Reign Of Shadows by Sophie Jordan | Book Review

I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Reign Of Shadows by Sophie Jordan | Book ReviewReign of Shadows by Sophie Jordan
Series: Reign Of Shadows #1
Also by this author: Firelight, Hidden, How the Dukes Stole Christmas, This Scot of Mine, The Duke Effect, The Duke Goes Down, The Countess
Published by HarperCollins on February 9th 2016
Genres: Young Adult Fiction, Fantasy, Epic, Romance, General, Royalty
Pages: 304
Format: eARC, ARC
Source: Publisher
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads
four-stars

Destiny and darkness collide in this romantic, sweeping new fantasy series from New York Times bestselling author Sophie Jordan.
Seventeen years ago, an eclipse cloaked the kingdom of Relhok in perpetual darkness. In the chaos, an evil chancellor murdered the king and queen and seized their throne. Luna, Relhok's lost princess, has been hiding in a tower ever since. Luna's survival depends on the world believing she is dead.
But that doesn't stop Luna from wanting more. When she meets Fowler, a mysterious archer braving the woods outside her tower, Luna is drawn to him despite the risk. When the tower is attacked, Luna and Fowler escape together. But this world of darkness is more treacherous than Luna ever realized.
With every threat stacked against them, Luna and Fowler find solace in each other. But with secrets still unspoken between them, falling in love might be their most dangerous journey yet.

Reign Of Shadows by Sophie Jordan is a book that I had picked up on a whim. I did not have it on a ten books I need to read next list. I did not have it on audiobook. It so happens that I just plucked it off my bookshelf. For some reason, it was calling to me. I’m glad that I did decide to pick Reign Of Shadows up. I found it totally engaging and read through it in one day — making progress toward my lowered goodreads yearly challenge goal.

Imagine a world where there is no light. Everyone lives in the dark except for one hour a day known as midlight. The world went into eclipse mode when Luna was born. Luna is the daughter of royalty. Only, her parents were killed so she lives in exile in a remote tower in the forest with Sivo – a former king’s guard and Perla, a former servant.

The two have raised Luna almost since birth. She’s had exactly zero contact with other people. Until one day when a young man named Fowler and a pair of two siblings cross into their woods. Luna’s world is turned upside down as she makes the decision to help them. Reign Of Shadows, FYI, has a pretty intense plot.

Luna is quite a compelling main character. She’s basically been raised as an ordinary person despite her heritage. Alas, she is no ordinary girl. She’s a bit of a fighter and tough as nails. Also? Luna happens to be blind. However, this isn’t presented as something she suffers from or something that holds her back. Obviously I cannot critique or accurately judge the representation of her disability and will try to link to people who have. I will just state that I thought she was a relatable, kick ass character who happens to be blind.

So, the other narration character or really the love interest in Reign Of Shadows by Sophie Jordan is this guy named Fowler. At first he’s travelling with the two kids, but really views them as a burden. However, he is dead set on getting through the land and to this island where he believes everything will be different. Sure, it will be dark but they won’t have to worry about things that go bump in the night. Fowler also has a part of his identity that he is hiding from Luna. There’s a big reveal, but I guessed it pretty quickly. The thing about Fowler is that he really does have great chemistry with Luna. It’s captivating to see the two warm up to each other and begin to build up trust.

I can’t remember if I’ve read other books where the world exists entirely in the dark. I probably have but they’ve got lost in the shuffle of the hundreds of other books I’ve read. Anyways, not only is the world dark, but there’s a bad guy in charge of the kingdom. He’s a bit mad. There’s also these creatures called dark dwellers who run around murdering and eating people. The only relief from them is at midlight. Also, people seem torn apart and not brought together over the perpetual night. It’s a very dark world both literally and metaphorically.

I went into Sophie Jordan’s Reign Of Shadows with absolutely no expectations. I mean, I’ve read other books by Sophie Jordan before and liked them. However, I wasn’t filled with hype or lack of hype prior to reading this. In all, I ended up absolutely addicted to this book. I devoured it in no time. The plot line and the characters are so captivating. I even was at the point where I was checking Edelweiss for the sequel and pleasantly surprised and delighted to see that I had already downloaded it. Yes, I would 100% recommend this book.

Other reviews of Reign Of Shadows by Sophie Jordan:

Support Good Books & Good Wine with your purchase of Reign Of Shadows by Sophie Jordan:

Peek Inside Reign Of Shadows by Sophie Jordan:

four-stars
The following two tabs change content below.
April is in her 30s and created Good Books And Good Wine. She works for a non-profit. April always has a book on hand. In her free time she can be found binge watching The Office with her husband and toddler, spending way too much time on Pinterest or exploring her neighborhood.
About April (Books&Wine)

April is in her 30s and created Good Books And Good Wine. She works for a non-profit. April always has a book on hand. In her free time she can be found binge watching The Office with her husband and toddler, spending way too much time on Pinterest or exploring her neighborhood.

Comments

  1. Sounds like a scary addicting story. Adding to wishlist right now!

  2. This sounds like a really cool take on the Rapunzel story! I’m definitely going to check it out.

  3. Sometimes books you pick up on a whim end up being the best books! I’ve heard mixed things but I really love retellings and this sounds dark and intriguing.