Book: A Vow of Shadows by Elle Backenstoe
Reviewed by Your_bookish_fantasy
Rating: 4/5
DETAILED REVIEW!
This is an amazing start to what promises to be a great romantasy series. I'm desperate for the next instalment!
Tropes:
• Cursed FMC
• Paranormal romance
• Found Family
• Reluctant allies
• Gothic Romantasy
• M/F
• Alphahole to cinnamon roll
• Dual 1st Person POV
• Indie Author
• Forced Proximity and One Bed
• Slow Burn
• Shadow Magic
• Different Worlds.
• Sentient Shadows with feelings & opinions...
• Reluctant Protagonist
• Death, Demons & Demonic Dogs
There's plenty of exciting action & harrowing ordeals with a very unique plot, unique characters, a great magic system, and a rather interesting setting .
The magic rules/lore, along with the belief system regarding death's rules & the afterlife, are very fascinating!
It is inspired by Welsh mythology, mixed with gothic vibes, Death - the character and the enevatability - are a heavy theme here.
The descriptions of the different realms are detailed and haunting. The world building is comprehensive and quite simply wonderful.
Most of the book takes place in the 'between' where the Ferrier lives .
The Between is a plane of "stasis" between the land of the living, & the Afterworld, linked together by a supernatural corridor with multiple doors/exits into different places. There's something so intriguing about this in-between world of life and death.
The length of time in The 'Between' felt strange, it was never really mentioned in the story if time moves the same or slower and so I'd get a bit lost until a character would explicitly say how long its been. When I thought it’ only been a week or two and when actually it had been a month or more.
This story had everything, cute minions (shadow deamons), Fates, Death, Love and the strength to fight and not give up against overwhelming odds.
We could not have asked for better characters as all the MCs are really well developed and well written. Their back stories are easily understandable and relatable. They all have similar objectives that bring them together, unhappily at first, but they do find common ground . And when feelings grow, the characters' individual objectives change from being a planned goal to work towards into an unnecessary obstacle in their path. As the mc's develop, these previous goals offer up new feelings and choices that make a very emotional read.
The MMC is the Reaper, also known as The Ferrier of Souls. But, who/what is under that cloak? a shadow creature? A demonic and brooding skeleton or a tall, dark & handsome shadow daddy? And how did he become the reaper? There are just so many questions that come with this brilliant character.
The FMC is Katrin, she is a 21yo lady living in a very wealthy, high society household that was brought up with many social rules and etiquette lessons that have now seem to have all been for nought, as she has been living in hiding since she was 13 when she first started seeing the mark appear and grow across her body. She has been dropped by her friends, bullied by her household servants, and generally treated like crap from all - even those who knew her before. Kat is just feared by all, as if her mark were some filthy disease that could be caught by simply talking to her.
Katrin is a brave, fierce, strong, loud mouthed, badd ass and although a pampered lady she is clearly and fiercely marked by Death. But for what reason we dont know? Katrin contends with unusual looks and stares, and the snub from society that comes with being marked - but she doesn't take this lying down. Kat grows so much throughout this story as new unpredictable and unusual events are thrown in her path.
I loved the dialogue between the mc's and the sassy banter between these two just flows, making it easy and fun to follow along with.
Next in the character list are the shadow demons, or rather cute ickle puppy dogs who are just waiting to be told they're a "good boy." They become utterly lovable sidekicks, not the scary evil monster they sound like. And 2 special little cuty pies (inky and storm) are given the roles of body guards! When I read shadow demons, I expected dark, scary, horrid creatures - and that couldn't be further from the truth. I did find a potential small plot hole here though, because as kat starts to befriend them , she starts to talk to them and ask questions and just generally tries to get to know them. But why didn't she create a yes/ no system to get answers? As in " Storm- Are you happy to be my bodyguard? If yes, go to my right, if no, go to my left..." It seemed really obvious to me, and I awaited its appearance in the story, yet it never came up?
it’s very introspective, you- as the reader spends a lot of time in the FMC mind, hearing her thoughts and no spoilers here but-what I found most annoying was that kat's story was all based around the want, need and drive to investigate why she is marked. Yet she maybe spends 2 days actively looking for info on it? I felt there were times in the story where I was left feeling a bit awkward and annoyed almost because she should have been getting her butt in gear, searching books, or questioning the ferrier and yet she was doing sod all... I found this really odd given that’s the main plot of the book and the entire reason she made her bargain with the ferrier to gain another year. This frustrated me so much as I felt the story became a bit stagnated with her lack of interest/ lack of self-preservation skills. By the end of his book, I felt like I was left with a lot of unanswered questions, but these will hopefully be answered in the next book. Although it does end on a massive cliffhanger, I wish some of the questions would have been revealed already, but I can't elaborate without giving spoilers.
A Vow of Shadows presents a unique take on the lore of separate realms, death, reapers, and fate. The idea of death and the Ferrier as separate entities and the sentient shadow deamons was intriguing and set an atmospheric tone that kept me hooked.
I enjoy this writing style, the word choices, descriptions, the way the author can put emotions into such powerful words, and her ability to set the mood, which makes this book really stand out.
If you enjoy a slower-paced read that explores life, death, and fate with a unique perspective, this is definitely for you. I’m hoping the next book dives deeper into the mysteries set up here, as there’s a lot of potential for this world to be expanded- Like offering the reader more understanding of this books mystical realms, the corridor exits, and the magic system would be nice. For example- how did the reapers meet other reapers? Where did these other doors lead to? How did the horses come to be? What of the world that kat entered when she was dropped off to await her ferrier?
According to my rating system, this should be a 3* read. However, I loved it that much it was almost a 5* because of the amazing way that the author writes! For all the reasons mentioned above this story is just elevated and a really wonderful read that overpowers all its cons and I truly hope you will rush out and buy it because this is going to be one hell of a series!!
Favourite quotes:
" Would I go from being the girl marked by Death to the woman who cheated him?"
" When I see you naked, I want to be able to run my hands over every inch over your body, followed by my tongue. "
Thank you to the author & Netgalley for the ARC opportunity! All opinions are my own.