Synopsis:
If you love somebody enough, you will do anything to claw your way back to them…
After a traumatic duel to the death against a malevolent sword master, Elysia is left desperately clinging to life. Isabella, the princess that she was tasked to rescue, nurses her back to health in the wilderness, many miles from the safety of civilisation. With their supplies depleted, they finally reach Middlestone, resting for only a moment before beginning the final leg of their journey to the Royal Palace in Astoria.
Elysia and Isabella’s bond deepens as the expedition continues, fraught with undiscovered peril. Embroiled in danger, can Elysia save the love of her life from the shadows under the shade?
Back in time, adolescent Elysia has to adjust to life in the Grey-Lands. Struggling with sword skills at the military academy, she happens upon a Niemirian prisoner, who instructs her in the art of the butterfly blades. Soon, she becomes a force to be reckoned with… but will it be enough to combat prejudice and inequality, all the while learning the price of friendship, and making sense of her sexual awakening?
Review:
I need to start off this review by saying I really enjoyed the first book in the series (Under an Azure Sky), and after that ending, I had to find out what happened next. So here I am with book two.
Shadows Under the Shade begins a week or so after the first book ends. It’s difficult to know exactly, given what Elysia is going through at the start and Isabella’s evasiveness around certain aspects of it. (I have a few theories about Isabella and what she’s capable of, but nothing has been confirmed yet.)
When compared with the first book in the series, this one was much slower-paced up until the midway point. Elysia and Isabella’s relationship continued to evolve, and for the first time in years, Elysia was happy. Parts of the first half felt almost like a cozy fantasy…until things happened to upset the fragile illusion of peace in their world.
The second half of the book is relatively dark in places. Elysia’s vengeful side makes an appearance, and there is hell to pay for those who stand against her. (She’s a little scary when she’s angry, that’s all I have to say.) I think we get to see more of Elysia’s battle prowess in this book, along with some of her strengths and weaknesses in that arena. And not all of her opponents are human; she’s forced to defend against a group of hungry spygor (basically, giant spiders that spit acid.) And I want to mention as a biologist that I liked the little detail regarding the spygors’ evolution and how they’d developed a form of lungs to help account for their size. I love it when authors add things like this to their stories.
Side Note: Beyond the fight scenes, there’s an off-page sexual assault, and later, an attempted one on-page. I don’t usually check books for content warnings before I read, but since this is a potential issue for some readers, I wanted to mention it here.
We get to learn more about Elysia’s past in this book, as well as her unusual relationship to fire. I had a theory about that after reading book one, but it was wrong. That’s all I’ll say.
What I love most about Elysia’s character is that she loves with her whole heart and will do anything to protect those she cares for. After everything she’s endured in her past, I’m really hoping she’ll get a happy ending. She deserves one. While this book ends on a much happier note than the first one did, I have a feeling things are going to sour in book 3. Elysia still has some unfinished business with a certain Norther, and I’m pretty sure that’s going to get ugly before the end.
Anyway, I enjoyed this one, and I’m looking forward to seeing where the series goes from here.
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