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A Dance with Shadows
Every night, Ember Holland slips blissfully into her subconscious; dreaming of vivid landscapes and enchanting creatures. Freely dreaming of a world of radiance, she's safe, fearless - until she finds mysterious shadows stalking the edges of her lands. She's convinced it's only a nightmare, a mere figment of her imagination. Nothing that could truly hurt her. That is, until the night she's stolen from her dream in a veil of shadow.
Thrust into a world of terror, Ember will need to quickly learn to fight in order to survive. Bound by an estranged King thirsty for revenge, a Prince with a mysterious past, and a wicked plot to kill a Queen, she is forced to walk among the shadows that once plagued her dreams. As an ancient power stirs beneath the Kingdom of Nightmares, the sands of time race quickly against her favor, challenging Ember to fight for her life at every turn. Forged into a deadly blade, she learns to use her true nature to her advantage - keeping her blade sharp, and her mind sharper.
Thrust into a world of terror, Ember will need to quickly learn to fight in order to survive. Bound by an estranged King thirsty for revenge, a Prince with a mysterious past, and a wicked plot to kill a Queen, she is forced to walk among the shadows that once plagued her dreams. As an ancient power stirs beneath the Kingdom of Nightmares, the sands of time race quickly against her favor, challenging Ember to fight for her life at every turn. Forged into a deadly blade, she learns to use her true nature to her advantage - keeping her blade sharp, and her mind sharper.
- GenresFantasy
386 pages, Kindle Edition
Published February 1, 2021
3 people are currently reading
55 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
February 17, 2021
I had a great time reading this debut. I loved the world-building, the characters, and the story arc. The writing is wonderful and really sucked me in. I kept wanting to read this book but had other things get in the way, so it took me much longer than I wanted it to!
March 1, 2023
3.5
This was such a unique story. It had fae elements without actually involving fae, included uncommon mythology and took place in a distinctive realm. I really enjoyed the story of Ember and it was almost a breath of fresh air after so many fantasy novels with similar premises or settings. That being said, it did borrow some familiar, and in my opinion, over-used tropes for interpersonal relationships, which made some of the character development seem predictable. Additionally, some of the pacing seemed off, especially towards the end. The pacing was slow as Ember explored Somnus and began her training, and then all of the sudden, the story was rushing to it's climax.
I will likely continue this series when the next book is available, because it's often rare to find a book that feels as unique as this one. As much as I love the fantasy genre, so many of the settings and premises are repeats of each other. This book manages to take some familiar elements and mix them with less familiar ideas.
This was such a unique story. It had fae elements without actually involving fae, included uncommon mythology and took place in a distinctive realm. I really enjoyed the story of Ember and it was almost a breath of fresh air after so many fantasy novels with similar premises or settings. That being said, it did borrow some familiar, and in my opinion, over-used tropes for interpersonal relationships, which made some of the character development seem predictable. Additionally, some of the pacing seemed off, especially towards the end. The pacing was slow as Ember explored Somnus and began her training, and then all of the sudden, the story was rushing to it's climax.
I will likely continue this series when the next book is available, because it's often rare to find a book that feels as unique as this one. As much as I love the fantasy genre, so many of the settings and premises are repeats of each other. This book manages to take some familiar elements and mix them with less familiar ideas.
October 15, 2021
True rating: 3.5
Okay, first of all, that cliffhanger.... not cool. I need to know what happened to that one specific character, and I need it now! This book was really good. I loved the concept of the world and people who can create things with their dreams. The setting was really creepy and yet intriguing and of course, the idea of someone training for a trial is always up my alley. My favorite character was probably Lyra, closely followed by Draven. Ember was the MC and while I liked her, I wasn't as drawn to her. The only thing I have to say against this book is that the ending was a little but abrupt and the training did seem repetitive at times, but I did enjoy it. As well, there was a lot of instances where the sentence structure pulled me out of the story, but I honestly just think that's the author in me. I still enjoyed the book and I will be picking book 2 up as soon as I can!
Okay, first of all, that cliffhanger.... not cool. I need to know what happened to that one specific character, and I need it now! This book was really good. I loved the concept of the world and people who can create things with their dreams. The setting was really creepy and yet intriguing and of course, the idea of someone training for a trial is always up my alley. My favorite character was probably Lyra, closely followed by Draven. Ember was the MC and while I liked her, I wasn't as drawn to her. The only thing I have to say against this book is that the ending was a little but abrupt and the training did seem repetitive at times, but I did enjoy it. As well, there was a lot of instances where the sentence structure pulled me out of the story, but I honestly just think that's the author in me. I still enjoyed the book and I will be picking book 2 up as soon as I can!
January 2, 2023
It may be because I'm reading/listening to other books that are very, very similar. But so far I'm unimpressed by this book. It just doesn't have the character development or plot development.
Ember is a human "dream weaver" who is kidnapped by King Mazzus, the king of Nightmares. The king needs her to defeat the Queen of Dreams, Azariah, and is training her through Draven (his son), Lyra, and Revek. Also present are Valeryn and Umber who are set up as just not nice beings who treat Ember and Lyra particularly badly.
Half way through so far the story is just Ember learning more about the world she's been kidnapped into and learning to develop her powers. The story ends with a “to be continued” which just seems like poor planning or a ploy at getting more money from readers. I was disappointed.
I’ll admit the story did start to grip me for a time but it just isn’t worth it in my opinion.
The story isn't bad. It's even easy enough to follow along with. It's just not gripping or engaging.
Ember is a human "dream weaver" who is kidnapped by King Mazzus, the king of Nightmares. The king needs her to defeat the Queen of Dreams, Azariah, and is training her through Draven (his son), Lyra, and Revek. Also present are Valeryn and Umber who are set up as just not nice beings who treat Ember and Lyra particularly badly.
Half way through so far the story is just Ember learning more about the world she's been kidnapped into and learning to develop her powers. The story ends with a “to be continued” which just seems like poor planning or a ploy at getting more money from readers. I was disappointed.
I’ll admit the story did start to grip me for a time but it just isn’t worth it in my opinion.
The story isn't bad. It's even easy enough to follow along with. It's just not gripping or engaging.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 15, 2023
Ember Holland has always been a vivid dreamer. As a young child she learned she can manipulate and create freely a world in which she feels safe and fearless.
Until the day she sees sinister shadows haunting the edges of her perfect world. She's convinced it's only a nightmare, a mere figment of her imagination, that nothing could truly hurt her.
That is, until the night she's stolen from her dream in a veil of shadow.
Thrust into a world of terror and forced to walk among the shadows that once plagued her dreams, Ember will need to learn quickly to fight in order to survive. Bound by an estranged King thirsty for revenge, a Prince with a mysterious past, and a wicked plot to kill a Queen.
As an ancient power stirs beneath the Kingdom of Nightmares, the sands of time race quickly against her, challenging Ember to fight for her life at every turn. Forged into a deadly blade, she learns to use her true nature to her advantage - keeping her blade sharp, and her mind sharper.
And her abilities just might be greater than she ever imagined.
⚔️
I definitely found myself drawn into the mystery from the start. The world building is solid. Rials has created a unique world using uncommon folklore and myths which I really enjoyed.
Although, Ember had to grow on me the more I read. In the beginning she is not a strong character but does have a well defined character arc throughout the book. I also felt that her thoughts and actions were pretty realistic to what a normal human would do in her circumstances.
I absolutely fell in love with her three mentors, especially Lyra and would love to live in a little cozy cottage in the woods like her.
The middle of the book felt a little tedious at times and a bit repetitive. Plus, there seemed to be a time jump toward the end that was slightly jarring, as we were previously following Ember day by day. But the last act had me furiously flipping pages.
Overall, I liked it and thoroughly enjoyed the overall story. I’m also quite curious to read what come next since this one left off with a pretty good cliffhanger.
Until the day she sees sinister shadows haunting the edges of her perfect world. She's convinced it's only a nightmare, a mere figment of her imagination, that nothing could truly hurt her.
That is, until the night she's stolen from her dream in a veil of shadow.
Thrust into a world of terror and forced to walk among the shadows that once plagued her dreams, Ember will need to learn quickly to fight in order to survive. Bound by an estranged King thirsty for revenge, a Prince with a mysterious past, and a wicked plot to kill a Queen.
As an ancient power stirs beneath the Kingdom of Nightmares, the sands of time race quickly against her, challenging Ember to fight for her life at every turn. Forged into a deadly blade, she learns to use her true nature to her advantage - keeping her blade sharp, and her mind sharper.
And her abilities just might be greater than she ever imagined.
⚔️
I definitely found myself drawn into the mystery from the start. The world building is solid. Rials has created a unique world using uncommon folklore and myths which I really enjoyed.
Although, Ember had to grow on me the more I read. In the beginning she is not a strong character but does have a well defined character arc throughout the book. I also felt that her thoughts and actions were pretty realistic to what a normal human would do in her circumstances.
I absolutely fell in love with her three mentors, especially Lyra and would love to live in a little cozy cottage in the woods like her.
The middle of the book felt a little tedious at times and a bit repetitive. Plus, there seemed to be a time jump toward the end that was slightly jarring, as we were previously following Ember day by day. But the last act had me furiously flipping pages.
Overall, I liked it and thoroughly enjoyed the overall story. I’m also quite curious to read what come next since this one left off with a pretty good cliffhanger.
February 7, 2021
This was a phenomenal read! If a book can give me head movies simply from reading, then I know it’s great writing. If I get into the minds of the authors characters and can feel how they would in a given scenario, then that author has a talent for writing. That’s exactly what I found in this book, and I look forward to more!
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews