well and loved her personality! And what the heck Tren??? You started off Swoon worthy but you’ve definitely dug a pretty big hole! I hope you climb out of it in the 2nd book. I’d definitely recommend this read to others and will read the second book!
December 12, 2018
1 star because integrity.
This author is artificially inflating the Goodreads rating of this book.
At the time of this review, there were 13 ratings/reviews for this book. Two are 5-star reviews from the author. Four are 5-star reviews from profiles which have no friends, and have reviewed only this book and other Inkson/Dushinski books. Three 5-star reviewers have private profiles (???). Four are reviews from people who have read various authors, have friends, and seem to be real (including me). So that means that 15% of the reviews are from the author, 54% of the reviews are from suspicious accounts, and a mere 23% are from real reviewers.
Even assuming that the reviews from private profiles and those who only read Inkson/Dushinski books and have no friends are real--Inkson/Dushinski is deliberately using her multiple profiles to double review her own books with 5-star ratings.
She also writes reviews for her Inkson profile using her Dushinski profile without identifying herself as the author. These reviews appear as if they are from an unbiased third party, but they are not.
I had a discussion with several of my friends about this author's practices and asked the question of whether it's ever acceptable for an author to numerically rate their own work, and one said,
"If it's good, you don't need to tell other people that it's good."
Touché. With that in mind, I will commence reviewing the actual book, which I give 2 stars.
--
I received a free Advance Reader Copy through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Three hundred years ago, a mysterious shadow appeared over the capital city of what is now known as the Shadow Kingdom. It leeched the color from everyone and everything coast-to-coast with only the oceans serving as a barrier from expansion into other isles. Elliot West is a watchman on the closest isle to the Shadow Kingdom, but nothing noteworthy has ever happened--until one evening when she is drugged and kidnapped by a warrior clan from the Shadow Kingdom.
Once in the Shadow Kingdom, Elliot does not lose her coloration which proves to the Lojkin tribe that she is gods-blessed and should be killed as a sacrifice. A beautiful, tattooed man who calls himself Tren rescues Elliot from the Lojkin without explanation. He then proceeds to evade all questions Elliot has for him for the remainder of the novel while hustling her across the landscape as they evade tribes out for her blood, resulting in Elliot Stockholm Syndroming herself into loving him.
There are some problematic portrayals of tribes that come across as ethnocentric. Elliot encounters 3 distinct(ish) groups of people: Norse-lite Lojkin, Aztec-lite Rajkins (or something like that), and the incredibly altruistic, culturally-nonthreatening nomad magicians.
Because the Lojkin and Rajkins (or whatever) both do not speak Elliot's language well and are culturally unfamiliar, we know they are bad guys--as evidenced by them kidnapping or attempting to murder her. The nomad magicians, however, speak Elliot's language without issue and are thus good guys. They bandage her up, feed her well, assuage any general bad feelings she could possibly have, and readily answer any questions she has.
This issue can be fixed by ensuring that the city dwellers and the helpful nomad magicians speak in a manner relatively similar to the tribes. Then it just becomes a Shadow Kingdom thing and not ethnocentrism. Why do the tribes even need to be less articulate than the other groups? More nuance in antagonists would be appreciated.
Inkson even actually calls one of the tribes a primitive race at one point. I would recommend using a less ambiguous/loaded term like: people, population, group, or community. The phrase "primitive race" opens up a whole can of worms that you really don't want or need to deal with.
Elliot herself starts off relatively acceptable and relatable but then falls into the trap that I literally was just talking about while reviewing the ARC for Katherine Arden's upcoming The Winter of the Witch (which Arden neatly evades, to her credit) in which the author has difficulty writing a strong female character and instead makes her stubborn and pigheaded to convey strength/independence. Elliot's told not to leave an abandoned mill while Tren runs some errands because she could be killed or imprisoned if discovered. So what does Elliot do? Leaves the mill because she "wants a breath of fresh air" and is immediately captured. She continues to be foolishly stubborn at random points in the novel, for no apparent reason.
The whole book is a bit of a mess what with
When all is said and done, the book can be improved with the aid of a good editor (story, not grammar/syntax) and some real developmental feedback--it is not irrevocably terrible. But I won't be recommending it in its current iteration anytime soon.
Note: Ms. Inkson/Dushinski, I will alter/remove the first half of this review and restore 1 star to the overall rating once the situation has been corrected.
This author is artificially inflating the Goodreads rating of this book.
At the time of this review, there were 13 ratings/reviews for this book. Two are 5-star reviews from the author. Four are 5-star reviews from profiles which have no friends, and have reviewed only this book and other Inkson/Dushinski books. Three 5-star reviewers have private profiles (???). Four are reviews from people who have read various authors, have friends, and seem to be real (including me). So that means that 15% of the reviews are from the author, 54% of the reviews are from suspicious accounts, and a mere 23% are from real reviewers.
Even assuming that the reviews from private profiles and those who only read Inkson/Dushinski books and have no friends are real--Inkson/Dushinski is deliberately using her multiple profiles to double review her own books with 5-star ratings.
She also writes reviews for her Inkson profile using her Dushinski profile without identifying herself as the author. These reviews appear as if they are from an unbiased third party, but they are not.
I had a discussion with several of my friends about this author's practices and asked the question of whether it's ever acceptable for an author to numerically rate their own work, and one said,
"If it's good, you don't need to tell other people that it's good."
Touché. With that in mind, I will commence reviewing the actual book, which I give 2 stars.
--
I received a free Advance Reader Copy through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Three hundred years ago, a mysterious shadow appeared over the capital city of what is now known as the Shadow Kingdom. It leeched the color from everyone and everything coast-to-coast with only the oceans serving as a barrier from expansion into other isles. Elliot West is a watchman on the closest isle to the Shadow Kingdom, but nothing noteworthy has ever happened--until one evening when she is drugged and kidnapped by a warrior clan from the Shadow Kingdom.
Once in the Shadow Kingdom, Elliot does not lose her coloration which proves to the Lojkin tribe that she is gods-blessed and should be killed as a sacrifice. A beautiful, tattooed man who calls himself Tren rescues Elliot from the Lojkin without explanation. He then proceeds to evade all questions Elliot has for him for the remainder of the novel while hustling her across the landscape as they evade tribes out for her blood, resulting in Elliot Stockholm Syndroming herself into loving him.
There are some problematic portrayals of tribes that come across as ethnocentric. Elliot encounters 3 distinct(ish) groups of people: Norse-lite Lojkin, Aztec-lite Rajkins (or something like that), and the incredibly altruistic, culturally-nonthreatening nomad magicians.
Because the Lojkin and Rajkins (or whatever) both do not speak Elliot's language well and are culturally unfamiliar, we know they are bad guys--as evidenced by them kidnapping or attempting to murder her. The nomad magicians, however, speak Elliot's language without issue and are thus good guys. They bandage her up, feed her well, assuage any general bad feelings she could possibly have, and readily answer any questions she has.
This issue can be fixed by ensuring that the city dwellers and the helpful nomad magicians speak in a manner relatively similar to the tribes. Then it just becomes a Shadow Kingdom thing and not ethnocentrism. Why do the tribes even need to be less articulate than the other groups? More nuance in antagonists would be appreciated.
Inkson even actually calls one of the tribes a primitive race at one point. I would recommend using a less ambiguous/loaded term like: people, population, group, or community. The phrase "primitive race" opens up a whole can of worms that you really don't want or need to deal with.
Elliot herself starts off relatively acceptable and relatable but then falls into the trap that I literally was just talking about while reviewing the ARC for Katherine Arden's upcoming The Winter of the Witch (which Arden neatly evades, to her credit) in which the author has difficulty writing a strong female character and instead makes her stubborn and pigheaded to convey strength/independence. Elliot's told not to leave an abandoned mill while Tren runs some errands because she could be killed or imprisoned if discovered. So what does Elliot do? Leaves the mill because she "wants a breath of fresh air" and is immediately captured. She continues to be foolishly stubborn at random points in the novel, for no apparent reason.
The whole book is a bit of a mess what with
When all is said and done, the book can be improved with the aid of a good editor (story, not grammar/syntax) and some real developmental feedback--it is not irrevocably terrible. But I won't be recommending it in its current iteration anytime soon.
Note: Ms. Inkson/Dushinski, I will alter/remove the first half of this review and restore 1 star to the overall rating once the situation has been corrected.
November 5, 2018
Ready cool, imaginative world. Loved the entire story, with norse mythology thrown in. Tren was my favorite character by far. I can't wait to see what happens to Eli and Tren.
November 1, 2018
Loved this book. The world is so captivating. Tren is probably one of my favorite book boyfriends in a long time!
December 17, 2018
*eARC received from NetGalley in return for an honest review*
1.5 stars. Where are all these 5 star ratings coming from, and did we read the same book? Because this was a hot freakin mess.
There were some things about this storyline that I found really interesting. I liked the concept of a land that has lost its color due to a curse or unknown magic. And I think the story had slight potential.
If you are looking for a really different fantasy read, you aren't going to get that with The Shadow Kingdom. This has your classic troupe of characters, the beautiful unknowing, smart, strong female MC who is the snowflake. The male "side kick" who is undeniably hot, mysterious, sometimes and asshole, sometimes not. Then there is the obvious romance that is going to blossom between the two, only to end with some sort of plot twist. The story mainly revolves around them with the exception of the beginning and the end.
I wasn't expecting a paranormal read for this. Eli's job doesn't make sense in a world that might have technology. There was mention of cars and electricity but no phones, so it was hard to pinpoint Eli's world. So when she is thrown in the land of no color (it's almost like a reverse Wizard of Oz in that concept), I am still struggling to understand what kind of world she is in there. From what we learn about the curse, it has been around for a century or more. We go from a modern world to a straight up fantasy world that has magic and no technology. At least I think? The world building had so much potential and was on the cusp of something...but I think got muddled. Also we got a lot of history and context through Eli and it was rather confusing because this land is new to her so how does she know all of this historical stuff. Made no sense.
The characters were forgettable. Eli was suppose to be in her early 20s but she acted like a 15 year old girl. She was so dramatic and whinny. I didn't understand her role in her world. It sounded like she was suppose to be this nordic badass woman watcher...but in a land with technology, why do you need wall watchers? She just seemed sub par compared to her friends who had left for college and made something more of themselves. Inkson made it sound like Eli was born to be a Watchman, but it didn't make sense. Eli also cried a lot. And there is nothing I had more than a female MC who cries constantly but in the next line we are told they are so strong minded and willed. I am fine with a good cry, but when they start to shed tears over everything...gosh...I just can't anymore.
Tren is dull. He has the whole mysterious thing going for him, but he is otherwise just as forgettable as Eli. We learn very little about him and his life and his people. Instead he broods most of the time. Just like Eli, he is also a snowflake. Someone important and powerful but we never learn why. Also his magic made no sense and it's rules kept changing. He was reluctant to give away runes but knew they would wear off anyways...so why is he reluctant if he knows that is going to happen. Also his cloak goes from being able to do one thing to now a few different things, that make absolutely no sense. I have no clue how it works at all.
I don't really understand who the bad guys are either. Is it the Lojkin who desperately want her back in order to sacrifice her? The Rajkin don't give af if she lives or dies or who she is. And this Queen, we have no idea what she wants other than using Eli to break the curse. Also I wanted to know more about the Lojkin and Raykin. Who are they, what is their history, why did they become who they are, what we did get was a bit confusing and didn't make sense. Also if the Mimir people are all powerful and magical, how the heck did they get enslaved.
That convenient rescue ending made no sense whatsoever. So her friends just happened to have also made it alive to this land, and learned to navigate things and somehow were able to track her down, oh and somehow managed to break her out of the cell she was in. Yeaaaa, okayyyyyyyy.
I don't know that I would recommend this to anyone. With some better editing, better world building, better character development, this has the potential to be something so much more interesting.
1.5 stars. Where are all these 5 star ratings coming from, and did we read the same book? Because this was a hot freakin mess.
There were some things about this storyline that I found really interesting. I liked the concept of a land that has lost its color due to a curse or unknown magic. And I think the story had slight potential.
If you are looking for a really different fantasy read, you aren't going to get that with The Shadow Kingdom. This has your classic troupe of characters, the beautiful unknowing, smart, strong female MC who is the snowflake. The male "side kick" who is undeniably hot, mysterious, sometimes and asshole, sometimes not. Then there is the obvious romance that is going to blossom between the two, only to end with some sort of plot twist. The story mainly revolves around them with the exception of the beginning and the end.
I wasn't expecting a paranormal read for this. Eli's job doesn't make sense in a world that might have technology. There was mention of cars and electricity but no phones, so it was hard to pinpoint Eli's world. So when she is thrown in the land of no color (it's almost like a reverse Wizard of Oz in that concept), I am still struggling to understand what kind of world she is in there. From what we learn about the curse, it has been around for a century or more. We go from a modern world to a straight up fantasy world that has magic and no technology. At least I think? The world building had so much potential and was on the cusp of something...but I think got muddled. Also we got a lot of history and context through Eli and it was rather confusing because this land is new to her so how does she know all of this historical stuff. Made no sense.
The characters were forgettable. Eli was suppose to be in her early 20s but she acted like a 15 year old girl. She was so dramatic and whinny. I didn't understand her role in her world. It sounded like she was suppose to be this nordic badass woman watcher...but in a land with technology, why do you need wall watchers? She just seemed sub par compared to her friends who had left for college and made something more of themselves. Inkson made it sound like Eli was born to be a Watchman, but it didn't make sense. Eli also cried a lot. And there is nothing I had more than a female MC who cries constantly but in the next line we are told they are so strong minded and willed. I am fine with a good cry, but when they start to shed tears over everything...gosh...I just can't anymore.
Tren is dull. He has the whole mysterious thing going for him, but he is otherwise just as forgettable as Eli. We learn very little about him and his life and his people. Instead he broods most of the time. Just like Eli, he is also a snowflake. Someone important and powerful but we never learn why. Also his magic made no sense and it's rules kept changing. He was reluctant to give away runes but knew they would wear off anyways...so why is he reluctant if he knows that is going to happen. Also his cloak goes from being able to do one thing to now a few different things, that make absolutely no sense. I have no clue how it works at all.
I don't really understand who the bad guys are either. Is it the Lojkin who desperately want her back in order to sacrifice her? The Rajkin don't give af if she lives or dies or who she is. And this Queen, we have no idea what she wants other than using Eli to break the curse. Also I wanted to know more about the Lojkin and Raykin. Who are they, what is their history, why did they become who they are, what we did get was a bit confusing and didn't make sense. Also if the Mimir people are all powerful and magical, how the heck did they get enslaved.
That convenient rescue ending made no sense whatsoever. So her friends just happened to have also made it alive to this land, and learned to navigate things and somehow were able to track her down, oh and somehow managed to break her out of the cell she was in. Yeaaaa, okayyyyyyyy.
I don't know that I would recommend this to anyone. With some better editing, better world building, better character development, this has the potential to be something so much more interesting.
December 6, 2018
Imagine a land where all the color was sucked out, leaving its people with shades of black and white. Many years ago, a Shadow Curse was cast on an island, draining it of its color and leaving the people alone and in the dark.
Elliot West comes from a line of Watchman, tasked with keeping watch in case there is any sign of the Shadow Curse spreading into her homeland. It has been centuries, and no watchman has spotted anything.
That is until Eli is kidnapped and brought to the Shadow Kingdom.
Omigod I really enjoyed this book. It was a bit confusing at first but soon turned into an addictive read that I couldn’t put down.
I loved Eli’s character growth throughout the story. At first, she was scared and helpless with no real backbone. I got annoyed at her easily. As the plot went on and she was faced with more challenges, she became a stronger version of herself.
The book has you guessing until the very end! I honestly didn’t see it coming which is rare for me. I really enjoyed CJ’s descriptive writing and can’t wait for the next book!
Thank you NetGalley for this wonderful Ebook!
Elliot West comes from a line of Watchman, tasked with keeping watch in case there is any sign of the Shadow Curse spreading into her homeland. It has been centuries, and no watchman has spotted anything.
That is until Eli is kidnapped and brought to the Shadow Kingdom.
Omigod I really enjoyed this book. It was a bit confusing at first but soon turned into an addictive read that I couldn’t put down.
I loved Eli’s character growth throughout the story. At first, she was scared and helpless with no real backbone. I got annoyed at her easily. As the plot went on and she was faced with more challenges, she became a stronger version of herself.
The book has you guessing until the very end! I honestly didn’t see it coming which is rare for me. I really enjoyed CJ’s descriptive writing and can’t wait for the next book!
Thank you NetGalley for this wonderful Ebook!
Want to read
January 12, 2019An interesting synopsis and when I got into the book an even more interesting read. It was a little slow to start but once the book took off you didn’t want to stop reading. I loved the characters especially Eli and Tren. Cannot wait to see what happens next, the sign of a good book to me always. The only criticism I have is it took time to build pace.
Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion
Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion
January 19, 2019
The Shadow Kingdom is an intriguing story. The world is literally black and white. That's so weird! I like the idea, and for the most part, the story is engaging and keeps your interest. The characters are likeable and clever. The descriptions of the places is vivid. The ending wasn't the greatest, kind of sudden. An overall good read. Thanks to NetGalley for an arc in exchange for an honest review.
December 15, 2018
The Shadow Kingdom is a fast paced, eclectic construction of comparisons. The contrast between a world of colour with a world in B&W, conincides with the building of character - particularly the character relationships with others and themselves. Very interesting - and not overplayed concept.
January 9, 2019
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***Huge thank you goes out to Net Galley for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review***
Happy first book review of 2019! How is it that I already feel behind in accomplishing my book reading goals for this year? But at the very least I get to kick off this reading season with not only a fantasy novel, but one I actually enjoyed!
No, The Shadow Kingdom by C.J. Inskon isn’t perfect, but what it gets right is pretty spectacular. The synopsis and idea behind the story is what draws many in. Heck it’s what drew me in and though the details are murky and jumbled especially when it comes to the magic system, had these things been addressed I think the book would have been even greater. From here I think the only thing the author can do is push forward with the series and hopefully fill in those details and small plot holes in order for the series to end on a high note.
Elliott West – She is the current in a long line of Watchers. Her family are the ones who stand on top of a lighthouse facing an ocean canal called the barrier strait that leads to the Kingdom of the Shadow Lands; a place were a curse is said to have fallen causing all color to be drained from the world. Plants, animals, people, nothing has color. This supposedly happened over three hundred years ago and the fear still is that someone from the Shadow Kingdom will attempt to get to Elliott’s world of color, presumably causing the curse to spread and her job is to basically sound the alarm if that should happen. Yet, in those three hundred years no one has tried.
GOOD POINT: I like that the first setting we see is a pseudo modern world. Though the place is clearly made up by Inkson, we can assign our own version of our own modern world on top of it, which is a nice way of making it relatable.
Despite the fact that her family’s job has become obsolete, Elliott or Eli, insists that she will be the next Watcher while her friends leave their small town to go to college; onto bigger and better things allegedly. While having a sort of mini reunion with said friends Eli is kidnapped by a clan of Thor people from the Shadow Kingdom (The clan names in this book are not easy to pronounce or spell so I’m just going to do my best) who believe her to be blessed by the color gods and they believe she can restore their color. They want to eat her basically.
This is where the story introduces the reader to a dark and mysterious, yet strangely staggeringly attractive man like character. His name is Tren and for reasons it seems he’s not even fully aware of, he helps Eli escape the Thor people. They manage to get to the next town of Yrike, I believe that’s what it’s called. Anyway, Tren has them stay in a seemingly abandoned cottage at the edge of the city and then promptly disappears to run “errands” leaving Eli to her own devices. But before he leaves he makes a hard demand that she remain inside the cottage until he returns. Of course because we want to see Eli as a strong character she refuses to listen and leaves the cottage.
GOOD POINT: I am glad Inkson tried to make Eli strong. However, to me she came off as more whiny and like a brat at times. Granted I fully supported her leaving that cottage because dude was gone all day and he gave her zero information as to what was happening. Trust for a stranger only goes so far my dude even if you did help her escape. Anyway, I think Eli’s character needed some tweaking, but I can appreciate what Inkson was trying to accomplish with her.
Of course because she steps a single freaking foot outside she is immediately kidnapped by a guy who I assume is a disgraced cop trying to prove himself still capable even though it is clear he is waaaaaay past his prime. Eli is delivered to the Duke. According to the ant size amount of information Tren was willing to share we understand the Duke to “not be a nice guy” when in reality, he’s simply an opportunist. I mean lets be real, he seized his moment and in a way got a nice deal out of the interaction.
Tren and Eli bumble along through the foreign terrain getting captured yet again, this time by a Brazilian like clan of people. We don’t ever learn what they would have done to them, the implication is of course death, but we really don’t know. This is because the Thor clan miraculously catches up to them and attacks the Brazilians in order to get Eli back. They manage that for a while until the Brazilians retaliate and Eli is able to crawl away only to be stopped by one of the Brazilians and gets stabbed. I presume the idea is this was going to be the outcome even if the Thor people never showed up, but I don’t buy it. The guy was pissed because they had nabbed these people that lead this other clan to attack them. I’d want to stab her too.
She ex machinas her way out of that predicament by being saved by yet another clan, this one of magicians. She asks about Tren and they say she is the only one they found, but he’s more than likely alive because he is a Mimir (Basically he’s hard to kill). This is enough of a reason for her to declare that she alone will go back into Brazil and rescue him.
GOOD POINT: I liked that she was willing to go back and rescue Tren. This alone showed that Eli was a strong character. But then I felt the author spoiled that by having her whine during basically all of her solo adventure and then wait four days, yeah FOUR DAYS, to actually go into the camp and get Tren’s butt out of there. Come on Eli, that was ridiculous and such a waste of time! You said you wanted to get home as quickly as possible, how did this help you?
Another side quest happens that really served no purpose other than to set up the romance between Eli and Tren. The beginning of the book teeters on the brink of this, but doesn’t come crashing down with full force until this moment. It was lack luster in my opinion. If you are going to pen the trope of insta-love you may as well go whole hog. Yeah, they’ve known each other longer than most YA couples (A whole two weeks!) but still, you either have a nice slow burn or you do a sleazy lust fest, when your story lands somewhere in the middle it can become stilted with no excitement or tension. This is what I felt when I realized that was where the love story was headed.
They reach their destination (finally) and low and behold [SPOILER] Tren was lying the entire time. I knew this pretty early on, but I thought “all right, lets have fun and give him the benefit of the doubt” nope. Though his reasons are honorable, he still pretty much sells her to the highest bidder (as she loving puts it) while he is haggling the price for her. This results in heartbreak of the weakest kind.
I felt for her, but the way she reacted was strange to me. She did act like a woman betrayed by her true love, but instead acted like a teenager who realized that her crush asked someone else to prom when she was certain he was going to ask her. It didn’t ring true as a “true love” situation. Granted, I’m just speculating, but I get the feeling Inkson was wanting readers to buy into Eli and Tren being really in love. It was hard to feel that fully the way it was presented.
Once Tren gets what he wants, he leaves and she is now the Queen’s prisoner, but wait! Suddenly her two best friends (you know the ones I mentioned way in the beginning of this? yeah those two) they magically show up having learned the ins and outs of this foreign land easy peasy and rescue Eli. I’m glad that Inkson established that these two characters went off to college otherwise I would have no choice but to label Eli a simple country bumpkin who couldn’t handle anything new. And this is the cliff hanger we end on.
As far as the writing, it was solid and I enjoyed where the story could potentially go. Despite my lack of enthusiasm of the characters I didn’t not like them. I just think they can definitely be improved upon. For example, it is possible for a male character to come across as mysterious, but not hold back vital information in order for the female to fully understand her situation. I realize he ends up betraying her, but there were things that would have been alright to tell her so as not to have her go bumbling around and getting kidnapped all the time. At what point do you just give in and tell her certain things? Come on man.
I’ve already expressed my issues with Eli.
The other thing that was hard to ignore. The blatant lack of consistency with the setting and magic system Inkson created. I realize these are the author’s creations, but having things flow is important for believability. If your world is devoid of color, you can’t see the silver or gold of the walls, so you won’t be able to tell that that is what they are. You can’t see beautiful light hitting off of anything because all there is is white and black and sometimes shadow. Black absorbs light and if any light hit the white bits, you would be blind. And then the author straight up says that something is silver. I get that gray could exist here, but not silver. Nope.
As for the magical system, that was all over the place. There is magic, but it is only used by magicians and Mimirs (as far as we know). One taps into something called the wellspring, which we learn is where the curse is from, and the other uses runes. Since the magicians weren’t a big part of this novel, their magic didn’t get toyed with as much, but oh my goodness, the runes. I felt like whenever Inkson needed something a certain way she just invented a new rune for it. I get it, it’s easy to do that, but oh so lazy and sloppy too. The cloak thing really bothered me and it really didn’t make sense either.
I think these are things that would have been and should have been easily caught by an editor or even a beta reader. I think the next time around Inkson should have someone read it and just ask, “if there’s no color how does this work?” until all those flaws are fixed. And I think it would be best to draft an outline of the magic system so as not to make your readers confused about the parameters.
In the end I actually did like this book and I fully intend to see where the series goes.
BAD POINT: How can you live in a world without purple!?
4 Out of 5 Stars
***Huge thank you goes out to Net Galley for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review***
Happy first book review of 2019! How is it that I already feel behind in accomplishing my book reading goals for this year? But at the very least I get to kick off this reading season with not only a fantasy novel, but one I actually enjoyed!
No, The Shadow Kingdom by C.J. Inskon isn’t perfect, but what it gets right is pretty spectacular. The synopsis and idea behind the story is what draws many in. Heck it’s what drew me in and though the details are murky and jumbled especially when it comes to the magic system, had these things been addressed I think the book would have been even greater. From here I think the only thing the author can do is push forward with the series and hopefully fill in those details and small plot holes in order for the series to end on a high note.
Elliott West – She is the current in a long line of Watchers. Her family are the ones who stand on top of a lighthouse facing an ocean canal called the barrier strait that leads to the Kingdom of the Shadow Lands; a place were a curse is said to have fallen causing all color to be drained from the world. Plants, animals, people, nothing has color. This supposedly happened over three hundred years ago and the fear still is that someone from the Shadow Kingdom will attempt to get to Elliott’s world of color, presumably causing the curse to spread and her job is to basically sound the alarm if that should happen. Yet, in those three hundred years no one has tried.
GOOD POINT: I like that the first setting we see is a pseudo modern world. Though the place is clearly made up by Inkson, we can assign our own version of our own modern world on top of it, which is a nice way of making it relatable.
Despite the fact that her family’s job has become obsolete, Elliott or Eli, insists that she will be the next Watcher while her friends leave their small town to go to college; onto bigger and better things allegedly. While having a sort of mini reunion with said friends Eli is kidnapped by a clan of Thor people from the Shadow Kingdom (The clan names in this book are not easy to pronounce or spell so I’m just going to do my best) who believe her to be blessed by the color gods and they believe she can restore their color. They want to eat her basically.
This is where the story introduces the reader to a dark and mysterious, yet strangely staggeringly attractive man like character. His name is Tren and for reasons it seems he’s not even fully aware of, he helps Eli escape the Thor people. They manage to get to the next town of Yrike, I believe that’s what it’s called. Anyway, Tren has them stay in a seemingly abandoned cottage at the edge of the city and then promptly disappears to run “errands” leaving Eli to her own devices. But before he leaves he makes a hard demand that she remain inside the cottage until he returns. Of course because we want to see Eli as a strong character she refuses to listen and leaves the cottage.
GOOD POINT: I am glad Inkson tried to make Eli strong. However, to me she came off as more whiny and like a brat at times. Granted I fully supported her leaving that cottage because dude was gone all day and he gave her zero information as to what was happening. Trust for a stranger only goes so far my dude even if you did help her escape. Anyway, I think Eli’s character needed some tweaking, but I can appreciate what Inkson was trying to accomplish with her.
Of course because she steps a single freaking foot outside she is immediately kidnapped by a guy who I assume is a disgraced cop trying to prove himself still capable even though it is clear he is waaaaaay past his prime. Eli is delivered to the Duke. According to the ant size amount of information Tren was willing to share we understand the Duke to “not be a nice guy” when in reality, he’s simply an opportunist. I mean lets be real, he seized his moment and in a way got a nice deal out of the interaction.
Tren and Eli bumble along through the foreign terrain getting captured yet again, this time by a Brazilian like clan of people. We don’t ever learn what they would have done to them, the implication is of course death, but we really don’t know. This is because the Thor clan miraculously catches up to them and attacks the Brazilians in order to get Eli back. They manage that for a while until the Brazilians retaliate and Eli is able to crawl away only to be stopped by one of the Brazilians and gets stabbed. I presume the idea is this was going to be the outcome even if the Thor people never showed up, but I don’t buy it. The guy was pissed because they had nabbed these people that lead this other clan to attack them. I’d want to stab her too.
She ex machinas her way out of that predicament by being saved by yet another clan, this one of magicians. She asks about Tren and they say she is the only one they found, but he’s more than likely alive because he is a Mimir (Basically he’s hard to kill). This is enough of a reason for her to declare that she alone will go back into Brazil and rescue him.
GOOD POINT: I liked that she was willing to go back and rescue Tren. This alone showed that Eli was a strong character. But then I felt the author spoiled that by having her whine during basically all of her solo adventure and then wait four days, yeah FOUR DAYS, to actually go into the camp and get Tren’s butt out of there. Come on Eli, that was ridiculous and such a waste of time! You said you wanted to get home as quickly as possible, how did this help you?
Another side quest happens that really served no purpose other than to set up the romance between Eli and Tren. The beginning of the book teeters on the brink of this, but doesn’t come crashing down with full force until this moment. It was lack luster in my opinion. If you are going to pen the trope of insta-love you may as well go whole hog. Yeah, they’ve known each other longer than most YA couples (A whole two weeks!) but still, you either have a nice slow burn or you do a sleazy lust fest, when your story lands somewhere in the middle it can become stilted with no excitement or tension. This is what I felt when I realized that was where the love story was headed.
They reach their destination (finally) and low and behold [SPOILER] Tren was lying the entire time. I knew this pretty early on, but I thought “all right, lets have fun and give him the benefit of the doubt” nope. Though his reasons are honorable, he still pretty much sells her to the highest bidder (as she loving puts it) while he is haggling the price for her. This results in heartbreak of the weakest kind.
I felt for her, but the way she reacted was strange to me. She did act like a woman betrayed by her true love, but instead acted like a teenager who realized that her crush asked someone else to prom when she was certain he was going to ask her. It didn’t ring true as a “true love” situation. Granted, I’m just speculating, but I get the feeling Inkson was wanting readers to buy into Eli and Tren being really in love. It was hard to feel that fully the way it was presented.
Once Tren gets what he wants, he leaves and she is now the Queen’s prisoner, but wait! Suddenly her two best friends (you know the ones I mentioned way in the beginning of this? yeah those two) they magically show up having learned the ins and outs of this foreign land easy peasy and rescue Eli. I’m glad that Inkson established that these two characters went off to college otherwise I would have no choice but to label Eli a simple country bumpkin who couldn’t handle anything new. And this is the cliff hanger we end on.
As far as the writing, it was solid and I enjoyed where the story could potentially go. Despite my lack of enthusiasm of the characters I didn’t not like them. I just think they can definitely be improved upon. For example, it is possible for a male character to come across as mysterious, but not hold back vital information in order for the female to fully understand her situation. I realize he ends up betraying her, but there were things that would have been alright to tell her so as not to have her go bumbling around and getting kidnapped all the time. At what point do you just give in and tell her certain things? Come on man.
I’ve already expressed my issues with Eli.
The other thing that was hard to ignore. The blatant lack of consistency with the setting and magic system Inkson created. I realize these are the author’s creations, but having things flow is important for believability. If your world is devoid of color, you can’t see the silver or gold of the walls, so you won’t be able to tell that that is what they are. You can’t see beautiful light hitting off of anything because all there is is white and black and sometimes shadow. Black absorbs light and if any light hit the white bits, you would be blind. And then the author straight up says that something is silver. I get that gray could exist here, but not silver. Nope.
As for the magical system, that was all over the place. There is magic, but it is only used by magicians and Mimirs (as far as we know). One taps into something called the wellspring, which we learn is where the curse is from, and the other uses runes. Since the magicians weren’t a big part of this novel, their magic didn’t get toyed with as much, but oh my goodness, the runes. I felt like whenever Inkson needed something a certain way she just invented a new rune for it. I get it, it’s easy to do that, but oh so lazy and sloppy too. The cloak thing really bothered me and it really didn’t make sense either.
I think these are things that would have been and should have been easily caught by an editor or even a beta reader. I think the next time around Inkson should have someone read it and just ask, “if there’s no color how does this work?” until all those flaws are fixed. And I think it would be best to draft an outline of the magic system so as not to make your readers confused about the parameters.
In the end I actually did like this book and I fully intend to see where the series goes.
BAD POINT: How can you live in a world without purple!?
4 Out of 5 Stars
December 15, 2018
It starts in the world of color, Eli is kidnapped away from it to be brought over to the Shadow Cursed kingdom, a land that 300 years ago lost its color and lives in black and white.
This book started slow, then was fast paced for a while and started to bring the two main characters together. When I was at 90% the story comes to a plot twist where Eli realizes that she is more important than she knew.
At this point I knew this would go into a second book and was just reading to end it...well at 96% there is another change in events and ends abruptly. That threw me off.
We will see what happens when the second book comes out.
I received this ebook copy from the publisher and NetGalley for an honest review.
This book started slow, then was fast paced for a while and started to bring the two main characters together. When I was at 90% the story comes to a plot twist where Eli realizes that she is more important than she knew.
At this point I knew this would go into a second book and was just reading to end it...well at 96% there is another change in events and ends abruptly. That threw me off.
We will see what happens when the second book comes out.
I received this ebook copy from the publisher and NetGalley for an honest review.
January 12, 2019
The book started out okay - I really liked the concept of a color-drained world - but then it just went on and on and on and on. I would have liked more of a backstory about how the world got to the way it was - I feel like that's generally what a first-in-the-series book is for. But getting background information out of this book is as hard as it is to get literally anything out of Tren, the brooding, secretive, helpful guy that saves Eli from near death. I didn't understand how the color world Eli is from is so advanced, while this gray-scale world just remained in a kingdom/clan situation. I also felt like Eli was an incredibly flat, vacant character. Where did she come from? What did she love? I would have liked to know anything about her aside from the fact that she can't survive on her own, needs Tren and ends up crushing on him I guess, and wants to be at home because "her family misses her." Not a lot to care about, there. I actually would have preferred all the chase and adventuring be much much much much shorter, - maybe only 2 murderous groups and near death escapes? - to get to the city of Ichor faster. That seems like an interesting place, with the Magician's Guild and the blood curse. But now I'm exhausted and wary from the sheer unnecessary length of this book and probably won't venture to try the next. A nice concept, but not so well executed.
Also, and perhaps unrelated, there were an incredible number of typos in the advanced e-version I read. Words mushed into other words over 200 times (I kept a highlight tally), and there were definitely other non-format/technical typos present as well. Hopefully the print version has ironed those out, but it did affect the experience of reading it. Some notable errors: use of "accurately" when "acutely" was clearly meant (as in "accurately aware" vs "acutely aware"); in the space of two sentences using "Miss ____" and "Ms. ____" for the same person; and writing "Dessert" when "Desert" was meant in the title of a place.
Also, and perhaps unrelated, there were an incredible number of typos in the advanced e-version I read. Words mushed into other words over 200 times (I kept a highlight tally), and there were definitely other non-format/technical typos present as well. Hopefully the print version has ironed those out, but it did affect the experience of reading it. Some notable errors: use of "accurately" when "acutely" was clearly meant (as in "accurately aware" vs "acutely aware"); in the space of two sentences using "Miss ____" and "Ms. ____" for the same person; and writing "Dessert" when "Desert" was meant in the title of a place.
December 22, 2018
The Shadow Kingdom is a hard book for me to review because the first half is so different from the second half.
The story follows a sentry named Eli, who lives in a color world near the border of the cursed black and white shadowlands. One night she is kidnapped and brought into the shadowlands and begins a long journey to get back home.
I loved the world building. Inkson does a good job blending old world black and white with new world color. The different kingdoms and their separation made sense. The different clans and races felt really original and I had fun learning about them through the story.
The first half was action packed and fast paced. It was interesting and I wanted to see how everything came together.
The second half switched tones into heavy angst and whiny tones. Suddenly Eli went from sympathetic and compelling, to jealous and crazy. The journey home stopped being important and Eli's interest in Tren became the only plot point.
Once we're in girly land, we stay there until she is rescued and the reader is subjected to a full chapter of exposition about characters we have no connection to and have no interest. It was a convenient ending that did not feel true to the story.
Thanks to Netgalley for a copy in exchange for an honest review.
The story follows a sentry named Eli, who lives in a color world near the border of the cursed black and white shadowlands. One night she is kidnapped and brought into the shadowlands and begins a long journey to get back home.
I loved the world building. Inkson does a good job blending old world black and white with new world color. The different kingdoms and their separation made sense. The different clans and races felt really original and I had fun learning about them through the story.
The first half was action packed and fast paced. It was interesting and I wanted to see how everything came together.
The second half switched tones into heavy angst and whiny tones. Suddenly Eli went from sympathetic and compelling, to jealous and crazy. The journey home stopped being important and Eli's interest in Tren became the only plot point.
Once we're in girly land, we stay there until she is rescued and the reader is subjected to a full chapter of exposition about characters we have no connection to and have no interest. It was a convenient ending that did not feel true to the story.
Thanks to Netgalley for a copy in exchange for an honest review.
September 29, 2020
I just love reading. I always find new and amazing worlds with great and funny characters. The Shadow Kingdom is one these stories.
A world where there is no color? What?! I could hardly believe it when I read the book’s descrition. And the cause? Magic!! I love magic. And curses. And seemingly ordinary people who can break them. That’s our main character Eli. I like her. I like characters who aren’t perfect, who are vulnerable. Eli is naive and helpless but as the story unfolds she gets stronger and braver too.
And yes, the book has a pretty boy with moving tattoos, Tren. Now, he is a mysterie. You can tell from the start something is off. He keeps secrets, lies by omission but he is also protective and strong and kind.
The world-building is amazing. I fall for the idea of a world where there is no color. It just made C.J. Inkson’s job that much harder because you cannot describe a world with colors if said world doesn’t have any. But still Inkson succeeded in describing a wonderfully beautiful place.
I hope there will be a second book because I’m curious what happens next.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my copy,
A world where there is no color? What?! I could hardly believe it when I read the book’s descrition. And the cause? Magic!! I love magic. And curses. And seemingly ordinary people who can break them. That’s our main character Eli. I like her. I like characters who aren’t perfect, who are vulnerable. Eli is naive and helpless but as the story unfolds she gets stronger and braver too.
And yes, the book has a pretty boy with moving tattoos, Tren. Now, he is a mysterie. You can tell from the start something is off. He keeps secrets, lies by omission but he is also protective and strong and kind.
The world-building is amazing. I fall for the idea of a world where there is no color. It just made C.J. Inkson’s job that much harder because you cannot describe a world with colors if said world doesn’t have any. But still Inkson succeeded in describing a wonderfully beautiful place.
I hope there will be a second book because I’m curious what happens next.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my copy,
January 12, 2019
The Shadow Kingdom was a bit of a mixed bag for me. On one hand the concept is interesting - imagine a world without colour where there are only shades of black and white?! On the other hand there are some elements such as the tribes that I wasn't sure of and made me feel a little uncomfortable.
Rumour is that the shadow curse is dangerous and has the potential to spread throughout the world. Eli is tasked with watching out for any potential spread of the curse into her land. The trouble is nobody is sure if the curse is even real. Until Eli finds herself dragged headfirst into the middle of a mysterious conspiracy with the Lojkin.
For the most part I liked Eli who goes through a lot in a short space of time. Some of her choices are pretty questionable
I have to admit I did find the story a little difficult to follow at times with although combined mythology and complicated world building. I couldn't quite make up my mind about Tren either, but I did like the tatts though!
Oh the drama!
3 Stars in my Sky!
I received a review copy
Rumour is that the shadow curse is dangerous and has the potential to spread throughout the world. Eli is tasked with watching out for any potential spread of the curse into her land. The trouble is nobody is sure if the curse is even real. Until Eli finds herself dragged headfirst into the middle of a mysterious conspiracy with the Lojkin.
For the most part I liked Eli who goes through a lot in a short space of time. Some of her choices are pretty questionable
I have to admit I did find the story a little difficult to follow at times with although combined mythology and complicated world building. I couldn't quite make up my mind about Tren either, but I did like the tatts though!
Oh the drama!
3 Stars in my Sky!
I received a review copy
February 19, 2019
ARC from Netgalley. An exciting new fantasy series has arrived! What happens when you have spent your life disbelieving in the monsters from over the sea but then you suddenly find yourself facing them? Add in a confused/moody/torn hunk who doesn't know if he wants to hurt you or hug you and this is a perfect YA fantasy book. Well written, with good characterisation and a plot that sucks you in, I can only look forward to the continuing tale.
March 24, 2020
I enjoyed this book! I liked the idea of a world without color and how that would play out. I did find the magic system to be a bit annoying but it’s just part of it, I guess!
June 21, 2020
Elliot West has grown up knowing that she has no choice in her future, she knows who she is and her purpose in life. For generations her family have lived at the watchtower in Sheltley, their prime objective never changing; to keep watch over the endless tides for signs that the Shadow may cross the sea over the borders of Barrier Strait. The Shadow appeared in the Kingdom Tallon across the water hundreds of years ago, a curse that put the entire land into darkness. The residents haven’t seen colour since and have come to accept that it will never be again, lands across the seas forgotten. No one has ever tried to cross the border across the ocean, so after generations, the Shadow Kingdom became legend, a myth, a bedtime story. Even Elliot isn’t sure what to believe, that is, until she is captured by the legendary Lojkin warrior clan from the Shadow Kingdom, a clan who hasn’t lost hope in bringing colour back to their lands, who believe in drinking the blood of a being in colour will restore them once and for all. Elliot was their chosen sacrifice.
‘Eli breathed a heavy sigh as he leapt to his feet and pulled her with him. “Let’s go.”
She steadied herself against him, shaking from lack of food and sleep and rush of adrenalin. “Why are you helping me?” she asked again, persistent. She wanted an answer. She needed an answer, if she was expected to trust him. He stepped away from her when she’d regained her balance, turning towards the back of the tent. “Because I have no other choice.” He pulled the canvas wall apart where he’d somehow sliced through. She didn’t like the answer. It was purposefully vague. But the thought of staying wasn’t an option. So, she followed, bracing herself for whatever came next.’
My Thoughts
I really enjoyed this story. It had everything you could want from a fantasy adventure, a driven purpose to travel through unknown magical lands full of wild dangerous clans, mythical beasts as well as beautiful landscapes and mystery around every corner. A strange world cursed into darkness that has kidnapped Elliot in order to bring colour back to the lands, a fantastic storyline that will keep you on your toes.
Eli is the only colourful being in the entire Shadow Kingdom, the Lojkin sought to bring colour back to the lands, as well as a means for the warriors to rule the lands in it’s wakening. You can’t begrudge them for trying, even if it means using Eli as a sacrifice, but as our protagonist in this story, we can’t accept Eli being killed.
Here we meet our dark mysterious saviour, Tren who appears with his shady vague answers and magical tattoos that move around his body, a different being to the ones responsible for her kidnap, but that doesn’t mean she can trust him. For reasons unknown, Tren decides to end his alliance with the Lojkin in order to help Eli escape and assist in taking her home across the sea.
He continues his dark evasive behaviour throughout their journey to keep you suspicious but at the same time, you being to feel something more for our anti hero. He’s determined to keep Eli safe, but why? The small gestures to keep her close and small glances at her will blossom into a romance you can’t decipher. The reader will keep you guessing right until the end, you’ll be desperate to know what happens between them.
Eli is one of those characters that has been thrown into an unknown world and incapable of surviving on her own. You can forgive her attitude at times since she grew up with limited adventures having to remain at the watchtower staring out into the ocean, but there are times you want to shake her silly. She’s determined to get home but allows the terror to consume her. It’s clear she wants to rely on Tren, she wants to trust him but still can’t help the niggling feeling that he’s holding back on something. Is it just his personality, is it that he’s got someone waiting for him at home, or is it that he’s just intent on keeping secrets from her. She tries to prove herself by saving him when she could have walked away and found her own way, but whether it’s because she needs him too much or whether she actually feels something for him you don’t know.
The author does a great job in building up their characters, but I feel like they could have advanced it further since they spent so much time alone together, you still feel like they don’t know each other any better by the end. The additional characters included along the way were well written even if brief, you understood each role and their purpose for Eli, whether it was to use her as a sacrifice, whether it was to keep her for trade or simply to help her along her journey. Each one bringing a new exciting part to their adventure.
Overall I thought it was a great story opening into The Shadow Curse trilogy and I’m looking forward to reading the next part of the journey to see what happens next!
‘Eli breathed a heavy sigh as he leapt to his feet and pulled her with him. “Let’s go.”
She steadied herself against him, shaking from lack of food and sleep and rush of adrenalin. “Why are you helping me?” she asked again, persistent. She wanted an answer. She needed an answer, if she was expected to trust him. He stepped away from her when she’d regained her balance, turning towards the back of the tent. “Because I have no other choice.” He pulled the canvas wall apart where he’d somehow sliced through. She didn’t like the answer. It was purposefully vague. But the thought of staying wasn’t an option. So, she followed, bracing herself for whatever came next.’
My Thoughts
I really enjoyed this story. It had everything you could want from a fantasy adventure, a driven purpose to travel through unknown magical lands full of wild dangerous clans, mythical beasts as well as beautiful landscapes and mystery around every corner. A strange world cursed into darkness that has kidnapped Elliot in order to bring colour back to the lands, a fantastic storyline that will keep you on your toes.
Eli is the only colourful being in the entire Shadow Kingdom, the Lojkin sought to bring colour back to the lands, as well as a means for the warriors to rule the lands in it’s wakening. You can’t begrudge them for trying, even if it means using Eli as a sacrifice, but as our protagonist in this story, we can’t accept Eli being killed.
Here we meet our dark mysterious saviour, Tren who appears with his shady vague answers and magical tattoos that move around his body, a different being to the ones responsible for her kidnap, but that doesn’t mean she can trust him. For reasons unknown, Tren decides to end his alliance with the Lojkin in order to help Eli escape and assist in taking her home across the sea.
He continues his dark evasive behaviour throughout their journey to keep you suspicious but at the same time, you being to feel something more for our anti hero. He’s determined to keep Eli safe, but why? The small gestures to keep her close and small glances at her will blossom into a romance you can’t decipher. The reader will keep you guessing right until the end, you’ll be desperate to know what happens between them.
Eli is one of those characters that has been thrown into an unknown world and incapable of surviving on her own. You can forgive her attitude at times since she grew up with limited adventures having to remain at the watchtower staring out into the ocean, but there are times you want to shake her silly. She’s determined to get home but allows the terror to consume her. It’s clear she wants to rely on Tren, she wants to trust him but still can’t help the niggling feeling that he’s holding back on something. Is it just his personality, is it that he’s got someone waiting for him at home, or is it that he’s just intent on keeping secrets from her. She tries to prove herself by saving him when she could have walked away and found her own way, but whether it’s because she needs him too much or whether she actually feels something for him you don’t know.
The author does a great job in building up their characters, but I feel like they could have advanced it further since they spent so much time alone together, you still feel like they don’t know each other any better by the end. The additional characters included along the way were well written even if brief, you understood each role and their purpose for Eli, whether it was to use her as a sacrifice, whether it was to keep her for trade or simply to help her along her journey. Each one bringing a new exciting part to their adventure.
Overall I thought it was a great story opening into The Shadow Curse trilogy and I’m looking forward to reading the next part of the journey to see what happens next!
January 6, 2019
Interesting
So the descriptions were unique in this book and i loved that. A world without color?! How insane would that be?! And to be lost in a medieval land only a sail ride away from your home that basically is the 21st century? Pretty interesting. However the MC was very very very trusting of Tren which became pretty pathetic. She really didn’t have a lot of independent thinking skills and basically handed over her life and her poor 14 year old heart to a guy she doesn’t even know. I mean how could she not be skeptical of Trens motives and follow blindly behind the guy after her many near death experiences. I understand she was in a new “world” and struggling however the girl needed to curb her swooning and get a grip! Ugh. But it was still a good book and will read the second one if there is one.
And I’m still upset with the eagle for being a traitor.
So the descriptions were unique in this book and i loved that. A world without color?! How insane would that be?! And to be lost in a medieval land only a sail ride away from your home that basically is the 21st century? Pretty interesting. However the MC was very very very trusting of Tren which became pretty pathetic. She really didn’t have a lot of independent thinking skills and basically handed over her life and her poor 14 year old heart to a guy she doesn’t even know. I mean how could she not be skeptical of Trens motives and follow blindly behind the guy after her many near death experiences. I understand she was in a new “world” and struggling however the girl needed to curb her swooning and get a grip! Ugh. But it was still a good book and will read the second one if there is one.
And I’m still upset with the eagle for being a traitor.
November 18, 2018
I loved this book! The storyline moves along quickly from adventures to setbacks. The Shadow Kingdom is wonderfully creative in setting and plot. I can’t wait for the next book in the series!
February 19, 2019
I finally got round to reading this - I am so glad I did, and I am sorry I missed the NetGalley archive date - but you can all go and buy it (I will be purchasing a paperback for my shelves) You are unlikely to regret it!
I really enjoyed this, more than I honestly expected to. It was really well paced, wonderfully written and I really liked the characters, including the smaller ones, some of whom we are going back to hopefully in the next book. I loved the way the colour of things were barely mentioned for Shetley, and when they were it was a 'white fence' 'eggshell paint' 'grey skys'. They were almost brushed over, taken for granted, because we have them. The Shadow Lands they were really descriptive but in tones and shades of black, greys and whites, moonlight and shadows.
I really liked that Eli was clueless, but curious, and that she had zero survival skills. As you would expect from someone who has never had to learn any. She was a realistic and believable character and I really liked the way her feelings crept up on her and even when she became aware she still wanted to go home.
Tren is mysteriously likeable in that you are kept wondering about him. You doubt him, cheer when he does good, or opens up just a little bit and hope that you're not wrong!
The world is well built, I like the different magics that we come across and I love the idea of the Rhunes and their magic, and the way they seem to react to Tren's emotions.
The end sneaks up on you really fast, and you certainly don't expect what happens in the final chapter!
I had almost forgotten that this was book one and that ending made me want to deduct a star because, just NO! But it is only book one, there will be more, and I, for one, cannot wait!
I really enjoyed this, more than I honestly expected to. It was really well paced, wonderfully written and I really liked the characters, including the smaller ones, some of whom we are going back to hopefully in the next book. I loved the way the colour of things were barely mentioned for Shetley, and when they were it was a 'white fence' 'eggshell paint' 'grey skys'. They were almost brushed over, taken for granted, because we have them. The Shadow Lands they were really descriptive but in tones and shades of black, greys and whites, moonlight and shadows.
I really liked that Eli was clueless, but curious, and that she had zero survival skills. As you would expect from someone who has never had to learn any. She was a realistic and believable character and I really liked the way her feelings crept up on her and even when she became aware she still wanted to go home.
Tren is mysteriously likeable in that you are kept wondering about him. You doubt him, cheer when he does good, or opens up just a little bit and hope that you're not wrong!
The world is well built, I like the different magics that we come across and I love the idea of the Rhunes and their magic, and the way they seem to react to Tren's emotions.
The end sneaks up on you really fast, and you certainly don't expect what happens in the final chapter!
I had almost forgotten that this was book one and that ending made me want to deduct a star because, just NO! But it is only book one, there will be more, and I, for one, cannot wait!
March 29, 2019
After reading this, I am already very much looking forward to the next book. The construction of the cursed Shadow Kingdom is imaginative and interesting, woven together with mythology. The storyline offers constant twists and doesn't follow the predictable path, which is what really intrigues. I cannot wait to see what happens to the characters in the next installment.
April 21, 2019
Thankyou to NetGalley, KDP and the author, C.J Unison, for the opportunity to read a digital copy of The Shadow Kingdom in exchange for an honest and unbiased opinion.
I was intrigued by the premise of the storyline. Unfortunately, I did not enjoy the book. I thought it was a slow moving plot that failed to hold my interest.
Not a book for me sorry.
I was intrigued by the premise of the storyline. Unfortunately, I did not enjoy the book. I thought it was a slow moving plot that failed to hold my interest.
Not a book for me sorry.
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