Radiant Shadows

Review Time! Last month I left my Bucket List challenge review to the very last minute so I decided that I'm going to do my February review earlier on, meaning today! If you checked out my January Review you would know that for the challenge I have a different review formatting!

Name - Radiant Shadows ( Wicked Lovely #4 )

Pages - 340 pages

Publication Date - April 20th 2010

Publisher- Harpercollins
Rating 3/5

(Goodreads) Hunger for nourishment. Hunger for touch. Hunger to belong.

Half-human and half-faery, Ani is driven by her hungers.

Those same appetites also attract powerful enemies and uncertain allies, including Devlin. He was created as an assassin and is brother to the faeries' coolly logical High Queen and to her chaotic twin, the embodiment of War. Devlin wants to keep Ani safe from his sisters, knowing that if he fails, he will be the instrument of Ani's death.

Ani isn't one to be guarded while others fight battles for her, though. She has the courage to protect herself and the ability to alter Devlin's plans—and his life. The two are drawn together, each with reason to fear the other and to fear for one another. But as they grow closer, a larger threat imperils the whole of Faerie. Will saving the faery realm mean losing each other?

Why I picked this book ? - As I explained in my sign up post, I'm taking the challenge as the motivation to read all the sequels I haven't gotten around to reading! Before I started blogging, I used to read anything I want, whenever I want. I still get to read books I want but the choices are still somewhat limited :P ( not complaining though) so this challenge is the perfect excuse to read all the books I wanted to read but didn't get to!

Was it worth it ? - Honestly, I don't know. I love this series and this book was great but I can't help thinking that this one was one of the more boring ones.

Brief Thoughts ? - For me, Radiant Shadows wasn't up to the standards of the other three books. I somewhat felt that the author just threw two random characters in and wrote up a storm. Ani and Devlin were both briefly introduced in the first three books but they definitely weren't significant parts of the series. I can't help think that this book could have been more focused on characters with bigger roles in the previous books.

However, the writing was great as always! Dark, sinful and seductive. The plot was alright, it had action and it ties to the first three books, I didn't find it as interesting but nevertheless it was good. I loved Seth and Sorcha's part in this, their Mother & Son relationship is really starting to blossom which is great to see! Hardly any Aislinn and no sign of Keane or Donna.

This book mainly focused on the Dark Court. I felt I developed a soft spot of Irial who is a totally sweetie. After reading Ink Exchange I was all for Team Niall but after reading Radiant Shadows, I'm not so sure. they're a re both handsome and sweet in their own way!

Overall, Radiant Shadows wasn't quite up to the standards of the previous books however it was still enjoyable to a point. I felt that if Ani and Devlin were supposed to play a major part in the this novel they should have had bigger roles in the previous books but ...that's just me =)

Would I recommend it ? - ehhh, yes! It's a really great series and I 'm not going to let something like this come between me and the faerie courts!!! You should totally read it ;)

Badass Bookie xx

Shadowspell ( Spoiler Free!)

Review Time! Shadowspell is second in the Faeriewalker series, the first book is Glimmerglass which was a 2010 YA Debut, if you haven't read it - do it asap! I loved,loved,loved it! I would link you to my review but it's really shallow and vague, you would find a better review somewhere else...

(Goodreads) On top of spending most of her time in a bunkerlike safe house and having her dates hijacked by a formidable Fae bodyguard, Faeriewalker Dana Hathaway is in for some more bad news: the Erlking and his pack of murderous minions known as the Wild Hunt have descended upon Avalon. With his homicidal appetite and immortal powers, the Erlking has long been the nightmare of the Fae realm. A fragile treaty with the Faerie Queen, sealed with a mysterious spell, is the one thing that keeps him from hunting unchecked in Avalon, the only place on Earth where humans and Fae live together. Which means Dana’s in trouble, since it’s common knowledge that the Faerie Queen wants her – and her rare Faeriewalker powers – dead. The smoldering, sexy Erlking’s got his sights set on Dana, but does he only seek to kill her, or does he have something much darker in mind?

The Short Story ? - Shadowspell was amazing! I set pretty high expectations for the book after loving the first one and it surprises me to say that it exceeded those ridiculously high expectations and if it's even possible, I loved Shadowspell even more!

The Long Story ? - Sometimes when I read a book and really enjoy it I don't question myself, what I really actually enjoyed about it. I just mark it as a packaged deal and say it's amazing! However, this time I took the time to pull apart Shadowspell and really pick out what I liked about it. I wanted to see what it was about this series that I enjoy so much, what makes it different, what makes it memorable.

I narrowed it down to one thing - characterisation. Absolutely perfect characterisation. Each character has a unique personality. It might not necessarily be a nice personality  but all the same it fitted with the story, with the other characters and with the reader. Every character had a flaw, something that made them seem a little more human ( since they're faeries) something that we as readers, could relate to.

It's hard to explain but for this book, characterisation was the roots that held everything in place. Everything related back to it, for me, if it wasn't for the characterisation, I probably wouldn't have enjoyed the romance, the plot or even the writing. I have never really thought that the characterisation would be so important but it is.

Moving on, my second favourite thing about this novel - the boys and the romance. Again, if Ethan and Keane had different personalities I probably wouldn't have developed a soft spot for both of them ( believe me, it's hard to choose between them), it's a love triangle ( sorta) but this one is alright because I adore both of the boys and because it's not a Major part of the novel. Dana is smart enough to ( sorta) not chose between the two of them but it can be seen that Dana shows affection towards Keane even if she is unreasonably ( sorta) attracted to Ethan.

The writing is comfortable and I'm not sure about you but when I read a really good book with really good writing, my brain actually picks a voice to suit the character that narrates the novel for me. It's (sorta) like when you listen to an audio book except you're doing both the listening and the reading ;)

Lastly, the plot was great! I would have to say I liked the plot of Shadowspell better than Glimmerglass. In Glimmerglass a whole chunk of the novel was taken up by introductions to this new world where Humans and Faeries co-exist and to the characters. However as the sequel, Shadowspell was all action and romance! We know the characters, we know Avalon sooo bring on the good stuff!

Overall, Shadowspell was a fantastic novel. Jenna Black is a fantastic writer, Dana is a strong heroine and Ethan and Keane have both earned a soft spot in my heart. The characterisation is perfect and I strongly recommend everyone who hasn't read the series to give it a go. Maybe you won't like it as much as I do or maybe you'll love it but all the same it's got fantastic characterisation! Funny, cute and beautifully written, Shadowspell is an addictive sequel to Glimmerlass ;) Rating 5/5

Badass Bookie xx