Cast In Shadow

Chronicles of Elantra #1

by Michelle Sagara

Seven years ago Kaylin fled the crime-riddled streets of Nightshade, knowing that something was after her.

Children were being murdered—and all had the same odd markings that mysteriously appeared on her own skin. … Since then, she’s learned to read, she’s learned to fight and she’s become one of the vaunted Hawks who patrol and police the City of Elantra.

Alongside the winged Aerians and the immortal Barrani, she’s made a place for herself, far from the mean streets of her birth. But children are once again dying, and a dark and familiar pattern is emerging. Kaylin is ordered back into Nightshade with a partner she knows she can’t trust, a Dragon lord for a companion and a device to contain her powers—powers that no other human has.

Her task is simple—find the killer, stop the murders…and survive the attentions of those who claim to be her allies!

Genres: Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, Magic, Dragons, Paranormal, Fiction, Mystery

512 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 1, 2005

About the author

See also:

Michelle Sagara West
Michelle West

Michelle is an author, book­seller, and lover of liter­ature based in Toronto. She writes fantasy novels as both Michelle Sagara and Michelle West (and some­times as Michelle Sagara West). You can find her books at fine booksellers.

She lives in Toronto with her long-suffering husband and her two children, and to her regret has no dogs.

Reading is one of her life-long passions, and she is some­times paid for her opinions about what she’s read by the venerable Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. No matter how many book­shelves she buys, there is Never Enough Shelf space. Ever.

She has published as Michelle Sagara (her legal name), as Michelle West (her husband's surname), and as Michelle Sagara West (a combination of the two).

Reviews

[Shannon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Elianne was an orphaned child of the fiefs, scraping out a living in the fiefdom of Nightshade with an older boy, Severn, and two other little girls. Then one day strange markings appeared on her arms and legs, and the killings began. Thirty-eight children are found murdered with markings like hers carved into their skin - and she knew all of them - until they suddenly stopped the same day she ran away from the fiefs, from Severn, from the horror of what she'd seen.

Now, seven years later, her name has changed to Kaylin and she's a member of the Hawks, one of the three Lords of Law of the city of Elantra. She practices her healing magic in secret and under the protection of the Hawklord, a rare magic that would see her sent to the Emperor if it were discovered. But the killings have started again, closer together this time, and the Hawklord has put her on the case. He's teamed her with a Dragon, Tiamaris, and Severn, who's transferred from the Wolves.

It's an uneasy alliance between Kaylin and Severn. To complicate matters, the Lord of Nightshade has marked her, and the marks on her body are changing again. To find the source of the kidnappings and ritualistic killings, Kaylin must understand what is happening to her and what the connection is, before more children she personally knows are taken.

This is a book I wanted to throw at the wall every second sentence. And rip into bits. I started reading it late last year and only now decided I should finish it - all the time with a frown on my face. The only reason it gets two stars is because the plot is actually very intriguing.

There are seven races in Elantra: the immortal Dragons, including the Emperor, and the austere, magical Barrani; the winged Aerians, the snarling Leontines, the telepathic Tha'alani, humans and one other that's not revealed apart from a brief aside about their agoraphobia. It's quite the busy patchwork, and a world that you're launched into suddenly. This has always been something I've appreciated in fantasy, because it makes the world feel more real and accepted, like it's always been there and you're just late to the party - but, as with everything in this book, the writing style is so atrociously bad that it spoils everything.

Written in the third person but almost always from Kaylin's point of view, it has a modern, "sassy" voice and tries to be smart. Even though it's not technically Kaylin's voice, it is her voice, and it gets very annoying very quickly. The book is littered with those "climactic" stand-alone sentences that always lose their impact by being constantly used - something that made me put down the third Kushiel book before finishing it, though Jacqueline Carey wasn't half as bad as Sagara.

Not only that - as if that weren't enough - very little actually makes sense. It is full of these little quippy sentences that are supposed to be meaningful - are written with meaning and intent, it's obvious - but mean nothing because they just don't make sense. Which means a great deal of the plot and motivations and characters don't make sense either. There are so many little mysteries, things alluded to but kept secret in some kind of attempt to keep tension and the reader's interest - it was complete overkill and drove me mental.

Sometimes you can't even tell who's speaking, or who's present in a scene, because Sagara doesn't tell us and it's impossible to guess - when their name suddenly appears, you have to backtrack and correct your mental image of what's just been happening in order to include them.

The style is very obtuse, deliberately mysterious in the worst possible way, vague at the best of times and confusing at others. Sentences often lack connections to the sentences before and after them - these ones are written to sound profound but if they lack context or relevance they're just dead space.

Conversations are just as obtuse, the dialogue meant to be realistic but instead creating bigger and bigger gaps and more and more confusion. And it makes me want to scream, how many times the characters around Kaylin act all mysterious and won't answer questions, or give answers that make no sense.

I know I should highlight the positives after ranting on about the bad, bad writing - but I've already mentioned the positive: the overall storyline. Oh, and the Lord of Nightshade, I liked him. He had an excuse to be enigmatic! For the sake of those two elements, I've given it two stars. Otherwise, I nearly hated it.

I haven't read any of her other books (she publishes under this name, under Michelle West and Michelle Sagara West as well), but if the writing's anything like this, I'm not inclined to. The thing is, I bought the next book, Cast in Courtlight, first without realising it wasn't the first book, so I suppose I should read it since I have it. Seriously, though, this book came so close to being shredded to bits, which is saying something from someone who doesn't even like to dogear the pages.

[✘✘ Sarah ✘✘ (former Nefarious Breeder of Murderous Crustaceans) · Rating 5 out of 5]

💥 Sept. 24, 2020: only $1.99 today!





Welcome, ladies & gentlemen, to the lamest review ever! Since this is a 5-star book I figured I might as well write a 1-star review for it. Because, frankly, I have nothing to say about this book! This book is too awesome for words! There's no way I can review this book! Or tell you how much I love the world building! Or write about Kaylin-OMG-she's-so-amazing-I'm-in-love! Or say anything about the incredible cast of characters! Or fangirl about dragons-oh-yeah-dragons-OMG-this-is-so-cool! Or go on and on and on about how gripping the plot is! I'm speechless! All my friends have been waiting for this not-so-small miracle to happen for months! Michelle Sagara did it! I have nothing to say! Time to celebrate everyone! Time to get the maracas out of storage!



Okay, so I might be speechless but it doesn't mean I can't unleash too many a few gifs on you, does it now? Ha! You didn't think you'd get out of this one so easily did you? Hahahaha, you're so naïve sometimes.

So. Cast in Shadow is about:

➻ One very cool badass heroine with weird tattoos and strange marks.

Expected a gif of a cool, tattooed, kick-ass chick didn't you? Too bad.

➻ Being late. Incurably late.



Think I'm going to explain why I'm mentioning this? Think again.

➻ Furry people with paws.



That's not exactly the kind of furry people I had in mind but you get the idea. Then again maybe you don’t. Oh please stop being so difficult will you? I'm doing my best here. Which isn't much, I know. But I try. That should count for something right?

➻ The importance of being earnest ← sorry, couldn't resist it, I'm an Oscar W. fangirl words and languages.



Because yes, words and languages are very cool. And Scrabble is sexy. Well it depends on who you're playing with. And on what your personal rules are for the game. Am I digressing? Thought so. Sorry. Won't happen again.

➻ Dragons!!!! Dragons!!!! And surprisingly enough, dragons!!!.



Oh relax for a second, will you? Of course the dragons in this story aren't nice and fluffy. This is just an image okay? A pictorial representation of an imaginary being. I guarantee that this book is totally, completely, entirely fluff-free. Who do you take me for? Do you seriously think I'd be raving about this if it wasn't? *eyerolls her little nefarious self to near death*

➻ Vengeance. Forgiveness. Redemption. Acceptance.



Because NO, this book is not only super extra cool and action-packed. Because YES, this book is about serious, meaningful, life-changing-type stuff, too ← don't you love my descriptive writing abilities?

➻ Paying attention in class



Yep, your parents were right. Sorry about that. It must come as a shock.

➻ Flying people with wings.



I know what you're thinking. These people wouldn't fly if they didn't have wings. Please don't be so critical all the time. Open your minds. There is a world of possibilities out there. You just have to be willing to welcome them into your lives. Embrace the impossible. Explore the inconceivable. Delve into the unimaginable ← think I've lost it? Yeah, I think so too. Don't worry though, I'm almost done here ← yep, I think this calls for another celebration.



➽ One last thing before I go (see? I wasn't lying for once, I am actually done here): I expected to struggle with this book. I was in a deadly, lethal book slump when I started it. Had trouble getting through 100+ pages books. This book is 512 pages long. I thought it would take me ages to read it. Ha. It took me three days. And that's only because of that annoying thing that keeps getting in the way. You know that silly little thing called real life? I would have read this in a day had it not been for that very inconvenient, bothersome activity known as work. Ha again.

✉️ To those who have read this book: you might think my review doesn't do this fantastic book justice. You might be right. Don't say I didn't warn though. Told you this would be lame.

· Book 0.5: Cast in Moonlight ★★★★
· Book 2: Cast in Courtlight ★★★★ (make that 3.5 stars. Because I was in a good mood when I wrote the Crappy Non Review)
· Book 3: Cast in Secret ★★★ (make that 2.5 stars aka bye bye, Kaylin, it was nice knowing you!)

[Literally Jen]

98 pages in, I was wondering how I had convinced myself to read as far as I did. At least 3 times during the course of reading this, I checked to make sure that this was the first book in the series. Something just felt really incomplete about it, as if I were starting the story in the middle and didn't have all the information I needed for everything to make sense.

If I were an editor, I would have required the author to have a prologue which shows us what happened to Kaylin 7 years ago and gives us a definition of the relationship between Kaylin and Severn. The first chapters are a total information overload without providing enough detail to really get to know the different races, social structure, or setting. When it came to picturing the characters in my mind, it was a total blank to me. Some kind of glossary/index would have been really useful when trying to figure out the definitions and identities of some of the characters.

Lastly, I didn't agree with the punctuation placements of commas and semi-colons in this novel. Their placement really interrupted the flow of how someone would really say that statement, and I found it highly distracting. I hope she improves on this in later books, but I won't be reading to find out.

This book was really frustrating to try to read, but as much as I love writing reviews, I don't always rely on the reviews of others when making a decision to read a book or pass on it. If I'd seen some of the reviews first, I probably would still have picked up the book.

The one thing this series has going for it is the really amazing covers. This book is a great example of why you shouldn't judge a book by its cover.

[Gergana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Disclaimer: This review contains a bunch of random comics and fanart done by me for no reason at all (apart from being a complete geek)






Hello, dear goodreaders! Welcome to another random rant about books I love and can't seem to write reviews for because Iamsoconfusedaboutmyfeelings.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
THE HISTORY LESSON

These books are about a city called Elantra. It's a place that has finally achieved peace after centuries of war between the different races. The Big winners, aka. the Dragons (who can shift into human-like people, btw) are at the top of the hierarchy, and the only reason they haven't eaten everyone yet is that the ULTRA Big Boss, aka. The Emperor of Elantra, considers the whole place to be his hoard, in a typical dragon fashion. Nobody wants to go between a dragon and his hoard, so people just shrugged and went on with their lives.

To ensure his tiny subjects don't slaughter each other "by accident" (especially the barrani - an elf-like race that is obsessed with killing one another), he came up with laws that would discourage misbehaviour. Then he appointed people from different races to guarantee these laws are followed and that he wouldn't have to eat too many criminals.



There are 3 “police” departments :
1. The Hawks - the detectives/investigators. They patrol the streets, investigate crime scenes and solve cases.
2. The Swords - the guards. Their main role is to fight when needed, protect the local population, patrol the street along with the Hawks and guard different locations (e.g. palace, library, cast lords, etc.).
3. The Wolves - the assassins. The most secretive of the three, they are often tasked with the dirty jobs (e.g. murdering inconvenient people, spying, going undercover in dodgy places and so on).

Speaking of dodgy places, the Emperor's rule does not extend everywhere. One of those places are the ""fiefs" and let's just say that people are miserable there and the fief lords don't care.
Our main heroine is Kaylin, a Hawk who grew up in one of those fiefs and who has special markings all over her body. Markings that make her extra special and crucial for the survival of her world.


She also has quite the attitude, which prevents her from getting a much deserved promotion.



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TOP 3 THINGS I LOVED:

World-Building

Yes, although the books' main focus is Kaylin and her super-convenient and random magical abilities with which she solves “cases”, the small glimpses we get from the world of Elantra are truly amazing. Each race has its own culture and traditions that sometimes clash with one another, even the barrani that are clearly influenced by the elves from traditional fantasy have their own unique characteristics (mainly the desire to obliterate all their enemies and competition, including family members). As you read you start asking questions such as - Why are there only a few dragons left and why are they all males, why are the aerians (aka. winged people) so secretive and living far away from anyone else, how does the magic work...ops, forget the last one. Its answer - Magic works only to further the plot when logic fails it.




Characters

I LOVE THEM!
Keep it short, Gergana, keep it short...
Not saying they're perfect (especially the MC - Kaylin), and I totally despise Severn (I'll explain later), but GOD, if there is one thing that makes me want to keep reading - it's the characters. From the Dragon Emperor (who we meet later on) who has trouble socialising and interacting normally with his citizens, to the barrani children who are so ridiculously cute and dangerous, from Kaylin's Leontine Boss who chews his desk to pieces when he's mad (or when he has to do paperwork), to the human merchants on Elani street who sell fake love potions and occasionally make true predictions of the future.



Michelle Sagara is a supreme master at creating highly compelling and colourful characters!

Everything Else

Yes, yes, I know I'm cheating, it's not like anyone would read this far. XD

-Humour - some good jokes in there that made me laugh out loud!

-Moments between characters - without a doubt, my favourite part of the series and I wish we had more of those!

-Politics – not much, but interracial politics and relationship is one of my top favourite themes! And in a world where you have a super friendly race that everyone hates because they can read your mind (and not judge you, despite you being the devil-incarnate), fiefs where criminals can hide and even work in league with the fief lords, tensions can be quite high.




~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

TOP 3 THINGS I HATED:

Repetitiveness - From plot to sentences, you'll find a lot of super annoying repetitions, the writing style alone can make my head hurt some times. Most of the books have the same story and characters rarely change drastically with a few exceptions.

Convenience - Don't ask me what happens in the last third of each book. Something to do with Magic and Names that somehow fixes all the problems and plot holes without making any sense (to me). Even the protagonist doesn't know what she's doing after 10+ books.

Protagonist, aka. Kaylin is sometimes really annoying - no, it's not because she's an ultra-powerful extra-special snowflake, and no, it's not because she can be really dumb sometimes. She just has to remind EVERYONE in almost EVERY SINGLE BOOK how horrible her childhood was! And she has to rant about it for pages and pages, no one is allowed to suffer in front of Kaylin! Kaylin will tell anyone who dares that, compared to her, they've had it easy. God, I'm so tired of hearing about her stupid sob story, it's so repetitive and condescending...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Top 3+ Missed opportunities (according to me, personal opinion) :

-Saving the world? How about investigating? - For a hawk, Kaylin does little to no investigation (of the normal kind) and it really does feel like a missed chance to explore more of the world and its characters.

-Villains - usually revealed at the end, 2-dimensional and boring. Always want to destroy the world or parts of it.

-Severn - a creepy stalker, I mean Kaylin's partner, who is in love with her, but doesn't want to pressure her into relationship, because he has no freaking personality whatsoever. Instead he just follows her around, being completely invisible to most characters and readers. (Honestly, his name rarely gets mentioned, and when it does, you realise he's been next to Kaylin the whole time and he never contributed to anything, especially conversations). Nevertheless, he IS a bad-ass and manages to keep up with both magicians and immortals despite having no special power of his own. He might not be my favourite character, but I think it’s only because I have yet to understand his purpose.

-Magic = no sense!!! (or maybe I'm too stupid to get it.)

-The Garden Keeper - you annoy me… A LOT!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

WOW! This is like 10 times shorter than what I originally wrote. Congratulations! You're almost at the end!

AMAZING FANART!

I won’t hide it – the reason I wanted to check the series out in the first place is one of the most AWESOME FANART of all time, done by Mathia Arkoniel Just looking at the pictures made me fall in love with the book before I even started them!


Make sure to check all her amazing Elantra fanart!

Ok, I know I’m supposed to review a book and not fangirl over other people’s art, but… LOOK AT THEM!!!

By Permahiatus The Severn fanart is begging me to change my opinion of him…


By Arriku

Spread the love! XD

Covers
I like them! They get better with time and I love the new model they've chosen. Not how I picture Kaylin, but I like how my collection looks on my shelf - super colourful!

Audiobook
Highly recommend if you have good concentration skills (you'll need it, there are quite a few characters with very similar names and even the audiobook narrator can't do a thousand different voices). Speaking of which, Khristine Hvam does an excellent job at ...EVERYTHING! She can do many different voices, add a lot of personality and emotion into them and help you finish the books faster. Really enjoyed her work!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Conclusion

It's difficult to recommend The Elantra Chronicles to everyone. On one hand, I consider it to be one of the most imaginative and enjoyable reads in my life, and yet, it contains ALL the reasons I should hate it. I've given up on other books for less, but somehow, there's something here that really managed to pull me in: whether it's the amazing feeling I get every time I'm transported to one of my favourite fictional worlds, or maybe it's the lovable characters that I can't get enough of, I don't know. Hopefully, this review was somewhat useful for anyone who wouldn't mind investing their time on a book such as The Elantra Chronicles.

Good luck, there are 14 books out already!

Would I read the sequels Yes, I would never stop! No matter how much I complain!
Would I buy hard copies Already have.
Would I reread Already have, and it's not one of those series that get better after each reread. You notice more of the flaws...
Would I recommend to a friend? - I suggest you try it. I don't disagree with the negative reviews, but I also can't explain why this series is one of my top favourites despite all the ranting and complaining I've done. I have a feeling women would like it better than men, though. Women can tolerate more pointless monologues XD



Happy new Year!

And for more fanart and art in general please check my Tumblr or Instagram account :D

[Kara Babcock · Rating 2 out of 5]

From the other reviews here on Goodreads, I am relieved to see that I am not the only one whose dominant feeling while reading Cast in Shadow was one of confusion. Michelle Sagara has clearly come up with a creative, perhaps even compelling world. It’s populated by all sorts of fascinating species: the immortal Barrani and Dragons and Tha'lani, the mortal humans and Leontine and Aerians. Elantra is a city like many others in fantasy, poised on that brink of industrialization, the throbbing heart of an empire riddled with corruption, magical or otherwise. Amidst all this, Sagara gives us a female protagonist who has clawed her way up from poverty and destitution to be the youngest member of the Hawks, the crime-solving unit of Elantra’s judiciary. And Kaylin’s stake in this case is personal, with all the attendant baggage and issues one would expect. With all of these components, Cast in Shadow should be an awesome urban fantasy thriller. But it’s not.

As others have singled out, the problem is one of context. Sagara is inconsistent in how and when she chooses to deliver her exposition. The first few chapters are an almost overwhelming soup of names and information; then the flow diminishes to a mere trickle for the rest of the novel. Time and again, characters will be poised on the brink of a big revelation, only for them to stop up their mouths and say, “No, you aren’t ready for that.” Half of this book consists of various people from different species alluding to aspects of their culture that never gets explained. Sometimes, when an author does this, it’s to build tension and make the audience yearn to know more. Indeed I did—except I never felt like I got a payoff at the end. I just felt confused.

The plot itself is simple enough to understand. Kaylin used to be an impoverished child, orphaned after the death of her mother, living in the fiefdom of Nightshade. Think urban gang warfare in a pre-industrial city. Eventually (we’re never quite told how) she escapes this area of Elantra and manages to enrol in the Hawks, where she becomes an up-and-coming investigator. She has intense, personal relationships with high-ranking members, such as Sergeant Marcus Kassan, a Leontine (every bit as lion-like as the name implies) and the Hawklord himself, an Aerian. Kaylin is special in every sense of the word, for she has magical powers she can’t trust herself to control. These make her a danger, one that the Hawklord has perhaps unwisely vouchsafed for. And when it turns out that the murders are death magic sacrifices designed to turn Kaylin into a superpowered killing machine … well, that spoils everyone’s day.

Cast in Shadow is not a complicated book, so there is no reason it should be so hard to follow. Yet I repeatedly found myself wonder who was present when characters were conversing, or indeed just what was happening during a particular scene. Sagara' description, like her exposition, is inconsistent in its ebb and flow. At times she belabours the nature of Kaylin’s wardrobe, the arrangement of a courtyard or a tower … and then suddenly, the verbiage gives way to conversations about magic or history, and just as suddenly I have no idea where these people are or what they’re doing.

It’s disheartening, because I would like to love this book. Kaylin is competent but flawed, wounded from her childhood in Nightshade and mistrustful of the people working with her on this case. Sagara does a good job portraying Kaylin’s growth throughout the novel, as she struggles with working with Severn, whom she blames for an unforgivable act while they were both in Nightshade. I really enjoyed watching Kaylin grapple with the various forces that seemed to be subtly—or not so subtly—manipulating and using her for their own ends. In this respect, I was fully willing to immerse myself into the politics of Elantra—if only Sagara had managed to make that possible.

And as I said above, the world of Elantra itself is rich with possibility. The city is cosmopolitan in nature, with the high court dominated by the immortal races while the mortals go about their lives in the more mercantile areas. It appears that the Emperor is a Dragon, a species whose members are humanoid for the most part but can transform into a more conventional serpentine form and wreak devastation. In many ways, Sagara’s species don’t seem all that original or creative—the Aerians have wings; the Leontines are lions! But, even if she doesn’t always communicate it as clearly as I would have liked, there are definitely hints of more complicated cultures underlying all these species. That’s something I would love to see more often in urban fantasy, which usually constrains its non-human ventures to more stereotypical conceptions of elves and dwarfs and ghouls….

Cast in Shadow is a book burdened by flawed writing. At its centre lies a good, old-fashioned mystery—multiple homicides with a clear intent in mind that means nothing good for Kaylin or for the Empire. From the ending, it is clear that Sagara has an entire series conceived in her mind—but I’m not sure I’m willing to read the next book. In the tenuous balance between storytelling and style, Sagara excels at the former but flounders at the latter.

[Tamora Pierce · Rating 4 out of 5]

A unique police procedural in which the cops are divided into three branches: Wolves, Hawks, Swords; and the people are divided into multiple races, including lion-like Leontines, flying Arielites, humans, and immortal Dragons and Barrantines. Someone is ritualistically killing children in this book, raising tattoo-like marks in their skin in pattern-like murders, but what are they trying to achieve, and can they be stopped?

[Angela · Rating 1 out of 5]

9 April 2020: $1.99 on Kindle

Full disclosure: I only made it through 48% of this book.

ETA: Anyone that wants to spoil me on all things Lord Nightshade, please do - I'm so incredibly curious about him, but I just can't force myself through anymore of the book in order to get such small moments/knowledge of him.

ETA2: Or if there's a book that I should pick up later in the series where things start to become more smoothly written and I can skip the first-(several)-book(s)-syndrome....

I've been looking forward to diving into this series for years, years, and when I finally did I am left with nothing but disappointment. You may ask why it's taken me so long to read it if I'd been so looking forward to it.

Fair enough. As excited as I get about books, I sometimes am too scared to start, too. Especially when they're a part of a series, a long series, and a much beloved series, at that. So it took a group buddy read planned for October to get me to start this. But I was excited! Here was the push I needed to start my dive into this (apparently) amazing world.

Unfortunately, I hit a brick wall. Maybe it's just me, I don't know. But I crashed up against bad storytelling, bad characterization, and bad writing. Honestly, that I managed to make it nearly half-way through is a bit of a miracle considering how frustrated I was the entire time I was reading - and it did take me nearly a whole month to make it this far. In the time I took me to read half of this book, I've started and finished twelve other books.

Apparently, pure stubbornness kept me reading long past the time for me to quit. Most of that obstinance came from the fact that I was sure, absolutely sure, that if I could just make it past the first-book-syndrome thing Cast in Shadow had going on, I'd be rewarded beyond measure. There's a good story, a good world, in here somewhere, dying to get out. I can sense it just beyond all the not-telling, flat characters, and confusing (or non-existant) descriptions.

But that's the problem. It's too far out of reach. I spent the entirety of my time reading this novel screaming for someone to just tell Kaylin something as it related to her. And everything in this book relates to her somehow, but guess who doesn't know anything. Kaylin. Yup. Exactly. Everyone else knows these important things that will (apparently) affect her life greatly, but no one thinks Kaylin needs to know. And what's worse? Kaylin doesn't EVER demand to know! I mean, why should she? It's just her life. *deep breath*

If that weren't bad enough, I still don't get this world. I don't even understand enough to give a confusing idea of what it's about. Seriously ..... I've been trying to get it. I've read and re-read passages in an attempt to understand. I don't get the heirarchy, I don't get the structure, I don't get the rules, I don't understand any of it!!

And I've got nothing to say about the characters because they're all about as flat as a piece of cardboard. Kaylin's alternatively kick-ass, healer, and damsel. Whatever the moment calls for. Everyone else, except perhaps Nightshade, I just don't care about. I don't even really care about Kaylin if she can't be bothered to care about herself either.

So, maybe it's me. I don't know. Honestly, I don't care. I can't go any further.

Review also available at The Book Eaters

7 November 2015: $0.99 on Kindle

17 March 2015: Still $1.99
15 December 2014: $2.99 on Kindle
10/1/2012: Just $2.99 on Kindle

[Brittneigh · Rating 2 out of 5]

I feel like I would have LOVED this book when I was 13.

As a fair warning, not a lot (ie nothing) is explained or described. The author expects you to implicitly understand the layouts of buildings and magic dealings without any explanation.

The main character is imperfect, and that is likable, but that is pretty much the only likable aspect of her personality. She is rude, impatient, whiny, and ignorant of everything around her. Every other character treats her with kindness and respect (OK, maybe not EVERYONE, but most) and she is frustratingly stupid back at them over and over again.

The world also relies on nonhuman creatures, and expects you to just happily stay in ignorance (like the protagonist) of what their abilities are and what they look like. It wasn't until the END of the book that I figured out that the Aeriens (or however you spell it) weren't gryphons, but... angels? Huh. Okay. So you have cat people, lizard people, elves, and angels. Right. The author barely gives you ANY tidbits about (what should be) FASCINATING races and again, expects you to fill in the blanks or not care.

This book really "vaguebooks" the entire story through. "I'M VERY UPSET!!" the book shouts. You say, "oh no! What is wrong?!" and it responds "I DON'T WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT!!"
Even the author's EXPLANATIONS of the story don't make sense. They consist of basically saying, "She now understood. She knew what she had to do." Gee, thanks for keeping your reader in the loop.

The IDEA of the plot (supernatural murders with nonhuman characters! oh YES!) and the races and the world are interesting. But it's written like terrible fanfic. The author expects you to already know the characters, world and races, so she doesn't bother describing it. Unfortunately, it's not fanfic. It's a published novel.
Not planning on pursuing the rest of this YA series.

[Kaylin (The Re-Read Queen)]

Update:
I just bought the audiobook and the narrator pronounces it differently.... my life is a river of disappointment

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Like 75% of the reason I added this to my TBR is because the MC's name is Kaylin.

[Justine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really, really liked this book. I know that it didn't really work for a couple of my Goodreads friends whose opinion I trust, but for me, it was a fabulous start to a series.

Sagara has an economical style to her writing, which worked very well with the way the story was layered. World building and character histories are revealed through the current events of the story, which gave it a feeling of happening more in the moment.

Based on this first book I am expecting this to be a very strong series overall, and I'm really looking forward to reading the rest of it!

[Angie · Rating 4 out of 5]

And today we have the first in yet another series I had heard much good about but avoided picking up for a variety of no good reasons. I think my reluctance stemmed somewhat from an uncertainty as to just what kind of series Michelle Sagara's Cast series was. I think at first I had the impression it was a paranormal romance, possibly an urban fantasy (the covers influenced me this way). A few chapters in I was surprised to find CAST IN SHADOW much more a mix of dark and high fantasy, peopled with a smattering of solid gold, humorous, and truly sinister characters living in a fully developed, layered, and fascinating world.

Kaylin Neya is a Hawk. The youngest of that number, in fact. In the city of Elantra, the Hawks are charged with policing the streets and guarding the citizens. They share that responsibility with their sibling organizations the Wolves and the Swords. Together the three forces are headquartered in the Halls of Law. Elantra's citizens are made up of a mix of humans like Kaylin, winged Aerians, furred Leontines, and the immortal Barrani. Seven years ago Kaylin left a life of squalor on the streets of the fief of Nightshade, gave herself a new name, and made her way to Elantra in search of a fresh start. Now her past has caught up with her as a series of murders takes place in Nightshade. Disturbing in their own right, they also bear an eerie resemblance to events in Kaylin's past she thought for sure she'd left behind.

CAST IN SHADOW starts at a good clip and doesn't slow down once. The writing is uncluttered and engaging and Kaylin is an extremely likeable heroine. She runs from a past so dark she has avoided revealing it to her closest friends. She has a gift for healing and will drop everything at a moment's notice to deliver a baby or rescue an orphan in trouble. It was actually kind of refreshing to read about a kick-a** heroine with a soft spot for children. So often they have an allergy to kids or have issues with some of the "softer" emotions and I loved Kaylin because she was both fierce and compassionate. I cheered her on when she was fighting and I wanted to help guard her secrets. Of which she has many. She has friends, enemies, comrades, and those who would use her for her unusual abilities, yet Kaylin remains a little aloof from them all, determined to make her own way. She's my kind of girl. Only a handful of pages into the book and I was completely invested from that point on. I loved this story and can't wait to move on to the next installment--Cast in Courtlight.

[Alisi ☆ wants to read too many books ☆ · Rating 1 out of 5]

When approaching this book in a review, one shouldn't ask the question of what went wrong here but rather what was good. However, the good amounts to a sentence or two and that's boring.

So, the good: I thought the concept and the convoluted plot in theory were interesting. Unfortunately, the author did not live up to the potential. I don't, however, feel it's so much the case of good idea gone bad so much as it was really horrible writing.

I know I've complained about prose in the past but this tops them all. I know what I'm going to write here will be lost on those who haven't read the book because, taken out of context, it really doesn't seem all that bad. And, for the most part, it isn't all that bad when handled by a (much better) author.

What am I talking about? Well, when writing description, Ms. Sagara repeats herself in the same sentence or the next sentence. This is a common practice, certainly, when emphasis is needed or something similar. However, she does this with almost EVERY description or action. Honest to god, this 'novel' felt like a Nanowrimo reject. A lot of people say (when doing Nano) to repeat everything twice because it ups your word count (which is the only important about Nano) and Ms. Sagara took that to heart. I've never, ever thought of any other published book (by a traditional publishing house) as being that way. Ms. Sagara is the first. Thank you for popping that cherry, Ms. Sagara.

Here are some examples (paraphrased as I listened to the audiobook):

'His wings are strong, stronger then when he was flying on patrol.'
'His bronzed feet, his now ash covered bronzed feet, gleamed ...'
'She went forward and forward again.'
'She made a motion to her to stay quiet, as if she's talk out of turn.'
'He soared. Up into the sky!'
'He went up and continued up...'

Taken individually, these aren't a problem but this is how she writes every goddamn description in the entire fucking book. I was feeling lucky that she wasn't doing the annoying Nanowrimo trick of having people repeat the other characters in book but, damn it, about 75% into the book she starts that too. The oft cliche of:

'K, is there something you're not telling me?'
'M, is there something I'm not telling you?'

This she does multiple times in each chapter once you get past 75% (along with character 'dialog' that consists of people just saying each others names.)

The second OMG hurdle is the world building. I can't say if it sucked or if it was just the fact that the author flung everything at the reading, all at once. This is in a fantasy setting, which is enough of a problem already on its own, without throwing everything else at the reader. It was just too much and she did nothing to blunt the blow.

You know how some fantasy authors will take the hand of the reader and gently cox them into the warm waters of a story via the kiddie side, remaining beside you for that little bit it takes to learn how to float or to stand on your feet?

Yeah. That didn't happen here. It felt like I (the reader) was rushing home in the middle of winter and some strange person beat me over the head in unconsciousness. I then wake to find myself in the dark, bound and gagged, and unceremoniously kicked into a deep end of a empty pool. Then, after that moment it takes to make certain I was unhurt and could stand, having all of that ice-cold water all dump onto me along with a cow (because, WTF, right? Can't get any worse...)

This world has seven, possible eight, distinct races. And six of those have parts in this story. We have mortals and immortals.

And what's this I hear you ask? How can you live without the cliches of UF NOT being in a fantasy novel? Well, I have good news for you! She threw in vampires and zombies too. Because dragons and flying men and lions who walk on two feet aren't enough. Yay...

The social structure isn't really given much attention. There are Hawks, Wolves, and Swords, but we don't really get a clear idea of what they do. Hawks supposedly uphold the law but there really wasn't much of that happening (considering that she tried to kill someone in front of others on numerous occasions and doesn't actually listen to the law...)

It might've been more bearable if the MC wasn't so ... so ... well, words escape me. I want to call her a fucking moron but I think that's insulting fucking morons. She was rude and impatient. I felt (sort of) sorry for her in the beginning but really wanted to kick her for the rest. Oh, and she's a Mary Sue. Pretty much every man wants her from the get-go.

This book reads like it was a horrible Tamara Pierce fanfiction in its last incarnation...

[Denisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I smell potential!


When I saw this book has over 500 pages, I was sure I'd be really bored and it'll probably go in the DNF pile. But after I started reading it, I couldn't put it down! I finished it in a day and a half and couldn't wait to start the next one.

This book is more HF than UF. Ok, ok, fine, I can't find the "urban" at all, so why do people say it's an UF.?!
True, if I think of it as HF, then it probably doesn't deserve 4 stars, so yeah, let's just leave it at this...


HF, as in high fantasy, btw.
The main difference between the two being that that UFs are based in the real world (as much as that can be). We see modern technology or at least some semblance of "real". In HF, however, everything is of a different world, from the lore to the cities, systems, characters, etc. I'm still waiting for Kaylin to grab a gun from somewhere and just shoot the bad guy at one point...

Anyway, it had a wonderful world-builder, the politics were great and engaging -yes, I actually said that politics were fun- and the MC has a lot of potential. The whole world is a bit more complicated than your normal "UF" (I'll just call it that) but not as hard to understand as in some HFs.

Dunno what to think about Kaylin yet, I like it that she's damn clumsy and not all-powerful (yet) but most of all I love that she's got a great humor.

Worth trying out at least.

[Maria Dimitrova · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the way to get people hooked to a series from the very beginning! Incredible and complex world + strong but relatable main character = great series. Add humour, lively banter and myriad of interesting support characters to spice up things and you get the first instalment of the Chronicle of Elantra.

This isn't your typical fantasy world. I'm not sure how to classify this: it has some elements of urban fantasy but at the same time it's too close to epic fantasy. Forget the usual suspects like werewolves, vampires and fairies. You won't meet them in Elantra. The only somewhat familiar race here (apart from the humans but we're everywhere so it doesn't count!) is the Dragon race. But even the Dragons are not your typical fire breathing giant lizards! I want to learn more about them! So few details about their culture and powers are mentioned in this book! Same goes for all the races in fact. Mainly because Kaylin, the MC, is the worst student ever and failed all the classes that deal with magic and cultures in school. Damn, how I want to get my hands on her textbooks or whatever passes for textbooks in the Empire! Kaylin is one badass chick! Even if I can't wrap my head around her total disinterest in leaning more about her fellow citizens, I find her extremely likeable. That added to her inability to be on time even if her life deepened on it should have made me hate her but she's so awesome that it didn't bother me at all! I just loved her and all that potential that is just hinted at!

But she's not alone in this strange world. By her side are some pretty awesome characters. Like the Leontine Sergeant affectionately nicknamed Iron Jaw. Or the Hawklord. They might criticise Kaylin all the time but you can feel the affection they have for her. They felt like paternal figures most of the time even when they were trying to be stern and distant. And Kaylin's new partners - Severn and Tiamaris. Even when she was acting out and doing her best to alienate them they stuck by her all the way to the big finale. But most importantly all of those characters supported her and believed in her. Especially considering how much older than her and more knowledgeable they are they still believed she'll do the right thing. That endeared them to me more than everything else put together. I just can't wait to get back on the streets of Elantra and learn more about this fascinating new world!

[Monty Cupcake ☠ Queen of Bloodshed ☠ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm percolating my thoughts. RTC.

[Debbie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story was interesting enough but was often confusing. I didn't like that several times something would happen and, at the end of the scene, you wonder why the author just wasted your time with that. Much, much later you realize what she was trying to establish with the scene, but I really would have liked it if the author had made the point of the scene clearer at the time it occurred.

Also, the author attempts to create a mystery (as if there wasn't enough) by withholding from the reader information that the view point character knows. Kaylin knows what happened in her childhood that makes her attack Severn several times during the book, but the author deliberately keeps what happened very vague, even when Kaylin is directly thinking about it. It remains a mystery until the middle of the book, but hiding it doesn't add anything and only makes Kaylin's motives more confusing. Whenever an author hides something about the main character like this, it has the side-affect of keeping the reader at a remove from her. It is harder for the reader to really care about or bond with the character.

Also, I liked Kaylin well enough, but it's more firmly established that she's annoying and exasperating to everyone around her than it is that people are fiercely loyal to her (rather than simply affectionate) so that they would risk the fate of mankind by leaving her alive.

The heroine's poor grammar made the story a bit confusing at times and got downright distracting if I was tired while reading. I was also a bit annoyed that the author felt she needed to repeat minor points than had no direct bearing on the story (for example, she makes the point several times that Aerians use stools because a chair with a back doesn't work for them). Another annoyance was her repeatedly saying that a lifted chin was a universal sign of submission only to later have Kaylin wonder if the Dragon race also used this Leontine sign of submission. That's not exactly 'universal' then, is it?

On the other hand, I appreciated that Severn steadily shows Kaylin his love throughout the story, even though he knows she doesn't understand and isn't ready to accept it. That's a better romance than having two strangers jump in bed together, in my opinion.

[Allison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cast in Shadow is the first in a series (9 books so far) that I’ve been waiting to start for a long, long time. I still don’t know how long the series is going to be, but I figured there are enough books out that I could get started and see if the wait has been worth it, and oh yes it has. I'm going to have to pace myself on this one so I don't have to play the waiting game for too long.

It is a High Fantasy, but with a definite Urban Fantasy feel. It takes place in a single city, with several different races: Humans, Leontines (Lionish), Aerials (Hawkish), Barrani (flawless immortals), and Dragons (also immortals). There are a couple more, but those are the main ones we meet in this book. Each is complete with its own culture and characteristics, making this a vibrant, interesting world.

Kaylin is a Hawk (not to be confused with the Aerial species), which is a sort of police force in the city. Her interactions with her co-Hawks of various races are what really makes the story come alive with both humor and tension, setting an atmosphere that I found addictive without really being able to explain why.

The story starts as Kaylin gets pulled in on a case involving deaths of children that are similar to deaths that occurred in her orphan past, a past she has tried to ignore. What exactly happened is a mystery for a large part of the book, but once we know what happened, the question becomes why, and how to stop it from happening again.

A lot of things are a mystery, some because they aren’t revealed all at once, and some because the world-building is difficult to understand at times. Sometimes, I felt like I was missing basic background information that prevented me from following everything as it was revealed. I didn't always understand as much as Kaylin did during her discoveries - explanations and experiences that she accepted as just another piece of the puzzle were confusing to me. There was a definite feeling of being in the dark at times.

So the world-building doesn’t spell it all out, but I liked what I did understand enough that I just went with it and got the gist of things. I hoped my understanding would fill in later. And it did, more through the events than the explanations. By the end of the book, I felt like I pretty solidly knew what was going on, how the world was set up, who was in it, what the magic was - mostly. There’s still a lot that I need to learn more about, but I think I’ve got the basics down, and having plenty left to learn promises more fun reading the series.

I don’t want to put other readers off with this, because I really liked the book and can see a lot of potential in the series. This is more a warning that it could be easy to get frustrated at first. Just don’t get bogged down in trying to decipher the meaning of every detail straight away. Because even though not everything is totally clear, it becomes clear as the action fills in the picture for you. I learned much more about the world through Kaylin's relationships and through seeing what happens than anything else, which is a great way to learn how a world works. I really got into it, caught by the atmosphere and attached to the characters.

After the last page, I felt a bit lost, and had to go read the beginning of the next book to fill the void. Only the beginning though, because I’m not going to rush through these all at once. This is a series to savor, and I intend to make it last.

[Dominique · Rating 5 out of 5]

$1.99 Kindle and Kobo sale, Sept. 12, 2022.

[Gardavson · Rating 1 out of 5]

One step above painful. The plot had great promise. I have no idea what the author was writing. It was unbelievably tangential, convoluted in the extreme, and confusing. The analogies were quite often meaningless. I read passages over and over. All I could do was shake my head and move on. Large portions of dialogue would take place in which you could not determine who was speaking. And it seemed at the end of the book most of the players had already really known what was going on the whole time, and for some strange reason simply went along with the whole quest of trying to figure it out, just for the hell of it. And everyone else was "getting it" in the end except the heroine, and thus the reader. The heroine would say "I don't understand", and the others would just look at each other and shake their heads at her inability to figure it out. It was maddening! Somebody explain it!

Parts of the plot were divulged (I think), but it might as well have been rocket science for all I could make of it. I've rarely read a book in which so many nouns, adjectives, and verbs have come together without actually completing a sensical thought. In truth, having read the entire book, I still don't completely understand what happened. I only have a vague understanding of it, much, I think, like the heroine.

[Lindsay · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm a sucker for stories where the protagonist has been unfairly coerced into something and has to make the best of it, but even that bias on my part doesn't save the muddle of this book.

Kaylin is a Hawk, essentially a policeman, in the City of Elantra. She was an orphan in Nightshade, one of the worst areas of the huge city, but escaped her life there in a blur of violence and murder that saw her the only survivor out of dozens of dead children, all marked with the same strange writing that she still bears. Now, years later, she has to go back to Nightshade with two companions and investigate because the killings have started again.

There's a lot going on here. Elantra is a city peopled by various different fantasy races as well as humans, including mortals and immortals. These include a mind-reading race, a leonine one, a winged one, and an elf-analogue and more besides. There's also various different types of magic and some technology based around magic as well. And there's also a lot of deep history, as you'd expect when at least two of the major players here are essentially immortal, and there's hints of even older races, now gone.

Kaylin herself has a lot going on as well, with her past in Nightshade, magic that she harnesses for healing and destruction and her role as a Hawk in an organization that she has essentially grown up in. And then there's the enigmatic ruler of Nightshade and her companions in the investigation, one of whom she has a pretty extreme past with.

In structure the book tries for a Fantasy version of a modern cop precinct, complete with interrogation rooms, forensic examinations and the magic version of computers. There's even a fair bit of effort put into the characters of her workmates and superiors within the Hawks. It's actually a very good idea for a book, but where the book falls down is that Kaylin doesn't treat any of it very seriously and, mostly, neither does the book. The discipline of the Hawks is maddeningly uneven, the responses of the Hawk characters to Kaylin's actions almost impossible to predict and overall it's almost impossible to work out why any of the people in authority take the actions that they do other than the plot needs them to do it that way.

And on top of all that, the actions of the bad guys make no sense either. It's all great action and very atmospheric, but it takes a special type of dense to come up with their "plan". Hint: I just thought of two better ways for them to accomplish their goal while typing the last sentence. Oops, make that three.

There's a core of cool in this book. Great setting, clever idea for a book, but terrible execution. I would give it 2.5 stars rounding up to 3 because I'm hoping subsequent books get tighter.

[TJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I actually really enjoyed this start to what looks like a very long series (didn’t know that when I opened the book)! There are a lot of unanswered questions and things I wish the author had helped us understand a bit more, but it is still intriguing enough that I want to continue and uncover all the depths that are hinted at!

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

If I rate a book five stars, its usually because I love the book so much that I reread the book at least once a year. This is one of those books, that you could pick up at a grocery store (exactly what I did) and are so shocked that you've found a favorite author. I've read all of the novels in this series and reccomend them to anyone.

Michelle Sagara takes you to another world full of magic and darkness. There are two types of people that live here: immortals and mortals. Immortals are races such as Barrani(A basic description would be perfect. Tall, flawless ivory skin, long dark hair, and tend to only smile when they're killing something), or dragons (they more or less rule the world, or at least believe they control the majority of it.). Mortals are races such as Arians (Winged people. They do not like their wings touched.), leotines (In order to imagine these people, invision a lion on two feet. Their language is a series of growls and hisses), humans, and possibly a few others. Each race more or less has their own 'Cast', except humans, that is their type of government. My favorite thing about alot of the races is that they express their emotions through thier eyes; each color means something different for each race, such as red in a dragon basically means your going to die a horrible firey death. The author describes these races very well throughout the novel, and although I've tried, I can't do them justice.
What really makes the books, though, is the main character Kaylin Neya; a former street urchin from the wrong side of the tracks (in reality a bridge) that tries to make something of herself working in the law system. It kinda helps that she is constantly late for work, always underdressed, takes bets she almost never wins, learns curse words in any language whenever possible, and does her upmost to 'accidently' enrage everyone around her. She truely cracks me up.

[Tamara · Rating 2 out of 5]

I just don't understand this book. World building is nonexistent and character development is lacking. I love the story but I HAVE NO IDEA WHATS GOING ON! The story starts and is written as if this is book two, like I was already knowledgeable on what's going on. The author is jumpy, talking about one thing then going to another within one sentence. And the scenes happen too fast I don't even know what happened.

The main character just does things. She's completely impulsive and I don't get to just understand. Names and titles are given, I don't know them and don't get a disruption. Characters are of different mammal types that I don't understand. Languages that bounce off that I don't get. And background stories that make no sense. If the MC knows someone, we only get to understand that "she knows them," but that's all. Oh and present actions have no understandings of them.

A good story with good writing written horribly in a sense that a book before this would have been better. Why does the author think I'd understand her train of thought if she doesn't give me something to read and understand.

Well this review has a lot of "understand." When a book lacks understanding, it isn't a book.

[Al *the semi serial series skipper* · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have no idea what the heck happened in this book. Till the end I don't know how old the MC was, I have a general idea but I'm not sure I'm right. She acted like a teenager half the time and yet I think shes suppose to be in her 20's. The whole power thing I did not understand, it felt like there was a book missing, at least a book to explain all the half information we had been given and make it make sense.

I will be reading the next book , hopefully that sheds some light on everything.

[Kira · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book managed to say so much and yet so little. The conversations and the descriptions rambled on and on and on. Everyone was evasive. Kaylin’s friends and team members withheld vital information from her. With friends like those who needs enemies. The worst part was people didn’t even try to be sly about keeping info from her; they’d flat out tell her they wouldn’t reveal anything. It took so long to get to the point that by the time something would finally be explained, I no longer cared.

Some things like Kaylin’s bad grades were mentioned repeatedly. Aside from that being annoying as hell, everyone else’s astonishment at her lack of education made her look stupid and ridiculous. Her tardiness was constantly mentioned also. At first I questioned how someone adverse to learning pertinent information and inept at following rules could be so well liked and tolerated. It’s quite easy to explain how that happened: Kaylin is a special snowflake. There weren’t any serious consequences for anything she did. Everybody was drawn to her, and I don’t think she was deserving of her fan base. Of course she had crazy magical powers, which apparently that alone made her worthy of respect.

Lord Nightshade was the only remotely interesting character, and he didn’t even get much page time. I’d like to know more about him, but it’s not enough to make me want to read the rest of this series. Severn was too possessive, secretive and boring. I have mixed feelings about his actions in the past although it is understandable as to why he did what he did. None of the other characters were memorable, and they lacked personality.

The world building sucked. I was really confused for the first half of the book. Kaylin was a hawk, but what does that really mean? Hawks were explained in the general sense but the specifics were lacking. What do they do? How were they different from the wolves or swords? What does it take to become a hawk? Wolves were briefly touched on but swords were only mentioned. Why were the swords even mentioned since they had no bearing on the story whatsoever? The way the different groups and species coexisted was vaguely explained. After reading the whole book I still don’t get what distinguishes one species from the next.

This book did have potential. The idea was good but poorly executed. IDK why I finished it. Every time I put it down I didn’t want to pick it back up again. I did things I don’t like such as cleaning or watching baseball games because it was vastly better than continuing to read this book. It was way too long for the minor amount of info gleaned from its 500+ pages. I did a lot of skimming. And I forgot to mention that there is a love triangle. It’s just one more thing to make this book unbearable.

[Lana Del Slay · Rating 2 out of 5]

I must be picky or something, because while I thought the ideas behind this were worth exploring, the execution left me wondering whether an editor had got within a mile of the manuscript. There is something distinctly fannish in nature about the words on the page, something that says "I learned how to write solely through my friends on the Internet," and while that's not wrong (I learned a fair bit that way myself), that needs tempering with a healthy dose of "This is how we do it for pay."

The first star is because I didn't throw it across the room. The second star is because I like it enough to see what the second book holds, if my library has it (no way I'm paying a hold fee). Also because at least there's space for the story to grow, since I know there are sequels. I was surprised at the lack of romance; I've grown so used to woman-authored SF/F having to have that element that when it's not there, I'm... pleasantly astounded, I think. But waiting for it to show up later. Almost dreading it. In a way, I wish this had been a single, self-contained mystery. I see a lot of possible plotlines, none of which I've enjoyed in the past, so I'll go forward hoping for the best but not expecting too much. Again, it's less the writer than the genre and my cynicism. Had this been marketed more as mystery than urbanesque fantasy, I might be singing a different tune.

But only about the plot. The editing is still dire, and that's why this can't go any higher than two stars. I caught mistakes that my teachers wouldn't have let slide, and that I don't, either, whether I'm editing or beta-reading. This is not a first novel by an unknown quantity at a tiny press. Sagara should've been given better treatment, someone to work with her, who would catch the mistakes and polish the draft into a printable novel. Whoever is responsible, it's a sad way to create a distraction from an otherwise decent book.

[eta: I did go ahead and spoil myself, because I have a long TBR list. Yeah, probably not going to get invested in this series. Sorry, but since I can't bring myself to give a crap about either Severn or Nightshade, and find Nightshade downright creepy, continuing would be pointless.]

[Dichotomy Girl · Rating 3 out of 5]

So I reread this, in preparation to trying to continue the series. I still didn't love it. I still didn't feel like I knew what was going on, or have any idea of the world, so I am just moving on to Book #2 hoping that it will go smoother. And that this will be like the First Kate Daniels book, which I still don't think is very good, even though I love the series as a whole.

Original Review:
This book took me FOREVER to read, and just as long to get into. I finally hit my stride about halfway through, where I felt like I finally had some clue about what was going on, and cared enough to find out what happened next.

I admit that I would have given up if this series wasn't so popular among some of my GR friends.

[Kelly Robertson · Rating 1 out of 5]

I tried. I really did try to enjoy this book. But I finally gave up. I was 85% through this book, and still waiting for it to grab me. I hate abandoning books, but I figured if i wasn't sold on this book at 85%, then there was very little chance I would be sold on it at 100%. I just couldn't get into this author's style. The writing was appallingly choppy. There was no flow to the sentences. And her train of thought must have run on tracks perpendicular to my own, because I had such trouble following the reasoning of the main character. I just couldn't connect.

[Meigan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Counts towards the Cliterary Genius 2017 June part of the challenge: read a book suggested by another member of CG.

[Elena Linville-Abdo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stars: 3.5 out of 5.

This is a good first book in the series. It does a good job setting up the world and the characters, as well as establishing the stakes and hinting at an overarching plot.

I really liked discovering the world of Elantra. This is a city build on the ruins of a much older civilization, and those ruins still contain magics that nobody can understand or harness, but which are deadly nonetheless. This is also a city where a multitude of mortal and immortal races manage to coexist in relative harmony, probably thanks to no small part to the efficient policing by the Hawks - Elantra's police force. 

I loved discovering the different races, their customs, behaviors, and reactions ingrained into who they are. I think that the author put a lot of thought into the worldbuilding, so all those races feel "real" and organically woven into the story. I love book like that. We don't have your run of the mill elves and werewolves (or were something else), but races with long histories and logic behind the way they act.

I liked the various relationships that Kaylin formed with her colleagues in the Hawks. I especially loved that she has several female friends and those friendships aren't tainted by jealousy or competition over men. Too many urban fantasy authors make their female protagonists into special snowflakes in a world of men or surrounded by horrible female characters. Glad to see that it's not the case here. Believe me, we women can coexist perfectly fine with each other without backstabbing and undermining each other. Shocker, I know.

I was less trilled about Kaylin though. I understand that she is young and had a traumatic childhood, but this girl has zero impulse control. She never stops to consider the consequences of her actions BEFORE she does anything. And while in some instance it's warranted and understandable, it gets old really fast. Hopefully, having resolved the biggest trauma from her past, she will be able to grow and mature in the next books. I am certainly willing to check out the next book to see if there is any character development.

My biggest complaint about this book is that the narrative is rather confusing at times. We pay so much attention to Kaylin's thoughts, flashbacks, feelings, etc. that it bogs down the actual story sometimes. So the action scenes stretch out into pages and loose their intensity. Also some of the subtext in the conversations isn't clear. Like I get the feeling that I should get what the hidden meaning is, but I simply don't. That makes for a rather frustrating read at times.

All in all however, I am definitely willing to give the next book in the series a try to see if Kaylin matures a little, and to learn more about the fascinating city of Elantra.

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