House of Shadows

House of Shadows #1

by Rachel Neumeier

Orphaned, two sisters are left to find their own way. Sweet and proper, Karah's future seems secure at a glamorous Flower House. She could be pampered for the rest of her life. . . if she agrees to play their game.Nemienne, neither sweet nor proper, has fewer choices. Left with no alternative, she accepts a mysterious mage's offer of an apprenticeship. Agreeing means a home and survival, but can Nemienne trust the mage? With the arrival of a foreign bard into the quiet city, dangerous secrets are unearthed, and both sisters find themselves at the center of a plot that threatens not only to upset their newly found lives, but also to destroy their kingdom.

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Dragons, Magic, High Fantasy, Fiction, Romance

344 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 10, 2012

About the author

Rachel Neumeier started writing fiction to relax when she was a graduate student and needed a hobby unrelated to her research. Prior to selling her first fantasy novel, she had published only a few articles in venues such as The American Journal of Botany. However, finding that her interests did not lie in research, Rachel left academia and began to let her hobbies take over her life instead.

She now raises and shows dogs, gardens, cooks, and occasionally finds time to read. She works part-time for a tutoring program, though she tutors far more students in Math and Chemistry than in English Composition.

Reviews

[Fiona Knight · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a sweet read - not as deep as maybe I would have liked, but that's partially because it touches on some really cool things in this world. Rachel Neumeier is a reliable author who always comes through with a satisfying standalone, and it's not quite cosy fantasy but it's certainly adjacent.

[Keertana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Where has Rachel Neumeier been all my life? Seriously, this woman’s novels are written just the way I like love them to be written and needless to say, after reading just one novel of hers, I’m a self-proclaimed fan. House of Shadows is, beyond anything else, a fantasy. In fact, it’s one of the few good fantasies out there to be released this year. While this past year has seen a resurgence in fantasy novels, any ardent fantasy lover like myself will tell you that only a rare few of them have been remarkable; House of Shadows is one of them. I wouldn’t strictly classify House of Shadows as being Young Adult, but it isn’t necessarily Adult either – nor is it New Adult mind you. Its cast is varied and with three main characters, it is sure to appeal to both teens and adults of all ages. <

Yet, perhaps best of all, House of Shadows is a political novel. It all starts out when eight sisters are left orphaned by the sudden death of their father and, forced to survive, two of these sisters must be sold. Karah, known for her gentle nature and striking beauty, is quickly sold away to the Cloisonné  House, a respectable institution where women are trained in many arts and talents, all garnered towards earning them rich husbands. Nemienne, the youngest sister who is a little queer, is taken to be the apprentice of Mage Ankennes.

Meanwhile, a bardic sorcerer, Taudde, is being exploited to assassinate the Prince of Lirionne. Taudde hails from Kalches, a neighboring country who has kept a tense peace of fifteen years with Lirionne after years of battle. Now, with the end of the peace treaty looming ahead, Taudde is thrown into an assassination plot he never intended to be a part of in the first place. Our third protagonist, Leilis, is a woman working the Cloisonné   House, not quite servant and not quite keionse like the girls there either. A curse has set her apart from others, but she battles to give Karah a fair chance against other, more envious, keiso in the Cloisonné   House.

House of Shadows is told from the perspective of three main characters whose story lines slowly converge and begin to come together as the novel progresses. As a fantasy, one of its greatest strengths lies in its complex world-building which truly blew me away with its imagination, creativity, and depth. Its characters too continued to surprise me as the novel progressed. Each and every one of them had more and more layers to peel back and through the different perspectives of our three protagonists we are able to see what each of them think of the cast of secondary characters who grace this tale and as such, are able to make our own opinions about them from the mixed perspectives we are given. It’s all rather remarkable really, now that I think about how Neumeier must have crafted this story.

Out of the large span of characters in this novel, Karah is, perhaps, the most flat for her personality is too kind to give much way to more complexity. Yet, Neumeier fails to make her a protagonist and we see her life from the perspective of Leilis and Nemienne which goes a long way to make every aspect of this novel intriguing. From the three perspectives that dominated this story, I must admit that Taudde’s was probably my favorite. Not only was he a bardic sorcerer, not in his own homeland, yearning for his nation, yet fascinated by the seas of Lonne, the capitol of Lirionne, but his battling emotions over the assassination he was meant to commit and his observation of the Prince of Lirionne’s peaceful nature were touching to behold.

Nemienne, with her lessons, quick wit, and pure heart was also a delight to read about and I found myself rooting for her, even from page one. Leilis, on the other hand, is a different type of protagonist from one I’ve read before, but she too charmed me at once. Although she carries a curse which prevents her from going far in life, she makes the best of her situation with a strength that is admirable and her sharp tongue is one I love.

House of Shadows is most definitely a political fantasy novel – and its plot is impeccably crafted – but its strength lies in its characters, world, and ability to suck you in. It is far deeper than most may give it credit for and it leaves you feeling almost imperceptibly wiser. It does contain a touch of romance, but it is subtle and of the purest kind, leaving little room for the true track of the novel to veer off course. It took me rather by surprise and although I love the fact that it is a stand-alone, I wouldn’t hesitate to visit this world again. Neumeier is, clearly, an author I simply need more of. Much like Juliet Marillier, a taste of her works only leaves me hungry for more.

A huge thank you to Heidi from Bunbury in the Stacks for recommending this one to me! It was her review that convinced me to read this, so I'd urge you all to check it out!

You can read this review and more on my blog, Ivy Book Bindings.

[Heidi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Never let the blurb on the back of a Rachel Neumeier book fool you, in my experience the contents within are inevitably much more complex and intriguing than could possibly be expressed in a few short paragraphs. While House of Shadows is indeed the story of two sisters and a foreign bard who become embroiled in a plot that could wreak havoc on their kingdom, the complete picture is so much more.

House of Shadows begins with a fairy tale cadence as we narrow in on a family of eight sisters. Each sister, it seems, excels at some aspect that makes her a boon to her family. They are a wonderful cook, and a good accountant, they are beautiful and sure to bring a good marriage. All save Nemienne, who always seems to see the world through a slant, and never really fit in anywhere. When the girl’s father passes away, they come to the harsh conclusion that at least two of the daughters must be sold into a service in order to keep the family business and home. Beautiful Karah finds a place in a keiso house where she will be treated with care and grow up to potentially become some man’s flower wife–a highly respected position. Nemienne, however, finds a place where her slant-wise view of the world fits as a mage’s apprentice.

The story is told from three disparate points of view in a country on the eve of a potential war. Through Nemienne, we see the ways of magecraft and learn about the presence of shadows within the mage’s home and many others throughout the city. Taudde, a foreign sorcerer who has broken a treaty imposed on his homeland by entering the city of Lonne, is drawn into a dangerous plot against the prince and king ,but he chafes against being used as a pawn. And Leilis, a woman who is neither a servent nor a keiso in the keiso house where Karah is placed, lives under the weight of a curse that keeps her from touching another human being, while her position allows her to bear witness to the affections and scheming of men. These three characters stories become increasingly intertwined as the story moves, each allowing us a different take on the political and emotional maneuverings of all those involved.

As complicated as the plot to House of Shadows can be to explain in a succinct manner, the book itself is in no way confusing or overdone. It’s become clear to me after only two of Neumeier’s books that she has a very distinct style that involves well balanced politics that allow us to see the good and bad in all players, only a touch of romance (which personally, I find very refreshing from time to time), and incredibly unique magical structures that are a pleasure to unfold. Some readers who grow weary of elaborate descriptions may find the reading of Neumeier’s work tedious at times, but personally I soaked up these rich details that created a running image of the world at hand in my mind. As tends to be the case with me and fantasy, I only have problems keeping the elaborate naming structures strait (particularly here with Nemienne and the Mother of the keiso house who both had lengthy ‘N’ names), but I can appreciate the reality that nobles do tend to have elaborately long names and am thankful that at most times we can call them things like ‘Prince Tepres’ for short.

Because House of Shadows is told from these three varying perspectives, we are able to see the shades of grey in each of the characters whereas if we were viewing from a single perspective they would be very black and white. Taudde, as a foreigner allows us to see this country both as cruel conquerors and intriguing magicians. His perspective of Mage Ankennes, one of the men forcing him into a plot against the throne, is contrasted by the perspective of Mage Ankennes’s apprentice, Nemienne, who sees Ankennes as a teacher and patron. I love that in House of Shadows, characters opinions are driven by gut feelings (all of which seem uncannily accurate), and that they develop and change throughout the book. I strongly resisted the jump in perspective at the beginning of each new chapter when the story began, but as the three character’s stories became increasingly related, I became increasingly invested in the overall plot. Indeed, I enjoyed the fairy tale beginning, but it was from halfway through to the end of this book that I was truly glued to the pages and unable to put it down.

Straddling the line between adult and YA, House of Shadows is a beautiful fantasy world with crossover potential that draws from Eastern influences, geisha, and the presence of shadows. It highlights the concept that light and shadows must exist in tandem, and that the dark does not have to give way to corruption. Definitely recommended.

Review originally posted at Bunbury in the Stacks.

[Estara · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is more what I wanted Seraphina to be like, actually. It's an intricate kingdom-level intrigue fantasy with three main point of view characters, all of them with personal ties to others, coming across a long-term intrigue plotted by a powerful man in the country of Lirionne, which seems to be on the verge of rekindling a war with a neighbouring country after a 15-year-long truce-treaty is set to run out at solstice.

There's the foreigner mage from the rival country, involved as a tool and scapegoat into the intrigue, there's the girl sold into apprenticeship (the trope of selling members of the household... it seems to be only girls are ever sold, and it isn't really explored for anything but the house where the story sets out) to a local mage because she has an affinity to it (her sister could almost be claimed as the fourth major character, because she is also deeply drawn into the intrigue and connects to the third POV-character), and a young woman raised as a geisha[Keiso], but cursed by a jealous rival to be unable to fulfil the role she was raised for.

As is clear from the interview at the back of the book she is a character-first writer, so if you are a reader for plot and interior logic, then I think you may feel somewhat dissatisfied with aspects of the book. But as I am a reader for character first and foremost, I accepted that, of the eight sisters introduced at the start, only two have any agency and only a third is in any way her own person; the current rival apprentice-geisha at the geisha house whom we hardly ever see talking has more real presence in the book via the dread everyone feels about her and the few intrigues initiated by her.

But the three that the book focusses on and their interests and their personalities and the lyrical description of the various magics and the intertwining of the actions because of who these people are - and the eventual opening of the focus to include the sister of the future female mage, the servant of the foreigner mage, the prince and king of Lirionne and the mother of the keiso house - those are what make the book compelling and something you want more of: to find out what the consequences of the roads taken and the trust given in this book are.

But if the author should decide not to write any more in this world with these people, they are still left at a place where a lot of options seem open to them, so I'm fine with that. This is a book I'll be rereading.

[Nafiza · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was bitterly disappointed by this book. Not because it was bad but because the synopsis led me astray, in fact, it cheated me. If you read the synopsis, you will think the main characters of the novel are Karah and Nemienne when nothing could be further from the truth. Karah is beautiful. And innocent. And that’s about it. She is portrayed as this guileless, naïve character who doesn’t know better than to be wary of strangers and of people who mean her harm. She is that annoying girl who is beautiful as well as super nice and whom you can’t hate without hating yourself. We do not get to know her as a character, actually, she doesn’t have much character to speak of. And then there is Nemienne who is much more promising but ultimately ends up as a side character without the importance that one would think she has considering her presence in the synopsis of the novel. She doesn’t do anything, heck she doesn’t even appear in the narrative – I would have to say she’s only present in a quarter of the book if all her appearances are brought together and quantified.

The true main characters are the bardic sorcerer and Leilis, the failed Keiso. It is not that they are not intriguing or make for better protagonists – they do – but I was expecting a book about these two women. And I didn’t get it. And it annoyed the crap out of me because I spent the entire narrative waiting for either Karah or Nemienne to step up and reclaim their voices or make their voices sound stronger and of more import than they were shaping up to be. If I were to critique this, I would have to say the book was overly ambitious for one of its length. I needed the conflicts to be better parsed out because they were all so complicated. I needed more in depth exploration of the magic and the mythos. The politics alone would have taken a lot more page time and deservedly so if the book had done justice to it.

And most of all, I want to find out who wrote the synopsis and talk to them because I felt cheated. Honestly. So if you are considering reading this book, disregard the synopsis and go into it knowing that it is not about Karah and Nemienne, it is about Leilis, Taudde and the Dragon King. Karah and Nemienne are incidental to the story which would have functioned as well without them.

[Terri · Rating 3 out of 5]

Let me start off by saying that I enjoyed Neumeier’s other two young adult fantasy novels, The Floating Islands and The City in the Lake. Neumeier has a way of writing fantasy so that it feels sticky, like her book is a big bowl of honey and as you read, you sink down into this crystalline, ethereal place and when you come back up for air, you feel like the world is dripping with magic you feel but can’t see. Her books sell other worldliness in a way that I usually find lacking in most fantasy novels. House of Shadows does this splendidly; Neumeier’s prose was fluid and rich, pleasant to read and honestly, one of the saving graces of the novel.

That said, House of Shadows was good, but not great. The blurb presents the novel as if you’ll get two perspectives: Karah: facing games and betrayal in the flower house, making allies and enemies and girl drama, and Nemienne: learning magecraft and living with a powerful and mysterious master. Neumeier splits up the story into three points of view: Nemienne, Taudde, and Leilis. Rather than Karah, who was sweet and uncomplicated and would have been boring to follow, the author chose to present that part of the narrative through Leilis’ perspective. I felt this was a good move, as Leilis was older, more experienced and therefore more jaded, and had the added benefit of a interesting, if unresolved, back story.

The problem I had with the story, though, is that the characterization is very shallow. Neumeier never went beyond the surface level of each character’s thoughts. Nemienne is perhaps the least developed of the characters and provided the most disappointing narrative. She doesn’t wonder about Arkennes and whether she should trust him until about 2/3 of the way through, even though that’s presented as one of her biggest worries in accepting the apprenticeship. She doesn’t grieve for her recently dead father or talk about missing her seven sisters while she struggles to learn to call the light. It’s like the only emotions she has are the ones that serve to move the story forward. What really makes me like a hero or heroine is that they have a thing to do, they’re scared or tired or hungry or grieving and they press those emotions down, they move forward, and they slay their dragons, metaphorical or not. Nemienne is pivotal to bringing the plot arcs together at the end, but then she fades into the background and Taudde does most of the interesting stuff. There is some interesting dialogue between her and the Mage Arkennes about water and sound and light, but it’s mentioned in passing, and after The City in the Lake, I was expecting a more developed representation of magery. Leilis has this intricate, interesting back story that’s only partially described and mostly attributed to the jealously of the head of the flower house’s daughter. Something happened to her, and she’s not a keiso, she’s not a servant, but she’s obviously important and influential. She thinks about her personal tragedies blandly, as if they happened to someone else instead of herself, and rather than being a strong, tortured heroine who overcomes persecution, she mostly just seems impassive. Taudde is a bardic sorcerer, manipulating magic through music, and the novel reads like he’s got secret, unexplained reasons for being in the city, but you don’t find out much of anything until the last few chapters and it’s not nearly as interesting as it could have been.I get the feeling that once the action is over, he’ll be a pretty boring, forgettable fellow.

Perhaps I’ve been spoiled by Sanderson with his detailed magic systems, and by Rothfuss with his rich characterization and almost excessive back story, but the magic system here is never really broken down and described, just used. It reminded me a lot of the “magic through music” system used in the “Singers of Nevya” series by Louise Marley. Marley’s novels, however, were entirely based around the music creating warmth and light on their icy, dark world and therefore keeping them all alive, while Neumeier uses hers only as a means to an end. Taudde came all the way to a foreign land, in disguise because there is a war that might possibly be renewed between his homeland and this land, so that he could listen to the music of the sea and try to harness its magic … and it doesn’t get any more complicated than that. He’s drawn into the scheming of the other characters and that distracts him from pursuing the sea in greater detail. He uses magic, but the reader is not really sure how it works and how it’s different from the magecraft of Arkennes and Miennes (another mage).

All in all, House of Shadows was enjoyable, but shallow characterization caused it to fall far short of its potential. Having really enjoyed The City in the Lake, this book was disappointing. The rich prose and the excellent world building saved it from being totally lackluster, so I’m giving this book 3 stars.

[Mitch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading House of Shadows is like watching subtle magic at work. I admit, this is not an easy book to read, be prepared for some fairly dense descriptions and unexpected points of view, but there's just something about the characters, about the writing, that makes this book incredibly charming and compelling. From the very first line, I just knew I was in for the kind of light fantasy that captivates with its detail. "In a city of gray stone and mist, between the steep rainswept mountains and the sea, there lived a merchant with his eight daughters..."

Ok, that line might be a little misleading; the story really isn't so much about the merchant's eight daughters, or even Nemienne and Karah, the two daughters out to find their fortunes, as the summary implies. There's a much bigger plot, involving multiple other characters, jumping around multiple contemporaneous storylines. But Nemienne's is still really good, I really like her because she's such a delightfully charming character. I love how she starts as the only sister without a role in her family and then finds herself as an apprentice to Mage Ankennes. And through her eyes, the mage's magical house, the mage's magical cat, the play of light and shadow leading to a whole deal with finding balance between light and dark, it's all vividly brought to life and completely fascinating. The entire time during Nemienne's scenes, I'm thinking about this awesome house, with all of its twists, turns, corners, rooms, and doors - I could totally get lost in a house like that for days. As as Nemienne's learning about magic, about light and dark, I'm also thinking about how I would totally read a book just about her - that's how awesome she is.

But Nemienne isn't the only character here. Her sister Karah actually isn't a main character, which is good because she's a little too sweet and innocent, but Leilis, not quite a servant at Karah's Flower House, is another major point of view. The entire flower life concept is of course based on Japan's Geishas, and although I was sort of just thrown into the entire thing without any explanation, I thought it was pretty well done after I finally managed to pick up the vocabulary - keisos, and deisas, and keisonnes and all that. (If you're wondering, a keiso is like a fancy female companion for nobles, a deisa is like a keiso in training, and a keisonne is a noble who has taken a keiso as a second wife ... I think.) A lot of interesting stuff, and Leilis is a great guide for it all because she has so much firsthand experience and just takes Karah under her wing, protecting her from the more jealous deisas.

And Taubbe, a foreign sorcerer caught up in a scheme to assassinate the kingdom's Crown Prince, provides the third main point of view. He's a bard, which I thought was pretty cool with all his music and sound magic, and his storyline's actually the most important, because the overall plot involves the assassination attempt. So even though he sort of pops up out of nowhere when the book suddenly switches to his point of view, don't worry, it makes perfect sense within a few chapters because his story intersects the others'. My only complaint is that I could tell Mage Ankennes’s up to go good early on from Taubbe's point of view, but the mage still seems like a perfectly harmless mentor from Nemienne's, so I didn't know what to think. But that's resolved well before the end of the book. Hmmm, actually the ending kind of drags too, the last ten percent could've probably been cut down to two percent.

But anyway, House of Shadows is a delightful light fantasy with well-done characters and excellent world building. It's not the easiest book to get into and the pacing's off at the end, but I still really enjoyed it.

[Dark Faerie Tales · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales

Quick & Dirty: Descriptive writing and multiple POV’s may distract but this book is filled with strong young women and a beautiful message.

Opening Sentence: In a city of gray stone and mist, between the steep rain-swept mountains and the sea, there lived a merchant with his eight daughters.

The Review:

House of Shadows is a standalone fantasy novel set in a ruthless magical world. I enjoyed many aspects of this world including the differing magical types and the Keisha but I had a really hard time getting into this book in the beginning. Rachel Neumeier has an incredibly descriptive type writing style which really helps with visualizing this world.

House of Shadows is told through three different point of views. Each chapter is dedicated to one POV, hence my Chapter 3 roadblock. Chapters 1 and 2 flowed together but then Chapter 3 happened with a new character and situation that I got completely lost as to what was happening. It didn’t match any of the story so far and it through me off so much I didn’t comprehend what was going on. I just ended up powering through the chapter until things made sense again. Plus, it didn’t help that Chapter 3 was incredibly long and felt long, this was the chapter that also focused a lot on the world building. By the time I got to Chapter 4 with the girls’ storyline I forgot which “N” name was the main character. Nemienne and Narienneh were just too similar for me.

As I’ve stated, House of Shadows is divided between the three different POVs. It starts with Nemienne. Her father has just died leaving her and her seven sisters orphaned. They are desperate to keep life as normal as possible and to keep the sisters from being separated. Unfortunately, if they want to keep their father’s house and business, two of the sister must be sold off. Nemienne was the first to reach this conclusion and knows that she holds no real value to the house, she just hopes that she can be worth enough to help out her sisters. Nemienne also has a gorgeous sister, Karah, whom they hope can be sold as a prized Keisha even though she is almost too old to become one. The sisters’ situation gets better when Nemienne is sold as a mage’s apprentice.

Leilis is the next POV. Her character is a bit hard to describe but she lives at the Keisha house that bought Karah. She has a magical ailment that has kept her from becoming a Keisha but her situation has left her in a position to flitter through the house knowing everyone’s secrets and almost becoming like the head mistress herself. Leilis has the head mistresses ear and is able to influence some of the situations around the house.

Taudde, the final POV, is a man whom has infiltrated the kingdom of Lirionne from the enemy kingdom of Kalches. He has plenty of secrets of his own including welding a different kind of magic than the mages of Lirionne, which is the whole reason he was drawn to this kingdom in the first place. He becomes an unwilling accomplice in a scheme he wants nothing to do with.

Leilis was my favorite character in House of Shadows. She is assertive. She knows how to manipulate like a master (in this case, her powers were always used for good). She has learned to live with her curse and she doesn’t make excuses for anything. She understands where her power and position is best used and she uses it to the best of her ability. Nemienne is fifteen years old and is pretty wise about the world even if she is still a bit naïve and trusting. She knows she is pretty awful at basically everything so when she finds out about her affinity to magic she does give her all into practicing. Nemienne is a natural but she still struggles with learning how to control her powers. When the stories start to converge, she doesn’t stand still and make excuses, she makes sure she fights for the right outcome. Taudde is a young man whom is suffering from a bad decision. He has quite a story to tell so I don’t want to ruin it but I will say I was surprised by his strength of character in the end. And he is a really lucky bastard. He is just a right guy in the wrong place at the right time.

I sadly had my issues with House of Shadows but overall it is a standalone that I would recommend. I really liked the world that was set up and I would have loved to see it expanded but as this book came out quite a few years ago, I doubt that will happen. I would have loved a sequel to see how one storyline wrapped up but that was more of a world issue. It would have had major implications for one of the characters. The women in this novel are great examples of strong young women (minus one bad apple of course). I really loved the message of love, family and doing the right thing that came out of the climactic scene. The novel wraps up most of the storylines but what it doesn’t you can just make up with your own imagination.

Notable Scene:

The pipes were beautiful. A fine example of the bard’s craft. Taudde had made too many sets of pipes to recall, but he couldn’t remember when he’d made better. But he could see the death they carried within their craftsmanship, and he could hardly stand to look at them.

FTC Advisory: Orbit provided me with a copy of House of Shadows. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review.

[Small Review · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

Loved a lot (world building, characters), but the climax lost me, the characterization of the bad guy left me wanting, and the end seemed a little too quick and neat. Would have also liked more time with the characters- so much potential!

[katayoun Masoodi · Rating 4 out of 5]

as usual lovely, compelling story and very interesting and likeable characters, immensely enjoyable

[Brandy Painter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Originally posted at Random Musings of a Bibliophile.

I read Rachel Neumeier's The Floating Islands (my review) and really enjoyed it, so when I saw people begin to talk about her latest book House of Shadows I knew I wanted to read it. I bought it rather than wait to see if my library would ever get it, and boy am I glad I did. I was able to read this wonderful story that much sooner.

Did you read the synopsis? No? Doesn't matter. This book is about a lot more than that and, in fact, does not focus nearly as much on Karah and Nemienne as it would lead you to believe. True the story starts with them and they are used to introduce us to the world, but there's a lot more going on. And two other characters of far more import. (Or maybe they just seemed that way to me.) Taudde and Leilis. Don't get me wrong. Nemienne and Karah are both important to the story, but Taudde and Leilis were what kept me reading and wanting more. I loved both of them so much. Taudde is a conflicted foreigner torn between his honor and a need for vengeance. Leilis is a bitter ensorcelled young woman who has given up on her dreams, but uses her wits to her best advantage with the life she has been left. I could have read a book all about these two and been quite happy. But that would have been a typical book, and Rachel Neumeier's books are anything but typical and so she made this one more. The shifting viewpoints and all the angles shown of every story give a richer fuller picture of what is going on. At the same time, Neumeier manages to surprise the reader from time to time. It's marvelous. The world these characters live in is rich in beauty and detail. I would love to read more about these characters and their countries.

Also there are mages, sorcery, politics, and a dragon. So you know, it's all awesome. If you are someone who breaks out in a cold sweat at the thought of reading High Fantasy, if all the strange long names and places distract you, if you don't like kingdom intrigue and political plotting, then this book isn't for you. If however, like me, you will read anything so described and are over the moon excited when it delivers everything you could want and more, then read this book.

House of Shadows is being marketed as adult but has a definite cross-over appeal for a YA audience which is why I chose to review it here. Nemienne and Karah are both in their teens, and the other characters are in their 20's.

[Jessie Leigh · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.75 out of 5

There's a lot to like about this - the world, the culture, the various aspects of magic - but there is also a lot that bothered me as I read. The characters are a mixed bag: some are wonderfully complex, and others had me considering renaming the Mary Sue trope after them specifically (credit: Lyn for the Karah Sue crack).

On the whole, this was far from what I had anticipated but I would, and plan to and may have already bought another YA fantasy from Neumeier. Not perfect, but still fun, House of Shadows was a worthwhile introduction to this author.


Readalong with the wonderful Lyn!

[Debbie Gascoyne · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favourite so far of an author I'm finding more and more reliable. Will write more later.

[TheBookSmugglers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Originally Reviewed on The Book Smugglers

In the sea and mountain shrouded city of Lirionne, a prosperous merchant raises his eight daughters in a home of love and happiness. When the merchant dies, however, his daughters are left to fend for themselves - and most urgently, they must figure out a way to run the stone masonry (though legally, they cannot, as women) and to pay off the mounting debt following their beloved father's debt. With no other alternative and the possibility of imminent war (as the treaty of Brenedde, between Lirionne and Kalches, ends), the daughters agree that two of their number must be sold to help the others survive. Karah, the most beautiful and selfless of all the girls, goes to a keiso house in the candlelight district. Even here, among the most lovely and talented flowers of the kingdom at Cloisonné House, Karah's unique blend of beauty and naivete fetch an incredible sum - but still not enough to save the family from their debts. Nemienne, neither the oldest nor youngest sister, neither the fairest nor plainest sister, also goes to Cloisonné House to become a keiso, but instead finds her path as an apprentice to the Lirionne Mage Ankennes, for another tidy sum. Under the tutelage of her new master, Nemienne learns magecraft and finally finds her calling, for she has always felt separate from her sisters and has perceived of things no one else could. However, her apprenticeship also is fraught with danger, as she uncovers a plot that could shake not only the political structure of her land, but threatens the lives of everyone in the kingdom.

Through her sister Karah, Nemienne's path tangles with two others - Leilis and Taudde. Leilis is a beautiful but solemn girl that is neither servant nor keiso thanks to a vengeful curse, but she finds it in her jaded heart to help shield the sweet Karah from her new jealous deisa and keiso sisters. Taudde is a sorcerer from Kalches who is half-extorted and half-willingly compliant in planning the prince's assassination.

Nemienne, Leilis, and Taudde's destinies converge, and together, they will determine the fate of a kingdom.

A self-contained novel, House of Shadows is an imaginative fantasy complete with a strong trio of main characters - including two wonderful heroines - and some truly awesome worldbuilding. Though House of Shadows isn't quite my favorite book by Rachel Neumeier, it certainly is a memorable one that is high on the list.

Let's talk worldbuilding first, shall we? As I mentioned before, House of Shadows is a very, very rare creature in the fantasy genre - it is a completely self-contained novel. Lest you think that 'stand alone' equates to an underdevelopeed world or lack of different characters and magical systems, allow me to rid you of that notion - House of Shadows effectively creates not only an effective and believable political climate (with the tensions between Lirionne and Kalches coming to a head), but also weaves rich magical and cultural distinctions in this world. I loved the different magery of Lirionne and its focus on the sea and unrelenting darkness, just as I loved the very different tang of magic from Kalches, with the reliance and focus on music to ensorcell. There's a history of great and awe-inspiring dragons, of hidden and forgotten truths of magic, darkness and light, too, which I also loved. More than just the magic systems, there's also a connecting thread of different beliefs and customs that separates Lirionne - of the sea - and Kalches - of the mountains. Through the eyes of Taudde, these divisions become clear; as does the history of tension between these two realms.

Of course, a large part of the story also details the keiso life, and the value of the keiso in Lirionne culture. The keiso, inspired by the geisha of Japan, are a powerful and respected class in Lirionne - not prostitutes (though we do hear tell of these, disparagingly), a keiso must earn her robes and her keep, but is trained in the arts and can even marry should they choose to, becoming a "flower wife" to a courtier. This intricate system - in which women may not have the same rights and powers and men, but through the keiso path can amass their own status and power either through marriage or reputation - is fascinating and beautifully rendered by Neumeier - reminiscent of the servants of Namaah in Jacqueline Carey's novels, and of course redolent of any number of geisha novels and histories.

Just as the worldbuilding is superb, so too are the characters. I adored our two female protagonists, the quiet apprentice-mage Nemienne and the solemn, cursed Leilis, as both are intriguing and conflicted heroines. Nemienne's story, following her training and excitement for learning magecraft was my favorite thread of the three, closely followed by Leilis and her own conflicted, painful past. Taudde is another strong and relatable voice, though perhaps less intriguing and sympathetic than his female counterparts. That said, I did love that Taudde treads a grey area of morality that no one else quite does in the book, and his motivations are more selfish than those of any other character's (even including the 'villain'!) - particularly his compliance in planning the death of a prince. There's also a great reveal about Taudde in the climactic chapters of the book, but I won't spoil that here.

These praises said, House of Shadows is not without its significant flaws. From a character perspective, not-quite-a-protagonist Karah (and her prince) is just plain boring as a character. Unwaveringly good, incredibly beautiful, untouchably innocent, Karah is the type of sweet, sheltered princess character that should be singing songs to cheerful birds and fluffy wood creatures. Her character makes sense in the context of the novel, though, and I fully appreciate that she's not really a protagonist as much as she is a connecting force between our three heroes. Her romantic involvement with the prince is predictable - of course such an innocent little dove would capture the heart of the prince! This said, I fully appreciate what Rachel Neumeier has done with the character, because instead of telling a very trite and predictably boring love story between Karah and her prince, Neumeier tells the story through the eyes of Leilis - who is infinitely more interesting.

My only other major complaint for the novel is that it felt disjointed - though our three protagonists' stories come together, their individual threads felt as though they were pulling apart instead of converging towards each other. Each character felt s though they were the star of a separate story that should have been written for each of them alone - almost to the point where I felt that these were three completely different novels, cobbled together to make a cohesive - yet noticably patchworked - whole. There's also a lack of early intensity and direction for the story because of these separate plot threads, though the pacing does become more even as the novel continues. Finally, there are some tendencies towards the excessive regarding explanations and setting, as well as noticeable repetition to the dialogue (lots of strangely placed "mmm"s, and from at least two different characters) - however I should stipulate that I read an ARC and these more minor stylistic issues may have been changed in the final print.

All this said, I still truly loved House of Shadows, for its fantastic world and especially for its two heroines (ok, Taudde was great, too). Although I love that this can be read as a stand alone novel, I would not be averse to reading more set in this world - particularly as Nemienne continues with her magical studies.

Absolutely recommended, especially for those who like strong heroines, and undoubtedly House of Shadows makes my list of notable reads of 2012.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Life is so unfair. Why do I live in a place where there are no houses that slant into another realm? Why do I have to live in something called a 'country' rather than expansive 'lands'? Why can't I be a magician's apprentice and be able to call light into darkness and read languages without learning them? UNFAIR.

As you can probably tell, the setting and world building in this novel rather appealed to me. I loved everything about the world Rachel Neumeier created, from the Geisha-esque 'Keiso Houses', to the ominous darkness of the Kerre Marraddras mountains, to the strange crooked house belonging to the magician/mage that gives birth to doors in a rather sporadic fashion and which only lets you find the room you are looking for if it wants you too. I love the thought of houses and buildings so huge or so magical that they hide rooms no one has discovered and secret passageways to get lost in. And this one has an added bonus: a gorgeous, ethereal cat whose white back foot can always lead you back through the darkness. Cats play an important role in this novel, as well they should because we all know they are the most superior animal of them all.

The main characters in the novel are ultimately what makes you want to keep picking up the book and keep reading just one more page before going to bed and then, inevitably, keep reading for many more. The story begins with eight sisters who, after the death of their father, must find a way to acquire money but find themselves at a loss. It is eventually decided the two of the girls must be sold to a respectable Keiso House in order to give them enough money to live on. A Keiso House is a place where young girls are bought for their beauty and qualities, which will then be refined and perfected so that wealthy men will give them gifts and, hopefully, take them as a 'Flower Wife'. A Flower Wife is like a mistress, except the man must acknowledge his Flower, buy her property to live in, and acknowledge any children she bears by him. The women can choose to accept or decline these offers and some even never accept a man. One of the sisters is accepted into the most respected of all the Keiso Houses. The other, recognised as having magic behind her eyes, become a mage's apprentice which is a kind of magician or sorcerer. The rest of the story looks at what happens to the sisters, and another resident of the Keiso House, and how their stories become interconnected.

I loved the sisters. I really like books where there are strong, loving bonds between women, and genuinely caring characters who aren't completely selfish. All of the eight sisters are very different and unique, which is what reminded me very strongly of a fairy tale in the opening section. You are given an info dump of the different girls names, ages and their special skills/qualities and expected to remember them which I find is something that a lot of fairy tales do! I am hardcore so I wrote all their names down and made a little chart about what was special about each of them...but, you know, I'm just a geek and it is not required! I hardly referred to it later in the novel because you quickly pick up on who is important and who isn't. The other resident of the Keiso House who becomes a main character, is a very mysterious and fascinating woman who has secrets connected to the house itself. I can't give too much away about her but she really captivated me and I wanted to find out more about her.

The other part of the story focuses on a young nobleman named Taudde who has come to the city illegally and has found himself in grave danger because of the fraught relations between his country and this one. He finds himself in the middle of a huge conspiracy that he must entangle to know where his allegiances lie. I loved this story, particularly because of the particular skills Taude has and how they are described: so moving and beautiful. His story keeps you guessing and you want to know as much as he does who you're rooting for.


The downside of this novel is the climax and the ending, in my opinion. I liked the reveals and the action that the ending brings, but after things have kinda been concluded there are lots of drawn-out speeches and repetitive exchanges between characters that really didn't need to be there. I found myself scanning the pages because it became quite dull. However, it didn't tarnish the book as a whole for me and, even though the ending is a bit too slow, the rest of the action is perfectly paced and exciting.


This book was the first book I have read in ages that has MADE me want to keep going back for more and really investing in the characters' well being. I definitely want to read more of Rachel's books if they are as well paced and glorious as this one! Oh, and it has a dragon in it. A cool one.

[Chachic · Rating 4 out of 5]

Originally posted here.

I've heard so many good things about House of Shadows by Rachel Neumeier from other bloggers. I borrowed it from the Singapore public library last year but didn't get a chance to read it before the due date. Which is why I decided that it would be better to just get my own copy - that way, I could read it when I felt like picking it up. A few weeks (months?) ago, I noticed that I haven't read fantasy in a while so I thought it would be good try this one. Can I just say that I think it's great that House of Shadows is a standalone? Most fantasy novels are part of a series so it's always refreshing to come across a fantasy book that stands well on its own.

You know when you feel like you read a book just when you were in the right mood for it? House of Shadows was exactly what I needed, it’s the kind of epic fantasy that I enjoy reading. Magic, intrigue, a world I can get lost in and characters I had fun getting to know. The premise suggests that the main characters are sisters Nemienne and Karah, but we also get the points of view of Leilis and Taudde. It was easy enough to like all four of them, plus the secondary ones within the story, but I feel like it was Leilis and Taudde who stood out from everyone else. It may sound a bit confusing to read about so many individuals but I didn’t have a problem with it, probably because I usually focus more on characters than anything else in the books that I read. The switching points of view gave me a better understanding of the different types of people who inhabit this world. I also really liked the idea of the keiso, modeled after the Japanese geisha. The keiso choose to devote their lives to their art (e.g. dancing, singing) and they are well-respected for that. Living as a keiso is considered an honorable way of life, which I think gives them a higher status than geisha. Instead of becoming mistresses, the keiso can choose to marry men (who are usually powerful or wealthy) and become flower brides if they wanted to. Children of flower brides are recognized by their affluent fathers.

Aside from the characters, I enjoyed reading about the world in The House of Shadows – where there are different kinds of magic and there’s a brewing war between two nations. I liked how the political intrigue added to the character development, how the different layers and motivations behind everything that they do were shown. To be honest, I’m having a hard time pinpointing what worked for me in The House of Shadows. I just feel like all the details came together to produce an enjoyable fantasy read. I was absorbed by the story and I read the whole thing fairly quickly. There are times when I really like a novel but I find it difficult to explain why - I kind of just want to say that I enjoyed this, maybe you should give it a try as well. It's been months since I finished reading it and I still I haven't found the right words to articulate my appreciation of this book. And yet I want to post a review so I can recommend it to other readers. If you're a fan of epic fantasy, then you will probably enjoy reading this just as much as I did. Although I probably wouldn’t recommend this to non-epic fantasy readers, I don't think this will be a good introduction to the genre if you're not familiar with it. I really like how pretty and eye-catching the cover is, I think it suits the story even if the dress the girl is wearing wasn't described in the book. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked The House of Shadows and I’m delighted that I have a copy of The Floating Islands waiting on my TBR shelf. I hope it’s just as good as this one.

[Christina (A Reader of Fictions) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Originally posted here.

House of Shadows was not at all what I was expecting. From the description and the opening sections, I was expecting a fairy tale told from the perspectives of Karah and Nemienne. According to Goodreads, I was expecting YA, too, but I really don't know that I would classify it that way, despite the teenage heroines, not that these classifications mean too much at this point. While there are some fairy tale elements to this, House of Shadows felt much more like a traditional high fantasy to me than a fairy tale.

I was wrong, too, about how the story would be told. Karah and Nemienne are both important characters, but there are others only hinted at or not even mentioned by the description. Karah, in fact, receives the least page time, despite being given top billing. Nemienne actually is a very important character. The other two main characters are Leilis and Taudde. Leilis works in the Flower House where Karah finds employ, bound by a curse that causes great pain when she touches anyone. Taudde, the sole male MC, seems to be, perhaps, the most important character. Without him, this story could not happen, whereas the others probably could be removed, with some re-allotment of plot points.

What brought this book down to a 4 for me was the characters, and the way the narrative was apportioned to them. Though I at least liked all four, I simply was not as interested in Karah and Taudde's narration. I didn't feel particularly bonded to them, and found my attention wandering a bit during those parts. I think that I might have liked this book a bit more were it told either following just one or two of our actors, or if first person multiple POV was used, rather than third person.

Fortunately, there was a lot of crazy cool stuff to keep me entertained. Neumeier's world building is just great. Obviously, there are tons of books out there with magic in them, but I still felt like she managed to do something rather original with hers. Taudde's music-based magic totally blew my mind. (Maybe if I were going to hook up characters from two different books I would link him up with Seraphina and they could make sweet music together.)

I would be remiss if I failed to mention the cats. There are several cats in this story. Though they do not DO much, they have a serious presence. Enkea was one of my favorite characters without a doubt. You know I love me some clever animals. I would actually really like to know more about Enkea. That cat obviously has a back story and I want to know what it is.

The city itself with the Flower Houses and everything reminded me heavily of Japan. The names certainly don't indicate this at all, but the inspiration was no doubt drawn from Japanese geishas. Since I love Japanese culture, I enjoyed getting a small view into the life of the keiso (so totally geishas). I will say, though, that the opening chapter where the daughters resolve that there is no solution but to sell two of the eight made me laugh heartily. Who decides that in like twenty minutes?

House of Shadows is a gorgeously-written high fantasy with music, strong heroines and oodles of magic! If you're on the fence about this one, go read more reviews or just give House of Shadows a chance, since I know most readers enjoyed this even more than I did.

[Blodeuedd Finland · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am wavering between a 3 and a 4. Most of the book was a total 4, but I felt the end was a bit weak. It was sudden, I wanted more. But then let's not judge just the end.

Was this YA? With a girl sold into sexual slavery? Ok ok I know it was more fancy than that. It was more a Geisha house, not a brothel. But it was still slavery cos she was stuck there until her debts were paid. And in the end she would sell her body too and become a flower wife. And her sisters sold Karah to this! No matter that it was not a brothel, you still sold your beautiful kind sister to sexual slavery. So the other one could marry, and the rest could keep the house and business. Karah's part wwas good. She was naive, just really kind. I usually hate those characters, but all the sisters were different and she was just the kind one. She must learn to navigate this new place filled with jealousy and resentment. As for the end, I know she is all nice and all, but she will never be more than a mistress to any man. And if she has daughters they will be raised like this too. But she is so kind that she will make it work (I'd still not want more daughters raised like that.)

Then there was Nem, the other sister sold, not pretty enough for sexual slavery but the madam saw her eyes and said she should see a magician. Nem was mostly exploring shadows at the Magician's house. And at the end I wanted more from her. There is another book in the making there, just about her.

This is a country on the path to war. Soon. So there is a plot in town that they are on the edge of. A bit of suspense there.

I did not mind that the world was not explored more, you know I love a good world. The book was just so light and nice that I did not mind. I wanted to know more. And at the end I was sad there was no more. I must read more by this author.

[Courtney Schafer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought House of Shadows because a friend of mine recommended it, saying Neumeier's writing reminded him of Patricia McKillip. McKillip is one of my all-time favorite fantasy authors for the lyric beauty of her prose, the mythic feel of her stories, and her vividly drawn characters, so I had to check Neumeier out. Oh goodness, I'm so glad I did! I loved House of Shadows, hands down. It's a subtle, atmospheric, beautiful novel, and yes, there was much about the feel of the story that reminded me of McKillip (in a good way, not a derivative one). Interestingly, the book's blurb manages to be both factually accurate and yet wholly incorrect in conveying a feel for the story. Only one of the two sisters mentioned in the blurb is a major POV character, and there are two more major POV characters who aren't mentioned at all. Including my favorite character, the foreign mage Tauddis, who is quietly clever in the face of seriously ruthless men out to manipulate him (something I always love!). House of Shadows can be read as a standalone, but I can't even tell you how delighted I was to find out Neumeier has written a sequel. After reading the first scene of said sequel on Neumeier's blog, I want to read the rest right NOW NOW NOW oh god so hard to wait! Thankfully, Neumeier has a backlist of both adult and YA titles I've never read. I'll devour those while I'm waiting. If I enjoy them even half as much as I did House of Shadows, I've got a great reading streak ahead.

[Steph | bookedinsaigon]

The writing was skilled, but that didn't translate into an engrossing plot and characters that I wanted to cheer on. The part that I read (approximately a third of it) wasn't bad, but there are just so many other books out there with the potential to actually make me invest in the characters' outcomes that I couldn't make myself finish this.

[Janet · Rating 4 out of 5]

With House of Shadows, Neumeier has created a gorgeous stand-alone YA fantasy story, like a fairy tale sung in a minor key.
In a city by the sea ruled by a powerful warrior king, a 15-year truce over a disputed boundary is about to expire, and war seems inevitable. Young people, as always, are engrossed in their own concerns, but end up swept up in larger events and plots. Taubbe violated the city's ban on foreign mages in order to study the magic of the sea. But he's not as incognito as he thought, and consequently is blackmailed into joining machinations against the royal family. A family of eight sisters lose their father, and the only way to avoid destitution is to sell two of them, the most beautiful (Karah) and the one who never quite fit (Nemienne). Karah is sold to a Flower House, which trains and houses keisos, who are geisha-like companions for powerful men. The glamorous and talented keisos are not prostitutes, and must be taken as Flower Wives, a socially acceptable kind of mistress, in order to take their virginity. Nemienne's grey eyes mysteriously make her acceptable at a house of a wizard, where her oblique view of the world suddenly makes sense. A fourth protagonist, Leilis, is not quite a servant at the Flower House, and whose subtle influence impacts all three of the others.

With Rachel Neumeier you can always count on interesting magic systems (here, very different between the two neighboring countries), gorgeous description and setting, and characters that you can believe in. With Nemienne, Neumeier perfectly captures what it's like to be a dreamy child, with odd thoughts tangential to everyone else's. Leilis' brooding, painful isolation masked by brisk competence is very easy to relate to, and you root for her as her heart slowly thaws and finds hope. Taubbe's inner dialogue as he wrestles with the influence of his mentors, his selfish desires, long-held hatred, and new information gives him just the right mix of hero and anti-hero. And I have to say, the Mage Ankennes is a better mad scientist than many novels' actual mad scientists! His mentality is a spot-on academic gone wrong. Sometimes, Neumeier's PhD background shows in unexpected ways. :)

You have to admire the craftmanship of this novel; the editing must have been murder. Neumeier deftly blends a fairy-tale feel with the more detailed politics and personalities that you see in wars-and-thrones style novels, without teetering too far toward one style and losing the other. With the ensemble of main characters, how did Neumeier decide which pieces of story and backstory to have center stage, in the wings, or offstage? Where to allow characters to be complicated and where to stick to simpler fairy-tale standards?(Torture!!) There were definitely times when I yearned to know more -- especially about how Karah felt as she transitioned from a loving and supportive family to the competitive, self-contained world of the deisas in training to become keisos. But at the same time I can see why Neumeier made the choices she did in order to keep the flow of the story moving. And by not telling you everything about everyone, she leaves space for you to have your own reactions to characters. For example, do you see the Dragon Prince as a straightforward Prince Charming, or does he make you more . . . uneasy? Are you convinced Disney princess-like happiness is Karah's fate, or not?

I have few complaints, about world building details glossed over. I had a hard time believing in how good keisos had it when they married and became flower wives. We are told at the beginning of the story that women are not allowed to run businesses alone, yet keisos becoming flower wives expect to be given businesses. Why the discrepancy? Also, what happens flower wives get old, or even just slightly less fresh? I suspect that this patriarchal culture would have some mechanism for putting a flower wife aside and claiming a younger one, without continuing to support an endless stream of discarded mistresses. I would love to see an adult novel in this world, to get into these questions and others about the darker, more sordid aspects of the city - the lives of non-keiso prostitutes, the murders, betrayal and the cost of living under the dark power of the mountains that are just hinted at in House of Shadows. I hope House of Shadows will not stand as the only novel set in this world for long.

[Jaclyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Unfortunately, I could not finish Neumeier’s new fantasy novel. I received an advanced copy of the novel from NetGalley and because of that I really wanted to finish this book to give it a proper review. I set the book aside once then gave it a second chance, but by the end of chapter three I just wasn’t interested in the characters and plot despite the quality of writing and the evocative descriptions that the author provides.The multiple perspectives from very different characters was distracting to me and not a favourite style of mine as a reader.



Why didn’t I like this one? I think my issue with this novel stems mainly from the description info provided with the book. The description makes it seem that the novel will concern two sisters, Karah and Nemienne, and their struggles in two very different worlds. Karah ends up in a keiso house, which reminded me of Memoirs of a Geisha because these women learn the arts in order to find a patron to take them as a “flower wife” or what I assume is a mistress. Nemienne finds herself as a mage’s apprentice and I was really excited about this; I thought Nemienne would be the central character and that magic would take the center stage. Perhaps if I had stayed longer with the book it would have. However, I was thrown for a loop when the next two chapters concerned two other characters, Leilis (some sort of above average servant in the keiso house), and Taudde, a young mage. I thought Leilis’ and Taudde’s points of view had promise, but the fact that each chapter seemed to be a switch in perspective, just didn’t jive for me.



I didn’t think there was anything really wrong with the book, it just wasn’t the style of writing and storytelling that interests me.

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first of the eight daughters mentioned in House of Shadows is Ananda. That joy in existence without which the universe will fall apart and collapse. Much like L'Engle's Ananda, though, Neumeier's drifts at the edge of the story as an observer.

There isn't much joy in House of Shadows, though. The novel centers on a political situation much like tangled, knotted threads. And despite the myriad of plot threads involved, the story surprisingly lacks complexity. The idea of bardic sorcery is beautiful but lost in the many metaphors of light and dark and shadow; along these same lines, the novel cannot juggle the many themes it introduces, and so the powerful ones are not given the time and space they deserve. Further, there is no emotional center to the books, perhaps a result of the rapid shifts in point of view, or perhaps due to the restraint required of the characters.

I don't think House of Shadows contains the depth to hook an emotional reader or the technical perfection to hook a detached reader, but it certainly is a story with a lot of sadly untapped potential. I don't regret reading it, because I think Neumeier is talented and I loved both The City in the Lake and The Floating Islands, but I do consider those two to be superior to this more flawed work.

[grosbeak · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are very just criticisms to be made of this one -- e.g. the way Neumeier imports geisha into a fairly generic medievaltimes-euro-fantasy world, and the way (this is really typical Neumeier) her worldbuilding and story lazily take heteronormative complementarian gender roles for granted -- but if I were going to spend a lot of time crtiticizing these things, I wouldn't keep coming back to these as comfort reads. And despite the problems, the plotting in House of Shadows is really quite good: the multiple strands and plotlines and points of view come together nicely, and Taudde, Nemienne, and Leilis are all reasonably compelling characters with compelling individual journeys.

There's also a lot here that I find hard to resist in a trashy fantasy novel: magical houses with mysteriously appearing doors and inexplicable, ever-changing secret passages, magical cats, magical mountains, mild fantasyland Intrigue, True King ex machina, people being like "would that I could swear friendship eternal with you, my lord, but alas, my first loyalty must be to my grandfather the king--much does it grieve me, but an our countries go to war this summer, perforce must I become your enemy."

[Angela · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my first book by Rachel Neumeier and I have to say, I loved it! The world building in this book is second to none. It was easy to "see" the areas she spoke of, without droning on and on about every small detail as some books do. In other books, I've found myself skipping over constant descriptions, as they become boring. In House of Shadows, I hung on every word. There are three main characters in this book and they're surprisingly not the two sisters and the bard. They're actually one of the sisters, the bard and a servant girl. I found myself pulling for each of them and wondering how she was going to give them all a satisfying ending. There are twists and turns that aren't expected until close to the end. Though, suddenly, I found myself saying, Duh. LOL... Leilis was my favorite character as she grew in this story. I NEEDED for her to come out on top in the end. I will definitely be picking up more of Rachel's books, as I was so totally pulled into this story, I couldn't put it down until I finished it! I'm hoping there's a sequel coming soon!

[Hayley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved The Floating Islands and, while this wasn't quite as good for me, House of Shadows is a similarly satisfying elegant fantasy. The characters are attractively flawed, the world building is stunning and the plot revolves around politicking rather than action. I found it a little slow to start with and could really have done with a list of characters (complicated naming system with several characters having more than one name) and a map (all good fantasy books should have a map as far as I'm concerned), but I was reading an ARC so maybe these were included in the published book. As with The Floating Islands, I'm not sure it will have wide appeal, but will work for kids who like character-driven fantasy.

[D. · Rating 3 out of 5]

The prose was lyrical and lovely, the various plot threads deftly woven together. I may be worn out on pseudo-medieval conspiracies at the moment, those chapters felt tiresome.
Entrance to the flower kingdom was a treat, as was watching Nimienne find her way in an unexpected apprenticeship. Leilis' story, too, was compelling.
Strong parts, if the whole was a bit distracting.

[Grace · Rating 4 out of 5]

Standalone YA fantasy without the love triangles and angst? I approve. Geishas, dragons, and political intrigue? Even better.

For full review, see here:
http://bookswithoutanypictures.wordpr...

[Gina (My Precious Blog) · Rating 4 out of 5]

A merchant with eight young daughters unexpectedly dies leaving his girls in a financial crisis. The eldest sisters brainstorm for a sustainable means to support their "super sized" family. Slowly it becomes evident the only way the family can survive is to actually sell (yes sell) a couple of the sisters. Karah, the most beautiful of the girls is sold to a keiso house and Nemienne, one of the more odd ball girls in the family is sold to a mage who thought she may possess magical powers. As both girls are adjusting to their new lives apart, a common force pulls them back together and "both sisters find themselves at the center of a plot that threatens not only to upset their newly found lives, but also to destroy their kingdom." (Amazon summary)

BACKGROUND


(From Amazon) "Rachel Neumeier started writing fiction to relax when she was a graduate student; her first publications appeared in journals such as The American Journal of Botany and and would probably be interesting to a readership in the high dozens. She is confident that her fantasy novels have much greater appeal!

Rachel's first YA fantasy, The City in the Lake, was published in 2008, and was followed by the adult fantasy Griffin Mage trilogy in 2010 and by her second YA, The Floating Islands, in early 2011. She gets her ideas from artwork, from history, from other authors' minor characters, and from just throwing words on the page and seeing what happens.

Rachel now lives in rural Missouri, where, having allowed her hobbies to take over her life, she has a very large garden, a very small orchard, two cats, and many beautiful Cavalier King Charles Spaniels."

House of Shadows is a stand alone novel and is not part of any other series.


SETTING PACE AND STYLE


Set in the past. Slow pacing as the author takes her time to descriptively and lyrically set up her story through her well thought out, richly developed characters. Writing is in a third person narrative from the different perspectives of the four main characters involved in the plot.


CHARACTERS AND PLOT


The characters are what made this story for me. Each with rich personalities and distinguishable traits, the author does a great job of getting the reader to know each of them on a very personal level.

Nemienne, the one sister who is not only plain, but also always seemed useless to the family unit. She has difficulty staying focused on even the simplest tasks. However, a powerful mage sees through all this to her deeper self which possess a special magical strength that he believes he can coax out.

Karah, beauty and charisma combine with youth and innocence to create most valuable sister, the sister who was sold to the kieso house called Cloisonne House.

Taudd a foreign bard is a mage with musical powers. The ocean draws him to the country but somehow he gets wrapped up in an integral part of the plot and is being forced to assassinate a prince.

Leilis is a special house servant at the Keiso House Karah was sold to. She befriend Karah and looks out for her since some of the other younger Keisos to be, are vehenmently jealous of her beauty. Leisel also harbors her own dark secrets.

Plot: When a merchant dies and leaves his large family of daughters in financial ruins, the girls resort to desperate measure for survival. This leaves two girls in the family pursing completely different lives for the good of the greater family. However, they are drawn back together by a common force which turns out to be part of a very complex political situation.


RECOMMENDATION


I recommend this book to patient readers who enjoy really getting to know and love the characters they read about, including magical and fantasy characters alike. Those who lavish descriptive passages, poetic writing, complex plots, slow moving fantasy stories and fairy tale elements will be drawn to this book. Warning to parents: a hint of prostitution is involved in this story.


PERSONAL NOTE


House of Shadows is a Sci-fi/fantasy with a fairytale feel to it. It also involves a fairly complex political plot, which was totally unexpected for me. This book is one in which the author develops a plot around her characters. Written in third person narratives from at least four main characters points of view, this story was character driven, not plot driven. Initially, I feared I may not like the book, the author was introducing so many characters I simply couldn't keep track of them all. Eventually, she pruned it down to following just four. That's the point at which she captured my interest. I definitely was drawn into the story with each multilayered character I began to learn about. My biggest concern was how in the world the author was going to tie these four completely different characters to a common cause.

A few elements of the story which really stood out for me were the magical cats, the dragon and the keiso houses. I'm an animal lover so I could appreciate how the author wove in two magical cats into her story line. Enkea is a mysterious little cat with a single white paw responsible for leading the way between the worlds of dark and light. The dragon, well, I don't want to spoil anything so I'll go with, it was a total surprise, an additional bonus to this great fantasy story.

The keiso houses seemed original and inventive. I definitely noticed similiarities to the geisha of Japan when initially introduced. The keiso's world parallels the geisha in some aspects. Both are ranked and begin training very young. Geisha are entertainers, raised to preform or dance, though a few were thought to exchange sexual favors. Keiso, on the other hand, are soley brought up to be sold to noblemen as second wives referred to as "flower wives" in the book. Unlike Geisha, though, these girls are emphasized as being artists and high-status women. Yes its a little strange, but very intriguing, nonetheless. Of course the author goes into much further details about this concept throughout the book.

Writing in this one is vibrant with lots of descriptive passages, pertaining specifically to the setting, political structure, the dress and even food. House of Shadows possess certain qualities of mystery and intrigue, but the driving force came from the characters and their individual, detailed stories. Despite the multiple narratives and points of view the author miraculously pulled it all together for a very climatic ending. The wrap up and falling action answered all the burning questions one may have held for the characters the reader grew to know and love. I was actually sad to see this one end. I'd grown attached to the characters, it was hard to turn the last page, close the back cover and leave them behind. I'm not one to read books more than once, but I feel like this is one of those stories I could easily re-read over and over again.


RATING


This one earns four and 1/2 rings. I deducted 1/2 ring simply because I was challenged by the political structure in the story. For me it was well thought out, but complex and a little difficult to follow. Otherwise a fantastic, spell bounding read.

4.5 out of 5 Rings
(VERY ENTERTAINING - LOOKED FORWARD TO READING)

[Alicia · Rating 4 out of 5]

https://wordnerdy.blogspot.com/2023/0...

Somehow I had completely missed the existence of this book and its sequel, so I was excited to get to treat myself to more by Rachel Neumeier! This one involves eight sisters who, after their father's death, have to figure out how to make money. One of the older girls goes off to get trained as a sort of courtesan (this is a respectable and fancy thing in this world) and one of the middle ones ends up apprenticed to a mage. The latter is one of the POV characters, along with a young woman who works where the courtesans are trained, and a sorcerer from an enemy country who gets drawn into an assassination plot. Lots of interesting characters here, and I loved all three of the protagonists. AND there were very cool cats! Lots of magical adventures and humor. I could easily have read this in one sitting if I hadn’t had to go to sleep! Can’t wait to check out the sequel. A/A-.