marcelabrina's review against another edition
2.0
Shadow & Ice opens at the start of an epic All War, a sort of multiplayer killing spree held among the gods with unsuspecting worlds the eventual reward. Amid the mayhem, Knox, four-time All War victor, kidnaps Vale and spends the rest of the book alternating between wanting to kill her or having her in his bed. Vale is all sassy heroine, while Knox fills the alpha male anti-hero role to bursting.
The story offers an interesting take on the enemies-to-lovers trope, but there’s a lot of info-dumping to support the immense world building. It’s easy to get lost in the numerous cast of characters who seem to meet their demise shortly after they’re introduced. The uneven pace shifts from either blood-soaked action scenes with violent dismemberment to slow-moving sexy time with not much happening in between. All combined, it asks a lot of the reader’s patience to hang in there with not much reward at the end. Fans of Showalter’s books may want to give it a go (or a pass), but this is a tough entry for anyone.
A copy of this book was provided by the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
The story offers an interesting take on the enemies-to-lovers trope, but there’s a lot of info-dumping to support the immense world building. It’s easy to get lost in the numerous cast of characters who seem to meet their demise shortly after they’re introduced. The uneven pace shifts from either blood-soaked action scenes with violent dismemberment to slow-moving sexy time with not much happening in between. All combined, it asks a lot of the reader’s patience to hang in there with not much reward at the end. Fans of Showalter’s books may want to give it a go (or a pass), but this is a tough entry for anyone.
A copy of this book was provided by the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
geo_ix's review against another edition
5.0
I’m really eager to see more from this series, because each contender comes from a completely different world and are so different. I do wish we got to see Knox kill his king in this but I can tell there will be more from him since his son is in the war too, which is also a thing I like, the other wars going on mean there’s room for more and more people, they could even throw people in later and start another one lol.
Now to wait forever for the next one lol
Now to wait forever for the next one lol
dragon_lion64's review
4.0
Kept me guessing
I usually can guess where a book is headed but this one kept surprising me.
The relationship was doomed from the get go and I couldn't see any way for them to be together but I kept hoping.
I'm going to read the second book now.
I usually can guess where a book is headed but this one kept surprising me.
The relationship was doomed from the get go and I couldn't see any way for them to be together but I kept hoping.
I'm going to read the second book now.
jscollon's review
2.0
DNF @ 20%
I did not connect with this book. I usually don’t mind love at first sight, but a titanium erection and incinerating panties at first sight is too much.
I did not connect with this book. I usually don’t mind love at first sight, but a titanium erection and incinerating panties at first sight is too much.
jj7twin's review
5.0
New series! I've noticed in her Lord's of the Underworld series that the sexy times scenes are coming later in the books and the humor has kicked up more with different characters. This is definitely more humor than dark suspense like the earlier LotU books. Not sure how the All War is gonna be resolved with multiple survivors or who else is getting a book (Zion and Bane aside) from the growing list of combatants. I do know I'm going along for the ride to find out.
alexperc_92's review against another edition
4.0
I received an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review. Review and blog tour can be found on *Milky Way of Books*
Ah, how great is to combine a far deadlier Hunger Games-style war and immortals! And worlds beyond your imagination which are not exactly sci-fi but not completely Paranormal either!
Vale and her sister, N0la are snow-stranded in the wilderness and they find shelter in a cave where they find their way into a long-standing war.
The All-War.
From there both sisters become entangled with battles, immortals who are hell-bent into destroying each other in order to win for their rulers.
And as Vale partners with Knox in order both to fight together, save Vale's sister and discover what powers Vale has, everything will become even more complicated.
What I loved on this book was the pure action. It felt like a movie you couldn't stop watching as everyone fought with every imaginable weapon! Knox was an amazing fighter as also Vale despite her need to train.
At the same time, I also enjoyed the refreshing plot and the vast possibilities of how this series can evolve. I kept counting in my mind how many books there might be here and the number even went up to 20.
Also, the heated level of swoon-ness here is scorching. While I still have my qualms into how Knox and Vale came to become a couple, and also how both became idiotic over each other (thus the missing star), I enjoyed their banter and the way they slowly opened up to each other. Knox's background story was tragic too.
One last part I am anxiously waiting over will surely be the second book where Bane, Zion and Nola will be featured. And while Zion has a brotherly role in the book, he may be hiding more than he shows.
Ah, how great is to combine a far deadlier Hunger Games-style war and immortals! And worlds beyond your imagination which are not exactly sci-fi but not completely Paranormal either!
Vale and her sister, N0la are snow-stranded in the wilderness and they find shelter in a cave where they find their way into a long-standing war.
The All-War.
From there both sisters become entangled with battles, immortals who are hell-bent into destroying each other in order to win for their rulers.
And as Vale partners with Knox in order both to fight together, save Vale's sister and discover what powers Vale has, everything will become even more complicated.
What I loved on this book was the pure action. It felt like a movie you couldn't stop watching as everyone fought with every imaginable weapon! Knox was an amazing fighter as also Vale despite her need to train.
At the same time, I also enjoyed the refreshing plot and the vast possibilities of how this series can evolve. I kept counting in my mind how many books there might be here and the number even went up to 20.
Also, the heated level of swoon-ness here is scorching. While I still have my qualms into how Knox and Vale came to become a couple, and also how both became idiotic over each other (thus the missing star), I enjoyed their banter and the way they slowly opened up to each other. Knox's background story was tragic too.
One last part I am anxiously waiting over will surely be the second book where Bane, Zion and Nola will be featured. And while Zion has a brotherly role in the book, he may be hiding more than he shows.
melissasfandomworld's review against another edition
3.0
I've had to ponder a bit about how to best go about writing down this review.
It's so hard to put a book into words that had you feeling so many contradictory feelings. You don't want to let down the author, knowing they all put their heart into their work. But you also want to be honest. It's tough finding the right words to talk about of which you don't only have positive things to say, you know? Let's give it a go!
- I have to be honest here and say that overall, the story line is quite predictable. This wasn't necessarily a turn-off for me because this is more and more often the case with books I read within genres like this one. On a side note: There was quite a lot of engagement in this book that made sure it had me hooked from beginning till end. But it is a part of my decision about rating the book 3 stars.
- It took me a while to get 'into' the romance part of the book and for it to feel like it was believable to me . Sure, it was sexy and intense and it had me all hot and bothered from time to time, feelings Gena knows how to evoke in me so so well. But the sexiness, steaminess and intensity of the romance wasn't what bothered me. In the beginning, it really felt like these characters and their romance were just all over the place. I just couldn't get a good feel on it, the development felt not in-depth enough I guess. It all really progressed for the better though when I was about halfway through, but it had a rocky start unfortunately.
- I also did have some issues about the way things got wrapped up, with some of the struggles regarding the characters for example, towards the end. I won't go into detail because then I'd spoil things, but it felt like things were being resolved a bit too fast and easy sometimes, in my opinion. Because of this, the story lost some of its credibility here and there.
It really pains me to write down remarks on a Gena Showalter book, especially a Paranormal Romance one by this author because she's been a fave of mine for years. She was the one author who got me hooked to paranormal romance alongside Nalini Singh, so this not being at least a 4 star read, really pains me. But yeah... I had to say that overall it felt like some of the elements written down in this book were lacking in execution from time to time, which isn't something I'm familiar with when it comes to this author and her books. I think it's the first time I rated a book 3 stars by her and read a book by her that I felt so contradictory about.
To get back on a more positive note though, because there are definitely positive things about this book as well that I want to gush about:
- The concept of this story is quite awesome. The All War is a really interesting element for example; Representatives/Warriors are sent down to new discovered worlds, Earth in this case, to fight for their Kings and Queens in order to win them this particular world and rule it. Only one Warrior/representative survives. The rest has to be Killed. I really like how Gena's not shy of writing down a believable battle scene. Because my god, Gena knows how to kill of characters, let me tell you that. The fighting/killing scenes are dark, brutal, bloody and gruesome and I loved every second spent reading these scenes.
- the Characters are magnificent! Not only the two main characters, but the entire set of characters. The warriors for example: These warriors are so very believable and so realistically written down! I also really love the added paranormal elements. The warriors have special weapons and things like that and some of the warriors have supernatural abilities like turning into a Beast, being able to form shadows and blind your opponents, use fire, read minds, and more like that. Really loved reading about all of this!
- the writing in general was still great though I think. It had me more and more engaged by each new chapter I was reading, and it left me craving more in the end. I buddy read this book, so we set a schedule beforehand and agreed to read 5 chapters per day. And every single time when I was finished reading that 5th chapter I wanted MORE. Every day, no exceptions. So that's a good thing!!
And Gena is AMAZING btw with referrals to just about anything really haha. There was a referral to Gremlins for example, but so many more movies/characters and so on. I love this so so much. There are some Norse mythology elements being wrapped up into the story, and I really liked this authors take on this.
Overall, when I finished reading this book I thought: Gena has me hooked to yet another one of her (paranormal) series! I want more.
Strange, you might think considering my remarks on the book I've had as well, right?. But I dunno: even though I've had some serious remarks on the book, remarks that would make someone else maybe even decide to not giving the next book a go anymore, I'm just really curious about the next one already.
Some developments towards the end have me really excited to read more, to being introduced to new characters, a new romance, and seeing the world(s) being extended as well as seeing how things will progress with the characters we focused on in this one.
I think the concept of this first book and the series in general, is really awesome and I'm curious and excited to seeing it being developed even more so with the next book(s) in the series - hopefully. Gena's writing is still good and addictive, despite feeling there was missing something in the 'execution' part of some of the elements in the story. It still had me looking forward to reading the next chapter when I was reading it and this has me hopeful and excited about book 2.
In my opinion, this book is still one I'd recommend to give a go when you're into paranormal romance , if you like a steamy romance, if you're interested in new world(s) to explore and if you want a book that has you wanting more after each chapter you've read. It wasn't the best first book in a new paranormal romance series that I've read, but it was fun and it was exciting to getting aquatinted with.
It's so hard to put a book into words that had you feeling so many contradictory feelings. You don't want to let down the author, knowing they all put their heart into their work. But you also want to be honest. It's tough finding the right words to talk about of which you don't only have positive things to say, you know? Let's give it a go!
- I have to be honest here and say that overall, the story line is quite predictable. This wasn't necessarily a turn-off for me because this is more and more often the case with books I read within genres like this one. On a side note: There was quite a lot of engagement in this book that made sure it had me hooked from beginning till end. But it is a part of my decision about rating the book 3 stars.
- It took me a while to get 'into' the romance part of the book and for it to feel like it was believable to me . Sure, it was sexy and intense and it had me all hot and bothered from time to time, feelings Gena knows how to evoke in me so so well. But the sexiness, steaminess and intensity of the romance wasn't what bothered me. In the beginning, it really felt like these characters and their romance were just all over the place. I just couldn't get a good feel on it, the development felt not in-depth enough I guess. It all really progressed for the better though when I was about halfway through, but it had a rocky start unfortunately.
- I also did have some issues about the way things got wrapped up, with some of the struggles regarding the characters for example, towards the end. I won't go into detail because then I'd spoil things, but it felt like things were being resolved a bit too fast and easy sometimes, in my opinion. Because of this, the story lost some of its credibility here and there.
It really pains me to write down remarks on a Gena Showalter book, especially a Paranormal Romance one by this author because she's been a fave of mine for years. She was the one author who got me hooked to paranormal romance alongside Nalini Singh, so this not being at least a 4 star read, really pains me. But yeah... I had to say that overall it felt like some of the elements written down in this book were lacking in execution from time to time, which isn't something I'm familiar with when it comes to this author and her books. I think it's the first time I rated a book 3 stars by her and read a book by her that I felt so contradictory about.
To get back on a more positive note though, because there are definitely positive things about this book as well that I want to gush about:
- The concept of this story is quite awesome. The All War is a really interesting element for example; Representatives/Warriors are sent down to new discovered worlds, Earth in this case, to fight for their Kings and Queens in order to win them this particular world and rule it. Only one Warrior/representative survives. The rest has to be Killed. I really like how Gena's not shy of writing down a believable battle scene. Because my god, Gena knows how to kill of characters, let me tell you that. The fighting/killing scenes are dark, brutal, bloody and gruesome and I loved every second spent reading these scenes.
- the Characters are magnificent! Not only the two main characters, but the entire set of characters. The warriors for example: These warriors are so very believable and so realistically written down! I also really love the added paranormal elements. The warriors have special weapons and things like that and some of the warriors have supernatural abilities like turning into a Beast, being able to form shadows and blind your opponents, use fire, read minds, and more like that. Really loved reading about all of this!
- the writing in general was still great though I think. It had me more and more engaged by each new chapter I was reading, and it left me craving more in the end. I buddy read this book, so we set a schedule beforehand and agreed to read 5 chapters per day. And every single time when I was finished reading that 5th chapter I wanted MORE. Every day, no exceptions. So that's a good thing!!
And Gena is AMAZING btw with referrals to just about anything really haha. There was a referral to Gremlins for example, but so many more movies/characters and so on. I love this so so much. There are some Norse mythology elements being wrapped up into the story, and I really liked this authors take on this.
CONCLUSION
Overall, when I finished reading this book I thought: Gena has me hooked to yet another one of her (paranormal) series! I want more.
Strange, you might think considering my remarks on the book I've had as well, right?. But I dunno: even though I've had some serious remarks on the book, remarks that would make someone else maybe even decide to not giving the next book a go anymore, I'm just really curious about the next one already.
Some developments towards the end have me really excited to read more, to being introduced to new characters, a new romance, and seeing the world(s) being extended as well as seeing how things will progress with the characters we focused on in this one.
I think the concept of this first book and the series in general, is really awesome and I'm curious and excited to seeing it being developed even more so with the next book(s) in the series - hopefully. Gena's writing is still good and addictive, despite feeling there was missing something in the 'execution' part of some of the elements in the story. It still had me looking forward to reading the next chapter when I was reading it and this has me hopeful and excited about book 2.
In my opinion, this book is still one I'd recommend to give a go when you're into paranormal romance , if you like a steamy romance, if you're interested in new world(s) to explore and if you want a book that has you wanting more after each chapter you've read. It wasn't the best first book in a new paranormal romance series that I've read, but it was fun and it was exciting to getting aquatinted with.
chroniclesofabookreader's review against another edition
DNF @ 23%
I tried, I really did, but I could not get into the writing or the characters as the story was very long-winded, inner-thought heavy, suffered from slow pacing, and had generally immature characters that never felt real. After weeks of it not holding my attention, I decided to give up and let it go. I hadn't read Gena's books before so I'm unsure if this is her typical writing style, but if you're a fan of hers I'm sure you'll enjoy it. I think the premise is really amazing and it's unfortunate that I won't be able to find where the author took it.
**Received an early copy; this had no bearing on my opinions**
I tried, I really did, but I could not get into the writing or the characters as the story was very long-winded, inner-thought heavy, suffered from slow pacing, and had generally immature characters that never felt real. After weeks of it not holding my attention, I decided to give up and let it go. I hadn't read Gena's books before so I'm unsure if this is her typical writing style, but if you're a fan of hers I'm sure you'll enjoy it. I think the premise is really amazing and it's unfortunate that I won't be able to find where the author took it.
**Received an early copy; this had no bearing on my opinions**
bookloversofantastic's review
5.0
I really wanted to read it and was so happy to finally have it. I had a hard time to start it, but soon after I just couldn’t stop. This story is great, it’s an interesting universe, I’m sad to know that it will be difficult for Gena Showalter to publish others.
Vale is an orphan who only has a foster sister, during a trip in Arctic they found a group of immortal warrior trap in the ice. Knox is an immortal participating into the All Wars, an immortal battle to win the Earth. Despise his wariness, he decided to take Vale as an ally when she’s irrevocably involved in the war.
Fierce characters who fall for each other, there are lot of possible turnaround.
Vale is an orphan who only has a foster sister, during a trip in Arctic they found a group of immortal warrior trap in the ice. Knox is an immortal participating into the All Wars, an immortal battle to win the Earth. Despise his wariness, he decided to take Vale as an ally when she’s irrevocably involved in the war.
Fierce characters who fall for each other, there are lot of possible turnaround.
meagen's review
3.0
This book was okay it was lacking a lot of the humor you get with Showalter's LOTU. I don't know if that was intentional it honestly felt as though it was someone else writing for her. Vale was okay Knox was a little better. All the names of the other characters where so confusing. Union, Bold, and Rush just to name a few. You didn't know if it was a random word in the sentence until you realized it was a combatants name. So little outside character development. I don't know if I'm alone in disliking Knox's power, Shadows? I could get into it until the Cyclone or Vortex tidbit was added. I liked when it kept Vale out of his weapons but lost me after that. Also my heart hurts for Shiloh. Not fair and he's only mentioned a few times after. I've loved a lot of Showalter's writing so I gave the second book a chance. I have to say it's better.