riiiclark's review
3.0
3.5/5 So this has to be one of the slowest slow burns considering book one ends with the smallest fraction of friendship between the love interests. I’m here for a little edging
abookapothecary's review
5.0
this is like if acotar and zodiac academy had a baby that was somehow raised right to always have a good mindset 10/10
jayne_waser's review
adventurous
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
stormwalls's review
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
greystory's review
lighthearted
mysterious
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
3.5 rounded up to 4 stars?
I thought I would enjoy Leila's story because of her animal magnetism and I was right - I really enjoyed her relationship building with all of the Night Court animals and the role that played in the story. The night mares, the shades, the glooms, the trash griffin - loved them all.
Leila herself is a pretty good character and I'm liking her a lot. I'm enjoying the premise of half human/half fae being in her situation and seeing her take on unique problem solving as a result of her human upbringing.
This series feels like the author was improving their character development game when it came to the side characters because they were also great! I loved Skye and Indigo especially but even less frequent characters like Lord Dion, Dusk, and Dawn were nice additions that gave the world more depth.
One of the ways this book is lacking is in the main male character, Rigel. He's unfortunately boring. I'll get into this even more in book two's review but the character development for him is non-existent.
The overall plot was alright. Leila was facing so many issues that it wasn't entirely clear to me what the narrative arc was for most of the book (winning over her court specifically). It was kind of strange because, on one hand, things are written in such a way that it feels like everything is too obvious and spelled out (like predicting what's going to happen and getting annoyed at characters for not connecting the dots sooner about things) but at the same time, it felt a lil bit messy, like scenes weren't quite so smoothly connected as they could be. This might be a product of the fact that KM Shea writes very quickly and probably has very minimal editing?
OH! ALSO! It's high time I finally note this: What is up with everyone hating on Aphrodite? Seriously, what does KM Shea have against hairless cats?? Not every single character has to dislike the cat, what the hell! Leave her alone! Her life is probably annoying enough having to live with the Paragon, she doesn't need your disgust and attitude, too.
I thought I would enjoy Leila's story because of her animal magnetism and I was right - I really enjoyed her relationship building with all of the Night Court animals and the role that played in the story. The night mares, the shades, the glooms, the trash griffin - loved them all.
Leila herself is a pretty good character and I'm liking her a lot. I'm enjoying the premise of half human/half fae being in her situation and seeing her take on unique problem solving as a result of her human upbringing.
This series feels like the author was improving their character development game when it came to the side characters because they were also great! I loved Skye and Indigo especially but even less frequent characters like Lord Dion, Dusk, and Dawn were nice additions that gave the world more depth.
One of the ways this book is lacking is in the main male character, Rigel. He's unfortunately boring. I'll get into this even more in book two's review but the character development for him is non-existent.
The overall plot was alright. Leila was facing so many issues that it wasn't entirely clear to me what the narrative arc was for most of the book (winning over her court specifically). It was kind of strange because, on one hand, things are written in such a way that it feels like everything is too obvious and spelled out (like predicting what's going to happen and getting annoyed at characters for not connecting the dots sooner about things) but at the same time, it felt a lil bit messy, like scenes weren't quite so smoothly connected as they could be. This might be a product of the fact that KM Shea writes very quickly and probably has very minimal editing?
OH! ALSO! It's high time I finally note this: What is up with everyone hating on Aphrodite? Seriously, what does KM Shea have against hairless cats?? Not every single character has to dislike the cat, what the hell! Leave her alone! Her life is probably annoying enough having to live with the Paragon, she doesn't need your disgust and attitude, too.
niatonie's review against another edition
5.0
4.5 stars: I really enjoy K.M. Shea's writing style and how she creates her characters. From the Hall of Blood and Mercy books (which I highly recommend!), Leila (who was only a side character in that series) seemed quite reserved, but Shea really let her shine in Crown of Shadows. I always love a strong-willed yet caring female lead (plus she loves animals), so I don't have many complaints about the book.
I'm already waiting to see how Leila manages to turn Rigel into a less broody soul, so on to book 2 I go~
I'm already waiting to see how Leila manages to turn Rigel into a less broody soul, so on to book 2 I go~
naiapard's review against another edition
2.0
If it weren`t for the promise that I had made myself last year, I wouldn`t have even bothered with a review. I promised myself that I`ll try to write something, anything about every book I finish and put on Goodreads.
It is my fault, all right? I am waiting for the January because it seems that all the good books were pilled up for that month and until then I am swimming in the pool of shallow plots.
This is a rip off of the ACOTAR or not even that series, maybe any kind of series that had a heroine that lusted after some forbidden bad wolf while she had to keep afloat a kingdom that she somehow inherited.
It says something about this book that I have even thought to give it a chance and more than that, to finish it. Just from that premise it is better than many others that I have read and DNF even in the middle because they were getting so atrocious.
I should not be so harsh. It is hard writing a book. Maybe everybody wants to write something that would sell. I mean, you wouldn`t want to bring your Publishing House to bankruptcy with your first release, would you?
This book was about a girl that was chosen my magical horses to be the next queen of the most badass court in the faerie. She was named queen in time before an assassin tried to kill her. He did not succeed. However, he was successful at stealing her heart (not ad literam!). It goes on that she is crowned as new queen and she goes around the palace, trying to solve really weird specific problems. She is buying time as she has to chose her consort. It is a weird made up law of that court that a queen could only official start her reign after she had chosen a consort. Which, fine, if the author didn`t find a smarter way to bring the love interests together, we`ll go with this. What could we do?
I for one I am still stuck at home, waiting for the January books. I will take it.
”I had focused on surviving the way the fae wanted me to I didn't play up the strengths I had that they didn`t. I`d let them drag me into their game, and protested by being snippy with them, when in reality I could just change the game.”
Look at an almost pretty quote.
Instagram\\my Blog\\
It is my fault, all right? I am waiting for the January because it seems that all the good books were pilled up for that month and until then I am swimming in the pool of shallow plots.
This is a rip off of the ACOTAR or not even that series, maybe any kind of series that had a heroine that lusted after some forbidden bad wolf while she had to keep afloat a kingdom that she somehow inherited.
It says something about this book that I have even thought to give it a chance and more than that, to finish it. Just from that premise it is better than many others that I have read and DNF even in the middle because they were getting so atrocious.
I should not be so harsh. It is hard writing a book. Maybe everybody wants to write something that would sell. I mean, you wouldn`t want to bring your Publishing House to bankruptcy with your first release, would you?
This book was about a girl that was chosen my magical horses to be the next queen of the most badass court in the faerie. She was named queen in time before an assassin tried to kill her. He did not succeed. However, he was successful at stealing her heart (not ad literam!). It goes on that she is crowned as new queen and she goes around the palace, trying to solve really weird specific problems. She is buying time as she has to chose her consort. It is a weird made up law of that court that a queen could only official start her reign after she had chosen a consort. Which, fine, if the author didn`t find a smarter way to bring the love interests together, we`ll go with this. What could we do?
I for one I am still stuck at home, waiting for the January books. I will take it.
Look at an almost pretty quote.
Instagram\\my Blog\\