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A Bargain of Shadows #1
A Bargain of Shadows
A darkly enchanting gothic fantasy book about a girl who strikes a dangerous bargain with a cursed ghost and unravels a twisted destiny—perfect for fans of One Dark Window and The Phantom of the Opera.
Élisabeth Bellacourt has grown up hidden under the glory of her beautiful half-sister Louise her entire life. Louise is always cast as the lead in their ballet performances and even the man Élisabeth’s heart longs for only has eyes for her sister. As the daughters of the esteemed Hugo Bellacourt owner of the National Opera House, the infamous, slightly decrepit building with whispers of the devil living in the catacombs, they live a life of prestige and respect.
When Élisabeth learns that her father is in danger, she strikes a bargain with the Phantom who haunts the catacombs. Thrust into the Graylands, a bleak, mist-filled world packed with ghosts and treacherous beasts, she finds herself on a quest to unravel an ancient prophecy. Because the Graylands is in danger of coming undone, and if she ever hopes to return home, Élisabeth must find a way to save it and work alongside Séverin, the mysterious boy who rules this underground realm.
Together they must find The Book of Echoes—which is said to hold the secrets of the realm of the Dead. As they hunt for the truth and the attraction between her and Séverin heightens, Élisabeth begins to learn about her deadly magic and finds herself caught between loyalty and betrayal.
Élisabeth Bellacourt has grown up hidden under the glory of her beautiful half-sister Louise her entire life. Louise is always cast as the lead in their ballet performances and even the man Élisabeth’s heart longs for only has eyes for her sister. As the daughters of the esteemed Hugo Bellacourt owner of the National Opera House, the infamous, slightly decrepit building with whispers of the devil living in the catacombs, they live a life of prestige and respect.
When Élisabeth learns that her father is in danger, she strikes a bargain with the Phantom who haunts the catacombs. Thrust into the Graylands, a bleak, mist-filled world packed with ghosts and treacherous beasts, she finds herself on a quest to unravel an ancient prophecy. Because the Graylands is in danger of coming undone, and if she ever hopes to return home, Élisabeth must find a way to save it and work alongside Séverin, the mysterious boy who rules this underground realm.
Together they must find The Book of Echoes—which is said to hold the secrets of the realm of the Dead. As they hunt for the truth and the attraction between her and Séverin heightens, Élisabeth begins to learn about her deadly magic and finds herself caught between loyalty and betrayal.
Unknown Binding
First published January 10, 2025
6 people are currently reading
455 people want to read
About the author
F.M. Aden
7 books146 followersF.M. Aden is the author of the YA fantasy novel The Court of the Undead and the adult standalone title The Bride of Death. She has been writing ever since she learned how to hold a pen. She grew up in Toronto, Canada, and is a lover of all things dark, gothic, and romantic. She likes to spend her free time drinking iced coffee and baking. When not reading she can be found traveling the globe and discovering new ways to make her characters suffer.
Website: https://www.fmaden.com/
Find me online: https://linktr.ee/f.m.aden
Website: https://www.fmaden.com/
Find me online: https://linktr.ee/f.m.aden
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
January 9, 2025
our father who art in heaven why curse me with a bad book so early into the year.
first id like to thank the author for the arc, second buckle in it's a long one.
i remember the bright and sunny day when i first got the arc into my inbox; spirits were high, expectations were through the roof, and excitement was palpable. as i was reading the beginning pages, i had high hopes that this was gonna be the fun romantasy ive been craving, but that changed very quickly as the story progressed. (a romantasy set in an opera house inspired by the phantom of the opera what could go wrong?! a lot clearly)
the book picks up when our main character, elisabeth, discovers that the reason her opera house is so successful is because there was a deal made with a strange enitity where her father has to present it with a soul yearly for it to keep going. her father determined to break that curse, refuses to give the entity a soul that year and instead goes to bargain with it to remove the curse by...what? talking to that evil shadow and plead to lift the curse? this quite obviously backfires and puts him in a near death situation, causing elisabeth to go make her own deal with the evil shadow. that's when the story first started taking a turn to the stupid, when our main girlie quickly accepted the deal with that strange entity, with barely any information or guarantee that the deal will be followed through from his end. now i understand decisions made out of desperation, but what even made her think that an evil strange demon like spirit who feeds on souls once a year would be trustworthy? however, for the sake of the plot i decided to overlook that, and excitedly kept going, naively hoping for a fun swoon-worthy plot that will for sure make me warm and giggly! (foreshadowing)
the deal with our s.e. (strange entity) was to meet this random ferry man who's gonna take her to the graylands which we learn is where dead souls that are in limbo go to reside. in my opinion the change in setting really did the book a disservice. we went from a gothic mysterius setting to some place that loses the charm of our first setting but i digress. there, within the first five minutes, she meets a random man that convinces her that he possesses a way to kill s.e. and offers her what he says is the only dagger able to kill him. and what does she do? she immediatelt trusts this strange person by the name of laurent who's being chased by the guards of s.e. why? because fuck knows. elisabeth is naive as hell and i have a lot of issues with her personality, mainly how she flipflos between being a humble girl who never got the chance for the spotlight, and a girl who's stuck up and spoiled and uses her family name as a reason to demand respect. her character reminds me of the ya girlboss boss bitch character of the early 2000s that tries to be snarky™, cannot be contained, but she just comes off as naive, impulsive and sorry to say, brainless.
when one is imprisoned by an s.e. (who's name is we discover severin), one understandably tries to escape. what one doesn't do, is impulsively take advantage of every and any attack to escape while an aether color is behind one's neck that acts as a tracker and indicator that whoever finds her should bring her back to the palace. elisabeth never has a concrete plan for anything, she doesn't plan ahead, she doesn't strategize, she doesn't attempt to subtly extract information that could help her in escaping, nahhh why do that when you can use many of the attacks done on the palace to foolishly try and run away in a whole new world that you know nothing about!! surely with this foolproof way there is simply no way she might get caught almost immediately right?? right????? and despite her never showing an ounce of loyalty or show any indication that she's going to sit idly, every fucking single character trusts her. clealry the dumb disease didn't only affect her! why would anyone believe and trust that the girl who's being imprisoned against her will has any bad intentions at all!! my issues with elisabeth's character continue with it being hinted (very obviously might i add) from the beginning that she suffers from chosen one trope syndrome and lo and behold i was proven unfortunately right and girliepop now fully embodies early 2000s ya mc™
since it's unfair for me to only bash elisabeth, let me get on the second part of the lovefest, severin the big bad scary villain that's anything but. as much as i love the "scary guy ends up being a big softie" trope, i do eat it up everytime, there is something awfully grating about a character who we've been repeatedly told is bad and scary, but barely shown any bad and scary, and just like elisabeth, he too suffers from dumb bitch syndrome. contrary to every single character in the book, he never trusted elisabeth and always believed her to be up to no good. however, there was this part where elisabeth immediately switches up on her attitude and pretends to submit to him and what does he do? if you guessed believe her, you'd be absolutely correct!!
“Do you want me to forgive you?” he asked.
“More than anything,” she said, the lie slipping past her mouth with a practiced grace.
“Say ‘Please, forgive me, I was wrong, and you were right as always,’” Séverin said.
“Are you a wicked, terrible girl, Lisbeth?”
“Yes,” she whispered.
“I am glad that you have admitted it,” he said. “I will reward you.”
and then he cut her rope.... WHY WOULD HE BELIEVE ANY OF THAT????? then later on she forgets her charade which he reminds her of, so she goes back to being all compliant and he goes along with it????? this is the cunning man im supposed to believe everyone is scared of so easily deceived?????
i think f.m. arden tried to write this book bordering between serious and silly and awfully failed at it, instead providing us with a mishmash work reminiscent of the stories ive read on wattpad.
which now brings me to my major issue with the book; the writing.
it isn't just the characters that feel like they've been plucked out from an early 2000 ya book, but so does the writing.
a lot might not agree, but for me, if someone took it upon themselves to write a gothic book full of intrigue and darkness, the writing should be a reflection of that. the writing was too silly and conversational for a book like this. it felt more suited for a cotemporary book than a romantasy.
there are many instances where the writing made me pause and cringe, and wonder how did this make it through many rounds of editing.
“I. Am. Not. A. Little. Monster,” she snarled. how in the world am i supposed to take her seriously?????
“Hellooooo,” Matthieu called call me boring but the multiple Os made me want to die.
later on, when they're playing a drinking version of truth and dare (are we 12????????? WHAT IN THE WORLD ARE WE EVEN DOING WHAT IS THE PLOT???? 😭😭😭😭😭) i felt like i was hallucinating because there's just no fucking way
“Séverin,” he said. “Not a dare but a question, who is the prettiest girl in the room? KILL ME PLEASEEEEE THEY'RE ALL GROWN
after their stupid game, he goes to their tent and decides to braid her braid, to which she's very confused how he knows what to do. it gives this this banger of a line;
Before Séverin could admit that he did not know what to do in the slightest, she volleyed several more questions at him in rapid succession.
“Was it a girl who taught you? What is her name? Was she pretty? Will you wed her?” im tired please free me from this torment.
gonna speed through my points because my hand is cramping
as for the plot of this book, i raise you to, what plot? it gives you a "i hope you're hungry...for nothing!" first we were saving her father now we're on a quest (which as a setting is horrible for the vibes) to find a book that im sure does something i just don't care enough to remember!!
romance.... eh i felt 0 chemistry, i did not ship the characters in the slightest, i couldn't see why i should care whether they got together or not, their banter was not bantering, and just one massive flop overall. safe to say, was not a fan.
another major flop was the humor. this may be just me, but when a book tries too hard to be funny, it bores me. it's one of those instances where im sure it was funny in the author's mind, and if you were to see it on screen it works, but on writing where there's no laugh track to back it up, it's just not funny!! it doesn't translate well.
in conclusion, this was not for me.
first id like to thank the author for the arc, second buckle in it's a long one.
i remember the bright and sunny day when i first got the arc into my inbox; spirits were high, expectations were through the roof, and excitement was palpable. as i was reading the beginning pages, i had high hopes that this was gonna be the fun romantasy ive been craving, but that changed very quickly as the story progressed. (a romantasy set in an opera house inspired by the phantom of the opera what could go wrong?! a lot clearly)
the book picks up when our main character, elisabeth, discovers that the reason her opera house is so successful is because there was a deal made with a strange enitity where her father has to present it with a soul yearly for it to keep going. her father determined to break that curse, refuses to give the entity a soul that year and instead goes to bargain with it to remove the curse by...what? talking to that evil shadow and plead to lift the curse? this quite obviously backfires and puts him in a near death situation, causing elisabeth to go make her own deal with the evil shadow. that's when the story first started taking a turn to the stupid, when our main girlie quickly accepted the deal with that strange entity, with barely any information or guarantee that the deal will be followed through from his end. now i understand decisions made out of desperation, but what even made her think that an evil strange demon like spirit who feeds on souls once a year would be trustworthy? however, for the sake of the plot i decided to overlook that, and excitedly kept going, naively hoping for a fun swoon-worthy plot that will for sure make me warm and giggly! (foreshadowing)
the deal with our s.e. (strange entity) was to meet this random ferry man who's gonna take her to the graylands which we learn is where dead souls that are in limbo go to reside. in my opinion the change in setting really did the book a disservice. we went from a gothic mysterius setting to some place that loses the charm of our first setting but i digress. there, within the first five minutes, she meets a random man that convinces her that he possesses a way to kill s.e. and offers her what he says is the only dagger able to kill him. and what does she do? she immediatelt trusts this strange person by the name of laurent who's being chased by the guards of s.e. why? because fuck knows. elisabeth is naive as hell and i have a lot of issues with her personality, mainly how she flipflos between being a humble girl who never got the chance for the spotlight, and a girl who's stuck up and spoiled and uses her family name as a reason to demand respect. her character reminds me of the ya girlboss boss bitch character of the early 2000s that tries to be snarky™, cannot be contained, but she just comes off as naive, impulsive and sorry to say, brainless.
when one is imprisoned by an s.e. (who's name is we discover severin), one understandably tries to escape. what one doesn't do, is impulsively take advantage of every and any attack to escape while an aether color is behind one's neck that acts as a tracker and indicator that whoever finds her should bring her back to the palace. elisabeth never has a concrete plan for anything, she doesn't plan ahead, she doesn't strategize, she doesn't attempt to subtly extract information that could help her in escaping, nahhh why do that when you can use many of the attacks done on the palace to foolishly try and run away in a whole new world that you know nothing about!! surely with this foolproof way there is simply no way she might get caught almost immediately right?? right????? and despite her never showing an ounce of loyalty or show any indication that she's going to sit idly, every fucking single character trusts her. clealry the dumb disease didn't only affect her! why would anyone believe and trust that the girl who's being imprisoned against her will has any bad intentions at all!! my issues with elisabeth's character continue with it being hinted (very obviously might i add) from the beginning that she suffers from chosen one trope syndrome and lo and behold i was proven unfortunately right and girliepop now fully embodies early 2000s ya mc™
since it's unfair for me to only bash elisabeth, let me get on the second part of the lovefest, severin the big bad scary villain that's anything but. as much as i love the "scary guy ends up being a big softie" trope, i do eat it up everytime, there is something awfully grating about a character who we've been repeatedly told is bad and scary, but barely shown any bad and scary, and just like elisabeth, he too suffers from dumb bitch syndrome. contrary to every single character in the book, he never trusted elisabeth and always believed her to be up to no good. however, there was this part where elisabeth immediately switches up on her attitude and pretends to submit to him and what does he do? if you guessed believe her, you'd be absolutely correct!!
“Do you want me to forgive you?” he asked.
“More than anything,” she said, the lie slipping past her mouth with a practiced grace.
“Say ‘Please, forgive me, I was wrong, and you were right as always,’” Séverin said.
“Are you a wicked, terrible girl, Lisbeth?”
“Yes,” she whispered.
“I am glad that you have admitted it,” he said. “I will reward you.”
and then he cut her rope.... WHY WOULD HE BELIEVE ANY OF THAT????? then later on she forgets her charade which he reminds her of, so she goes back to being all compliant and he goes along with it????? this is the cunning man im supposed to believe everyone is scared of so easily deceived?????
i think f.m. arden tried to write this book bordering between serious and silly and awfully failed at it, instead providing us with a mishmash work reminiscent of the stories ive read on wattpad.
which now brings me to my major issue with the book; the writing.
it isn't just the characters that feel like they've been plucked out from an early 2000 ya book, but so does the writing.
a lot might not agree, but for me, if someone took it upon themselves to write a gothic book full of intrigue and darkness, the writing should be a reflection of that. the writing was too silly and conversational for a book like this. it felt more suited for a cotemporary book than a romantasy.
there are many instances where the writing made me pause and cringe, and wonder how did this make it through many rounds of editing.
“I. Am. Not. A. Little. Monster,” she snarled. how in the world am i supposed to take her seriously?????
“Hellooooo,” Matthieu called call me boring but the multiple Os made me want to die.
later on, when they're playing a drinking version of truth and dare (are we 12????????? WHAT IN THE WORLD ARE WE EVEN DOING WHAT IS THE PLOT???? 😭😭😭😭😭) i felt like i was hallucinating because there's just no fucking way
“Séverin,” he said. “Not a dare but a question, who is the prettiest girl in the room? KILL ME PLEASEEEEE THEY'RE ALL GROWN
after their stupid game, he goes to their tent and decides to braid her braid, to which she's very confused how he knows what to do. it gives this this banger of a line;
Before Séverin could admit that he did not know what to do in the slightest, she volleyed several more questions at him in rapid succession.
“Was it a girl who taught you? What is her name? Was she pretty? Will you wed her?” im tired please free me from this torment.
gonna speed through my points because my hand is cramping
as for the plot of this book, i raise you to, what plot? it gives you a "i hope you're hungry...for nothing!" first we were saving her father now we're on a quest (which as a setting is horrible for the vibes) to find a book that im sure does something i just don't care enough to remember!!
romance.... eh i felt 0 chemistry, i did not ship the characters in the slightest, i couldn't see why i should care whether they got together or not, their banter was not bantering, and just one massive flop overall. safe to say, was not a fan.
another major flop was the humor. this may be just me, but when a book tries too hard to be funny, it bores me. it's one of those instances where im sure it was funny in the author's mind, and if you were to see it on screen it works, but on writing where there's no laugh track to back it up, it's just not funny!! it doesn't translate well.
in conclusion, this was not for me.
December 13, 2024
I just read this book for the millionth time, and all I can say is that if you're looking for 120k words of pure angst and watching two idiots bicker for hours, then this is the perfect book for you.
December 30, 2024
Mr. Darcy and Cardan had a baby and his name was Séverin.
"He couldn’t help but think that looking at her felt a little bit like dying. Violent and devouring and eternal, all in equal measure."
I am utterly,irrevocably and pathetically obsessed with this author and her writing it is borderline unhealthy. I can't get enough of it. 4 books this year and all are 5 stars.
All the stars in the world!
"He couldn’t help but think that looking at her felt a little bit like dying. Violent and devouring and eternal, all in equal measure."
I am utterly,irrevocably and pathetically obsessed with this author and her writing it is borderline unhealthy. I can't get enough of it. 4 books this year and all are 5 stars.
All the stars in the world!
December 31, 2024
Severin is everything.
This book is everything.
This author is everything.
Perfection. No notes. All the stars.
“I want you. I long and hunger and despair for you.”
This book is everything.
This author is everything.
Perfection. No notes. All the stars.
“I want you. I long and hunger and despair for you.”
Want to read
December 14, 2024farhiya is an absolute dream of an author and blessed me with an arc of this dream of a book 😭💞💞
February 3, 2025
☆☆☆¾
(rounded down due to the rating system)
𖤓
When Élisabeth learns that her father is in danger, she strikes a bargain with the Phantom who haunts the catacombs. Thrust into the Graylands, a bleak, mist-filled world packed with ghosts and treacherous beasts, she finds herself on a quest to unravel an ancient prophecy.
𖤓
What drew me to the book:
It seemed like it was inspired by one of my favourite movies / musicals (The Phantom of the Opera) & the plot seemed interesting with promise of a gothic fantasy with bargains & ghosts & twists & quests & loyalty & betrayal.
How long it’s been on my TBR:
Since December when I saw the author promoting the book on social media.
My expectations:
Honestly I didn’t go in with too many expectations, I saw that it was inspired by Phantom of the Opera & that it was Fantasy & I was sold, the expectations I did go in with though were for a tense relationship between Élisabeth & Séverin as well as Élisabeth being caught between loyalty & betrayal as the blurb says.
𖤓
My thoughts whilst reading:
At first I struggled with the book a little, I found the first part to be a little dull & the writing style felt a little underdeveloped, as if the writer knew how they wanted to write but hadn’t quite found their voice or style yet, a great example of this is especially at the start there were a lot of ‘pretty’ & descriptive words used but they didn’t really fit the setting or vibe (although they did later on, just not at the start) & paragraphs were a little over the place, we’d start on Élisabeth’s thoughts or feelings on a subject & then we’d be cut off by a full stop & the next sentence would be about something completely different like something about the world when it feels the previous thing should’ve been expanded on more, the next sentences also felt out of nowhere as it wasn’t related to the previous thing said, another thing was that we were being told facts about the world but that was it, we were just being handed them, they weren’t dressed up to fit in with Élisabeth’s current train of thoughts or anything, it would just go: how Élisabeth feels, what’s happening with others, a fact or two about the world & then that was that, we didn’t get to loiter in Élisabeth’s thoughts or her setting it was just point after point there was no rhyme or rhythm to it. I think a good word to describe it would be disjointed with nothing bridging what was said & what was said after that. I didn’t notice this as much as the book went on although whether this was because I was enjoying the book or it stopped I’m unsure.
After this things were improving, I was loving the second point of view from Séverin & continued to do so throughout the rest of the book & I was getting more into the book & the mystery that was there.Then nothing noted down until 27% in when I was clearly having a blast as I wrote that I was rather enjoying it & being pulled in by the book.
And then things take a slight negative turn, it wasn’t awful rather just a small criticism of how the time was passed, Elisabeth is to spend a month in the Graylands to save her family from the awful bargain & we’ve hardly spent a week & a half there so far & then all of a sudden we’re 3 weeks in with only a week left on Élisabeth’s time but there was no mention of the rest of that time between the first week & now passing it just disappeared & now we were on a quest that was to last 6 days, like sure, whatever.
After this I hit a second hole, we were on the quest & we set off with 9 characters (Élisabeth, Séverin, Séverin’s 2 ‘thralls’, 3 guards & 2 librarians) & yet half of these characters disappeared for large chunks of time leaving me questioning whether or not they’d died & I missed it but no, they were just never bought up for pages at a time despite sharing the same space only 6 of them were frequently bought up (or bought up at all), I genuinely had to read back to when the characters were attacked to make sure that I hadn’t accidentally missed some of them dying.
After this things were positive again, my notes consist of incoherent screaming over things that (almost) happened & how I screamed into my pillow because of the events of the book & the tension between Élisabeth & Séverin. I also noted that I didn’t trust a character - I still don’t - but I’ll have to wait until book 2 to find out whether or not I was right about them.
After this I didn’t write anything down but with only 10% of the book left I was reading through it as fast as possible to get to the end & to see how everything ended. As for the actual end I thought it was interesting although I am still a little unsure on it, it took a big turn which felt very different to the rest of the book although not unsuited to the book it was just one of those big, changes everything type of twists which left me on the fence, on the one hand this could’ve easily ended differently & been a stand-alone but on the other hand I’m interested to see where book 2 goes, what is yet to happen & how it’s to be executed & just how much things will change & be different compared to book 1.
How long it took me to read:
13 Days
Overall:
Overall A Bargain of Shadows was an enjoyable read, it kept me entertained & I enjoyed the vibe & I genuinely couldn’t stop thinking about the book the next day, I even stayed up late to finish it & I want to read the sequel & find out what happens next which is always a good sign. Other than the bumpy start & the feeling that the book it started as wasn’t the book it ended as I can’t complain too much as it was an enjoyable / entertaining read & definitely inspired by The Phantom of the Opera (although it was also very different to The Phantom of the Opera but you can see the connections between the two).
My thoughts on the cover:
I think the cover is very pretty, I hadn’t seen the cover until after I was already interested in the book so I can’t particularly say that it drew me into the book but what I will say is it’s a very pretty cover I just don’t think it suited the book, it’s a great piece of art & again, very pretty but it doesn’t suit the book & I don’t think it matches the events of the book & what to expect from the book - oddly enough I feel if it was a stand-alone that ended differently & went the way I thought it would the cover would better suit it but as the book is I think a darker cover with more shadows & mystery would better suit it.
Miscellaneous:
I loved how Élisabeth meddled in her friends romantic life & in turn her friend meddled in hers.
Did it meet my expectations:
It definitely delivered on the ‘being caught between loyalty & betrayal’ front & with the tension between Élisabeth & Séverin front, it clearly drew some inspiration from The Phantom of the Opera & the fantasy front.
𖤓
Favourite character:
I don’t know if I had a favourite.
Favourite scene:
Not my favourite but I did love the scene where .
Favourite relationship:
Easily the tension filled romance between Séverin & Élisabeth.
Favourite quote:
𖤓
Why I rounded the review down*:
I really enjoyed the book, just not enough for it to be rounded up to 4 Stars.
Do I regret reading it:
No.
Will I be reading the sequel:
Yes!
Will I be investing in a physical copy:
I don’t think I will unless I really, really enjoy the sequel.
Do I recommend it:
If you’re looking for a fantasy book with
*(for rating systems such as Goodreads)
𖤓
Thank you so much to the author, F.M. Aden, for the E-ARC.
(rounded down due to the rating system)
𖤓
When Élisabeth learns that her father is in danger, she strikes a bargain with the Phantom who haunts the catacombs. Thrust into the Graylands, a bleak, mist-filled world packed with ghosts and treacherous beasts, she finds herself on a quest to unravel an ancient prophecy.
𖤓
What drew me to the book:
It seemed like it was inspired by one of my favourite movies / musicals (The Phantom of the Opera) & the plot seemed interesting with promise of a gothic fantasy with bargains & ghosts & twists & quests & loyalty & betrayal.
How long it’s been on my TBR:
Since December when I saw the author promoting the book on social media.
My expectations:
Honestly I didn’t go in with too many expectations, I saw that it was inspired by Phantom of the Opera & that it was Fantasy & I was sold, the expectations I did go in with though were for a tense relationship between Élisabeth & Séverin as well as Élisabeth being caught between loyalty & betrayal as the blurb says.
𖤓
My thoughts whilst reading:
At first I struggled with the book a little, I found the first part to be a little dull & the writing style felt a little underdeveloped, as if the writer knew how they wanted to write but hadn’t quite found their voice or style yet, a great example of this is especially at the start there were a lot of ‘pretty’ & descriptive words used but they didn’t really fit the setting or vibe (although they did later on, just not at the start) & paragraphs were a little over the place, we’d start on Élisabeth’s thoughts or feelings on a subject & then we’d be cut off by a full stop & the next sentence would be about something completely different like something about the world when it feels the previous thing should’ve been expanded on more, the next sentences also felt out of nowhere as it wasn’t related to the previous thing said, another thing was that we were being told facts about the world but that was it, we were just being handed them, they weren’t dressed up to fit in with Élisabeth’s current train of thoughts or anything, it would just go: how Élisabeth feels, what’s happening with others, a fact or two about the world & then that was that, we didn’t get to loiter in Élisabeth’s thoughts or her setting it was just point after point there was no rhyme or rhythm to it. I think a good word to describe it would be disjointed with nothing bridging what was said & what was said after that. I didn’t notice this as much as the book went on although whether this was because I was enjoying the book or it stopped I’m unsure.
After this things were improving, I was loving the second point of view from Séverin & continued to do so throughout the rest of the book & I was getting more into the book & the mystery that was there.Then nothing noted down until 27% in when I was clearly having a blast as I wrote that I was rather enjoying it & being pulled in by the book.
And then things take a slight negative turn, it wasn’t awful rather just a small criticism of how the time was passed, Elisabeth is to spend a month in the Graylands to save her family from the awful bargain & we’ve hardly spent a week & a half there so far & then all of a sudden we’re 3 weeks in with only a week left on Élisabeth’s time but there was no mention of the rest of that time between the first week & now passing it just disappeared & now we were on a quest that was to last 6 days, like sure, whatever.
After this I hit a second hole, we were on the quest & we set off with 9 characters (Élisabeth, Séverin, Séverin’s 2 ‘thralls’, 3 guards & 2 librarians) & yet half of these characters disappeared for large chunks of time leaving me questioning whether or not they’d died & I missed it but no, they were just never bought up for pages at a time despite sharing the same space only 6 of them were frequently bought up (or bought up at all), I genuinely had to read back to when the characters were attacked to make sure that I hadn’t accidentally missed some of them dying.
After this things were positive again, my notes consist of incoherent screaming over things that (almost) happened & how I screamed into my pillow because of the events of the book & the tension between Élisabeth & Séverin. I also noted that I didn’t trust a character - I still don’t - but I’ll have to wait until book 2 to find out whether or not I was right about them.
After this I didn’t write anything down but with only 10% of the book left I was reading through it as fast as possible to get to the end & to see how everything ended. As for the actual end I thought it was interesting although I am still a little unsure on it, it took a big turn which felt very different to the rest of the book although not unsuited to the book it was just one of those big, changes everything type of twists which left me on the fence, on the one hand this could’ve easily ended differently & been a stand-alone but on the other hand I’m interested to see where book 2 goes, what is yet to happen & how it’s to be executed & just how much things will change & be different compared to book 1.
How long it took me to read:
13 Days
Overall:
Overall A Bargain of Shadows was an enjoyable read, it kept me entertained & I enjoyed the vibe & I genuinely couldn’t stop thinking about the book the next day, I even stayed up late to finish it & I want to read the sequel & find out what happens next which is always a good sign. Other than the bumpy start & the feeling that the book it started as wasn’t the book it ended as I can’t complain too much as it was an enjoyable / entertaining read & definitely inspired by The Phantom of the Opera (although it was also very different to The Phantom of the Opera but you can see the connections between the two).
My thoughts on the cover:
I think the cover is very pretty, I hadn’t seen the cover until after I was already interested in the book so I can’t particularly say that it drew me into the book but what I will say is it’s a very pretty cover I just don’t think it suited the book, it’s a great piece of art & again, very pretty but it doesn’t suit the book & I don’t think it matches the events of the book & what to expect from the book - oddly enough I feel if it was a stand-alone that ended differently & went the way I thought it would the cover would better suit it but as the book is I think a darker cover with more shadows & mystery would better suit it.
Miscellaneous:
I loved how Élisabeth meddled in her friends romantic life & in turn her friend meddled in hers.
Did it meet my expectations:
It definitely delivered on the ‘being caught between loyalty & betrayal’ front & with the tension between Élisabeth & Séverin front, it clearly drew some inspiration from The Phantom of the Opera & the fantasy front.
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Favourite character:
I don’t know if I had a favourite.
Favourite scene:
Not my favourite but I did love the scene where .
Favourite relationship:
Easily the tension filled romance between Séverin & Élisabeth.
Favourite quote:
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Why I rounded the review down*:
I really enjoyed the book, just not enough for it to be rounded up to 4 Stars.
Do I regret reading it:
No.
Will I be reading the sequel:
Yes!
Will I be investing in a physical copy:
I don’t think I will unless I really, really enjoy the sequel.
Do I recommend it:
If you’re looking for a fantasy book with
*(for rating systems such as Goodreads)
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Thank you so much to the author, F.M. Aden, for the E-ARC.
dnf
January 13, 2025dnf @ 19%
i’ve been bamboozled!!!! i just can’t continue reading this - the writing is so so bad and is in need of some serious editing; i honestly can’t believe how this got published. i heard its original release date was planned for april but moved up to this month (i’m thinking those extra months of editing and proofreading would’ve helped immensely). the info dumping was rushed and clumped together in the most unhelpful places that i couldn’t even grasp what i was reading or what it meant. our fmc élisabeth is childish, unnecessarily haughty, and just downright annoying tbh. i’m pretty upset i wasted $7 on this book and have to see it taking up space on my kindle.
i’ve been bamboozled!!!! i just can’t continue reading this - the writing is so so bad and is in need of some serious editing; i honestly can’t believe how this got published. i heard its original release date was planned for april but moved up to this month (i’m thinking those extra months of editing and proofreading would’ve helped immensely). the info dumping was rushed and clumped together in the most unhelpful places that i couldn’t even grasp what i was reading or what it meant. our fmc élisabeth is childish, unnecessarily haughty, and just downright annoying tbh. i’m pretty upset i wasted $7 on this book and have to see it taking up space on my kindle.
January 14, 2025
I enjoyed A Bargain of Shadows. This book had hints of The Phantom of the Opera, which I loved because I’ve always loved the Phantom, while still remaining its own original story. I really, really love Séverin. He definitely has bully vibes similar to Cardan from the Folk of the Air series, and I was into it. He was a bully but also incredibly down bad and incredibly in denial. All elements I enjoy in an MMC.
There were some bits of the book that I feel could’ve done with a little more time in the drafting stages, but overall, I liked it a lot! I have a couple quotes highlighted that had me kicking my feet and blushing, so let me leave you with one:
“He couldn’t help but think that looking at her felt a little bit like dying. Violent and devouring and eternal, all in equal measure.”
I mean, come onnnnnn…and now I’m expected to survive the wait for the next book to see where this story goes?! It’s almost as cruel as Séverin himself.
Thank you F.M. Aden for the review copy of A Bargain of Shadows. All opinions are my own!
There were some bits of the book that I feel could’ve done with a little more time in the drafting stages, but overall, I liked it a lot! I have a couple quotes highlighted that had me kicking my feet and blushing, so let me leave you with one:
“He couldn’t help but think that looking at her felt a little bit like dying. Violent and devouring and eternal, all in equal measure.”
I mean, come onnnnnn…and now I’m expected to survive the wait for the next book to see where this story goes?! It’s almost as cruel as Séverin himself.
Thank you F.M. Aden for the review copy of A Bargain of Shadows. All opinions are my own!
January 13, 2025
Wow! I could not put this book down, it was heart wrenchingly beautiful and infuriating. The bickering was bickering and I thought this was a standalone- no it was not! I loved how Elisabeth was a girly girl who loved to look good that was different and needed, I loved how she would wear her pretty dresses even in camp lol. I was in love with this story but if they weren’t so stubborn, it’s been a while since I’ve had my soul ache for a book and this book did that for me. I cannot describe how beautiful it was and I both so scared and excited for the second book and hopefully have enough time to mentally prepare.
January 19, 2025
4.5 🌟
First off, a huge thank you to F.M. Aden for letting me read another ARC of hers—I’m so grateful for the opportunity and, honestly, I just love her work! I’m sorry this review is a little late, but here it is!
Let’s start with what I loved: the world was absolutely beautiful and delivered on those Phantom of the Opera vibes. And oh my GOD, the banter! It was truly incredible, there were times I would be laughing out loud suddenly and startling people around me. While the MMC and FMC weren’t as romantic as I typically prefer, their banter made them stand out in the best way possible. And don’t even get me started on the delicious slow burn
As for what I found okay: maybe it’s just me, but I did find the world-building a bit confusing and harder to dive into at first. That said, the story itself pulled me in, so it didn’t really take away from my enjoyment overall.
In the end, this is the perfect Spring read. F.M. Aden has worked her magic yet again!
First off, a huge thank you to F.M. Aden for letting me read another ARC of hers—I’m so grateful for the opportunity and, honestly, I just love her work! I’m sorry this review is a little late, but here it is!
Let’s start with what I loved: the world was absolutely beautiful and delivered on those Phantom of the Opera vibes. And oh my GOD, the banter! It was truly incredible, there were times I would be laughing out loud suddenly and startling people around me. While the MMC and FMC weren’t as romantic as I typically prefer, their banter made them stand out in the best way possible. And don’t even get me started on the delicious slow burn
As for what I found okay: maybe it’s just me, but I did find the world-building a bit confusing and harder to dive into at first. That said, the story itself pulled me in, so it didn’t really take away from my enjoyment overall.
In the end, this is the perfect Spring read. F.M. Aden has worked her magic yet again!
February 4, 2025
dnf at 14%
i really really tried my best to get into this story! maybe there was just too much world building for me at the moment. overall the premise is extremely interesting and we will see if i end up picking it back up again.
i really really tried my best to get into this story! maybe there was just too much world building for me at the moment. overall the premise is extremely interesting and we will see if i end up picking it back up again.
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