Veil of Shadows

Lightworld/Darkworld #3

by Jennifer Armintrout

With the immortal denizens of the subterranean Lightworld and Darkworld societies locked in battle, the heiress to the Faery throne is exiled to the Human realm above. Accompanied to the Upworld by her mother's trusted advisor, Cerridwen is bound for and the choice may not be hers to make.

Genres: Fantasy, Paranormal Romance, Fae, Urban Fantasy, Paranormal, Romance, Fiction

324 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 1, 2009

About the author

Jennifer Armintrout is a pseudonym for Jenny Trout aka Abigail Barnette.

Reviews

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful transformation of a spoiled child, Cerridwen is mature and exudes confidence, befitting of the true Queene of Faes. First, she must deal with Danae. To fufill her destiny, she needs be patient and wait until the time is right to fight. Cedric, his character as always strong and loyal. His relationship with Cerridwen gets more intense and bittersweet.

A page turner of a read – the struggles, the deceits, the fights and best of all, the love between Cerridwen and Cedric.

[Stacey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well I have to admit with the conclusion of "Queene Of Light" I was concerned whether I would enjoy this series. Some elements were present from the get go: The writing was beautifully crafted, the Lightworld/Darkworld areas were intriguing, the politics were different than I have run across before. But I never felt close to part fae/part human Ayla or her lover, the fallen angel Malachi, perhaps because they didn't have enough 'humanity' for me to connect to. Plus, you know, first novels always have a tendancy to be bogged down with more background set up especially in a world so vastly different from our own. By "Child of Darkness" I knew I was hooked. "Child of Darkness" see Ayla ruling over the Fae Lightworld and her daughter Cerridwen flirting with an Elf who doesn't know who she really is. But Cerridwen is young, and had never been trained to take over her mother's throne because the fae are nearly immoratal. But Cerridwen accidentally betrays her mother and her people and a war starts between the Elves and the Queene's lightworld. The Elves call upon vicious blood thirsty creatures called waterhorses to attack the Lightworld. Soon there are very few of the fae left living. The end of Child of Darkness and the beginning of "Veil of Shadows" see Cerridwen and her appointed future mate/consort Cedric leaving the destroyed kingdom underworld and attempting to meet up with another group of Fae living above ground in an area hidden from the humans and their 'enforcers' by magic. Their is another Queene ruling these fae but Queene Danae was never a part of the line of the original Queene and Cedric and Cerredwen plan to gain rule over those people. First they must make sure to keep themselves alive and to play at Queene Danae's games. I think I still enjoyed the story to Child of Darkness best of the three novels, but "Veil of Shadows" was a wonderful book in its own right and a very worthy finale to this series. I felt closer to Cedric and Cerredwen and I approved of her reasons for wanting the throne. It was amazing watching the transformation from spoiled child to unselfish and strong queene. Equally exciting was watching the relationship between Cedric and Cerredwen change. In the first book he was with Queen Mabb and the second with a human gypsy so to see how he changed with each relationship also made for an intriguing character. I like this series leaps and bounds over Blood Ties (although I like it too) and if this is the true end of Lightworld/Darkworld I look forward to reading more of anything by Jennifer Armintrout. If she ever has an opportunity to continue this story though, I will be first in line to pick it up. I hope fantasy readers will not hesitate to read this series.

[LolaLovesBooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed the series.

[Lisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

I couldn't get over my dislike of the main character and the supposed love story.

Also, there were certain parts in the entire trilogy that were never brought back up that should've been, making them just feel like page fillers rather than elements to be brought up later in the story. For example, in book 2 Cerridwen discovers she has an ability to see a few seconds into the future during a fight, enabling her to block or dodge an opponent, even though she has no combat training. This literally saved her life in book 2. It is never brought up again, EVER. What's the point in giving her an ability like this and then never using it again? It could've come in handy in other parts of the story of book 3.

It is discovered in book 3 that Queen Danae was responsible for manipulating beings of the dark world to attack the light world, Cerridwen's home, causing the death of Cerridwen's parents. She learns this in secret but it's never brought up to Queen Danae herself, even while Queen Danae is under a truth spell by Cerridwen. It's never brought up again even though Cerridwen is morose about the death of her parents the entire book.

I really liked book 1 and am sad that the other two books just felt like a waste of time.

[Emma Gerts · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not sure how I feel about this book. I picked it up because I love Jenny Trout's blog, not realising it was the third book in a series I haven't read (whoops!) and I have to say kudos to Jenny for that because I was actually able to follow the story surprisingly well considering I had misssed two whole books worth of story. And I tore through it, at times genuinely enjoying it, particularly through the middle. It lost me again a bit at the end, and unfortunately I found Cerridwen to be utterly infuriating and not a character I enjoyed at all. Cedric was fun though, and there was certainly a section through the middle of the book that I found quite entertaining. Perhaps if I had read the previous two books I would have enjoyed it more, hard to say. At any rate, it was fun enough, I didn't hate it, but not sure I'd be reaching for another one any time soon.

[Samuel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dear future me,

Remember all those times you said you don't like to finish fantasy series out of principle, because once you get past the first book, they usually fail to deliver? Well, for some reason, this year you finished 3 series: two were underwhelming, one was an atrocious let-down. Just putting this out there in case you lose your way (again) in the future.

Ta.

[Sage Bites · Rating 5 out of 5]

Definitely my favorite out of the trilogy. I think the author does a decent job of showing cerridwen and Cedric's PTSD from the second book. I also think she does a good job with the chosen one trope and even though you know about the chosen one I was still surprised at the ending.

[Deborah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed the series very much! I like how the story flows and the amount of excitement, fantasy, and human/fae emotions. (or lack thereof)

[Sue Gosland]

I loved the way this book ended, and I loved this whole series!! I love Jennifer Armintrout, and all her books.

[Eva · Rating 3 out of 5]

So I finished up this series Lightworld/Darkworld (a trilogy) by Jennifer Armintrout. The first book had a lot of character and world building, but still managed to be a good read. I really love to read books on fae and that was the reason I chose to read this series. The second book was fabulous and I loved it. The third book just fell short. I didn't feel fulfilled. I didn't have any warm fuzzy feelings in my tummy. I just didn't feel much at all. I read it... I finished it... and I really didn't have much of an opinion on it (didn't hate it... but didn't love it). I still gave it 3 stars, but I have to say I was a bit disappointed in the final book in the series. I was expecting much more.

I would recommend this series to peeps who like this genre, but know going in that it isn't going to blow your socks off. It is a good way to pass some time (an enjoyable way). I do plan on reading more books by this author.

[Sophie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've just finished the Lightworld / Darkworld saga, and well, thank goodness it's over. Overall, these books were disappointing and really didn't live up to their full potential. There's a novel concept here, but really, the three books together were not cohesive, and honestly, mostly the characters made me really mad. I hated all of them probably 90% of the time. Which isn't a great way to spend 900 pages worth of time.

So, I probably wouldn't recommend this trilogy to anyone. But if you're reading it now, you might as well finish Veil of Shadows because personally, I think it's the most likeable out of the three. And at least you get a few answers at the end of it all.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

At first I thought that the author skipped parts of the life of the series, but now I realize that she was just choosing the best parts, the important parts so to speak, of the generations seen in this book.

The books sums up the series nicely. You are left with hope.

There was also a little misleading by the author. I didn't expect that Cerridwen's solution would be so simple and when it seemed it was I was disappointed. I literally thought, "Boy, that was the climax of the book?!" But Armintrout does have surprises! : )

This book definitely have more romance stuff in it. Armintrout focused on the physical relationship b/t Cerriedwen and her lover alot, but in the end it makes sense since it was an integral piece of the series. Though it was still a little gross that he was so old.

[Amanda (The Literary Hoarders) · Rating 2 out of 5]

This has to be my least favorite out of the trilogy. Cerridwen was still a spoiled brat and reacted to things before deciding if it was is the smart thing to do. I honestly felt sorry for Cedric to be stuck with her knowing full and well that they were going to end up together anyways. This book kinda fell flat without Ayla and Malachi but it was enjoyable with a weak ending that was a little to cheesy pie to me.

[Angie Gehrke · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book #3 in the Lightworld/Darkworld series. We finish the story of Cerridwen escape from the underground and her fight to keep her right as Queene. Thru this treacherous journey she finds her self falling in love with her companion and betrothed, Cedric. A short and easy read, that basically finished what started in book #2. I enjoyed how the booked ended with her ascension to Goddess and knowing that the Fae/humans could live peace.

[Solace Winter · Rating 2 out of 5]

What kind of cop-out novel was this? The first two were amazing, I couldn't stop praising them, but then there was this: forced romance, forced plot, contrived "villains" and treachery. Everything about this screamed amateurish while the first two were a pleasant dark force of nature. I'm saddened by this ending.

[Nzea McQuitery · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would've never thought that Cedric and Cerridwen would ever get along....but I just hate the ending when she dies and comes back as an angel. But I always wondered what would've happen if Ayla didn't pair them up in the second book

[Jill · Rating 5 out of 5]

LOVE IT.
My Fav. of the THREE.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it! Great finish!

[Kendra · Rating 2 out of 5]

Okay, thought I had this in my system. Best of the 3 books, but a really funky ending. Kind of an odd trilogy.

[Kayzee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Defiantly the best book in the series, Cerrwidden is much more likable then Ayla was. And Cedrick turned to be a sweetheart awww...:D

[Mercedes-Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Of all three books I like this one the most. I love the leads, their interactions, and relationship. If you want a quick read, that is "good", then this is for you.

[Rae · Rating 1 out of 5]

I thought it didn't make much sense, and it took me a while to read.

[Angelique · Rating 3 out of 5]

The ending became a little stilted, but still an enjpyable series.

[Molly Moblo Perusse · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this series.

[Isabelle Macnider]

Really great series.

[Misty · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this series

[Brigit · Rating 5 out of 5]

how i wish there were more stories to this..(only 3 books) i could read it for a very long time..

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Angst, rrrr makes me grind my teeth.

[Kara Callahan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good book!

[Raimie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I Didn't like the ending.