Shadows

This review is also found at [URL not allowed] After another round of ‘what should I read next?’ I picked up Shadows by E.C. Blake. This book is not under a Young Adult imprint, but it’s young adult in my opinion. It’s not that it’s dumbed down in any way, in fact the author doesn’t hol......more

Previously published at TheQwillery.com E.C. Blake provides an excellent sequel in Shadows. We continue Mara Holdfast's journey in discovery of her magical gift and how to properly control it, before it controls her. I still really enjoy this magical system. It's not your basic rainbow spectrum magic......more

Mara Holdfast returns in the second novel by E. C. Blake to a frightening past and future. In Masks, she failed on her Mask Day, causing death and having to flee the land where the evil Autarch rules tyrannically over every man, woman and child. Her father, the official Mask-Maker, it seemed, had ei......more

The Shadows kept me involved from the start of the book. The world building developed gradually, but the author held true to its rules. The characters were interesting and the twist between Mara and Chell I didn't see coming. It was unexpected and interesting in that it kept the story moving, but al......more

Satisfying second installment in the series that began with Masks. Mara continues to be an interesting heroine, with both agency and vulnerability and some very hard choices. I liked how she "leveled up" magic-wise and how the world expanded. While still focussed on Aygrima and the ovethrow of the e......more