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calliepey's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
There's a lot of interesting worldbuilding but the cadence of the pacing threw me off so I felt like I couldn't really just get into the story and stay there.
amethystbookwyrm's review against another edition
4.0
Thanks to Netgalley and Patchwork Press for giving me this book to review.
Jinji’s home is destroyed and everyone she has known has been killed by a mysterious shadow and she is left alone with nowhere to go, until a young man called Rhen finds her. However, both are hiding secrets, Jin is masquerading as a boy and has magic, meaning she can weave elements and create illusions, and Rhen is a prince on the search for foreign enemies and can pull flames into himself. While they go on a search to discover what is happening in the kingdom Ourthuro, an evil power is after them and only Jin and Rhen hold the key to defeat it.
I really enjoyed The Shadow Soul as it is a good fantasy, is well written, and I was not bored from beginning to the end. There was a lot of traveling in this book, action and a hint of potential romance for future books. I got really invested in the story and characters and I enjoyed having the POV of both the male and female protagonist.
I really liked Jin as she is naïve, intelligent and has an inner strength, she has struggled but never forgot her heritage and is willing to get justice for her family but is also willing to help her friend. Rhen is really cleaver, much more than people expect, is very loyal to those who are close to him, has a good sense of humour and wants to prove himself. Rhen and Jin just clicked and I liked how they acted together and I wonder how it will change in the next book.
This is a really good book and I can’t wait to read the next book The Spirit Heir and the short stories in this series. I would recommend The Shadow Soul to fans of Tamora Peirce.
This and my other reviews can be found at Amethyst Bookwyrm
Jinji’s home is destroyed and everyone she has known has been killed by a mysterious shadow and she is left alone with nowhere to go, until a young man called Rhen finds her. However, both are hiding secrets, Jin is masquerading as a boy and has magic, meaning she can weave elements and create illusions, and Rhen is a prince on the search for foreign enemies and can pull flames into himself. While they go on a search to discover what is happening in the kingdom Ourthuro, an evil power is after them and only Jin and Rhen hold the key to defeat it.
I really enjoyed The Shadow Soul as it is a good fantasy, is well written, and I was not bored from beginning to the end. There was a lot of traveling in this book, action and a hint of potential romance for future books. I got really invested in the story and characters and I enjoyed having the POV of both the male and female protagonist.
I really liked Jin as she is naïve, intelligent and has an inner strength, she has struggled but never forgot her heritage and is willing to get justice for her family but is also willing to help her friend. Rhen is really cleaver, much more than people expect, is very loyal to those who are close to him, has a good sense of humour and wants to prove himself. Rhen and Jin just clicked and I liked how they acted together and I wonder how it will change in the next book.
This is a really good book and I can’t wait to read the next book The Spirit Heir and the short stories in this series. I would recommend The Shadow Soul to fans of Tamora Peirce.
This and my other reviews can be found at Amethyst Bookwyrm
mkdobbin's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
saxysydney20's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.0
booknerdlyn's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
jessica_drury's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
jljaina's review
4.0
This took a bit to get into after reading the prequel first. I can't figure out where/how it fits in properly. I really liked Jin's character but she is too secretive for her own good. She needed to try to trust someone but even Rhen who saves her, opens up his secrets she is silent. It takes a while to understand her relation to spirits in this too. Rhen I really liked. He too, wore a mask to the world. But he is a deeply caring, brave person with lots of depth. There seem to be a couple things going on in this book and it was interesting to see how they each had their own agenda with the switching or perspectives. Enjoyable.
urlphantomhive's review against another edition
3.0
Read all my reviews on http://urlphantomhive.booklikes.com
I had read the prequel of the A Dance of Dragons series already, and was at first quite surprised that this story seemed to be about completely different characters. However, the princess does make an appearance in the book.
Jinji is the last of her people, which are massacred by a shadow force. When she's trying to survive by pretending to be a boy she meets up with Rhen, a prince who's onto a plot to destroy his family.
It was described as A Game of Thrones which is very dangerous as it sets the expectations very high without even having started the book. I don't think it lives up to that claim. It is far less political (perhaps this will be more in the later books), and more of a standard YA fantasy where two teenagers need to save the kingdom, both with a secret (one of them actually is a girl, the other a prince).
While I don't think it was the most memorable story, it was enjoyable to read. This being said, the shadow thing that is roaming around is actually quite interesting, so I'm curious to find out where that is going.
Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!
I had read the prequel of the A Dance of Dragons series already, and was at first quite surprised that this story seemed to be about completely different characters. However, the princess does make an appearance in the book.
Jinji is the last of her people, which are massacred by a shadow force. When she's trying to survive by pretending to be a boy she meets up with Rhen, a prince who's onto a plot to destroy his family.
It was described as A Game of Thrones which is very dangerous as it sets the expectations very high without even having started the book. I don't think it lives up to that claim. It is far less political (perhaps this will be more in the later books), and more of a standard YA fantasy where two teenagers need to save the kingdom, both with a secret (one of them actually is a girl, the other a prince).
While I don't think it was the most memorable story, it was enjoyable to read. This being said, the shadow thing that is roaming around is actually quite interesting, so I'm curious to find out where that is going.
Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!
grmatthews's review
I enjoyed this one. An SPFBO review to follow on Fantasy-Faction.
soulfulsin's review
1.0
DNF at 79%.
Eminently forgettable, this fantasy novel is in need of a good copy editor. Events happen in this book with scripted ease and whatever troubles the main characters encounter they escape with aplomb. It was as if the writer forced her will upon the characters without letting them tell the story.
I stopped when I realized that I was forcing myself through the book and no longer cared what became of any of the characters.
Eminently forgettable, this fantasy novel is in need of a good copy editor. Events happen in this book with scripted ease and whatever troubles the main characters encounter they escape with aplomb. It was as if the writer forced her will upon the characters without letting them tell the story.
I stopped when I realized that I was forcing myself through the book and no longer cared what became of any of the characters.