Reviews with content warning for Blood - The Shadow of What Was Lost

Reviews tagging 'Blood'

The Shadow of What Was Lost by James Islington

19 reviews

chrisb913's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This book gripped me in it's clutches from start to finish. Islington's use of mystery, action, and character work had me confused and second guessing who to even trust.

This is an very thick book and there is a lot of information on the world, magic system, and the characters but I felt Islington did a great job giving us just enough to keep us interested without info dumping constantly.

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wearethistogether's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

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bloodyknight15's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging inspiring mysterious tense medium-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? It's complicated

5.0

Good political intrigue with complex magic system and a variety of well written, complex characters.

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mari_is_here's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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sissizc's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

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goeagles91n's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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1_800_fuck_off's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

in all its glory, this book should be a five-star read for me. the world-building, the story-telling, the plot, the writing style—all of it! amazing! i’d love to continue the series, and i will as soon as i find the time to go pick the rest of the books up, but i can’t shake off the feeling that there was something missing.

i think it had to do with the connections the characters shared with one another. something was lacking. i would read how they would feel, but i wasn’t able to connect with it. it didn't feel genuine, though i’m not sure why. perhaps because it appeared that a character would place less importance on a long-standing close friendship than on a recent romantic possibility? i have no idea. i still thought the characters were fantastic, though. they were all so charming in their own unique ways, and they all had such endearing traits.

the fact that the book's major plot twist was actually rather obvious toward the end of the book was another element that i felt was a little bit lacking. i'm not sure if that was the author's intention, but when it became clear that

caeden was tal'kamar

, i wasn't shocked, surprised, or even flabbergasted hehe.

additionally, even though the book kept me entertained as i read it, it never really enthralled me, and i'm not sure why. this book fulfills every mark i enjoy in a high fantasy book featuring cisgender, heterosexual protagonists. nonetheless, i’m eager to get into the next two novels in the series.

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