Perfect for fans of Shadow and Bone, A Darker Shade of Magic, and the grit of Gangs of New York, EVERY DARK SHADOW is book 1 in an epic dark fantasy series with slow-burn romance, found family, and a sprawling world of magic, mad kings, and beasts. Orphan turned fugitive Ophelia Dannan has been safely hidden in the mortal world for four years, her memories and magic locked away from herself and the siphoning Gray King of Magus. A king whose armies hunt relentlessly for one source of pure magic that vanished with Ophelia. A scholar, a smugger and a soldier have sworn their lives to hide and guard her until the time is right to awaken her magic. To protect her, they move her often and see to it Ophelia forgets the lives she lives with them. Rune chooses quiet farmsteads, filling Ophelia’s time with adventure and daydreams. Falcon prefers the grit of city streets ruled by gangs, challenging Ophelia to survive by wielding knives and swindling thieves. And Hart has all but given up his rotation with her, after what happened a year ago, to keep safe the girl he fears could destroy two worlds. But across worlds in a kingdom as dark and brutal as it is beautiful, where the Gray King enslaves the magic born, rebellion is stirring and a dark force is rising to stake its own claim on the throne. When shadows reach tendrils across the mortal world for Ophelia, she's pushed into a perilous quest in search of truth, her magic, and a way to break the monarchy before it breaks them all.
Publication Year: 2023
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I liked the book, I kept reading to learn more about their world, the politics, the magical powers. I also enjoyed the author's writing style.
My tastes are, admittedly, very predictable, so I was intrigued by the Darkwielder (of course I was).
The amnesia schtick was a bit drawn out. By 70%, I couldn't stand another round of "oh she's so special! But we can't say why, she's not ready!". It really doesn't warm me up to the main heroine when she's absolutely clueless and has to be coddled by everyone like a small child. Besides, if they were going to unlock her memories anyway, wouldn't it be more sensible to prepare her slowly, gently, instead of dumping all her traumatic memories on her at once?
The FMC, besides not remembering anything, is, of course, the most special snowflake in the world, with the powers surpassing every other mage in the world. And, of course, every guy around is head over heels with her for god knows what reason. I would rather learn more about the world and certain characters/antagonists, then read once again how very speshul Ophelia is.
Her keepers/LIs are very tropey (a childhood friend, a nice(?) overprotective guy, a resourceful street-smart "morally grey" guy), but I'd love to learn more of their story outside their relationships with Ophelia.
Overall, nothing grounbreaking, but interesting enough to stick around.
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