Wednesday, August 17, 2016

City of Shadows ~ Pippa DaCosta (earc) review [@PippaDaCosta @hooked_books @bloomsburykids #BloomsburySpark]

City of Shadows (London Fae #2)
Bloomsbury Spark
July 07. 2016
ebook only
add to Goodreads/buy from Amazon

**Contains spoilers for London Fae #1 City of Fae**

Alina knows she is not real – the fae queen spun an evil web to create her – but she wants more than to spend her days feeding off humans’ energy to survive. She isn’t content to lose herself in the dangerously attractive Reign. She wants a life of her own making.

Desperate to help the man who saved her life, Alina vows to find his missing sister. Alina is convinced that the general of the Fae Authority plays a part in her disappearance. She infiltrates the organisation and gets close to their strongest fighter. But while Samuel’s tormented soul and masterful touch stirs in Alina a feeling of being human again, her loyalty to Reign makes her Samuel’s enemy. Who should she trust?

This New Adult urban fantasy is packed with action and suspense and will have you yearning for more forbidden fae romance.
City of Shadows is the sequel to last year's City of Fae (my review) where we met Alina, the American Girl and (literal) rockstar fae Reign and learned about the fae in London. Now we know not only about the tenuous coexistence of the fae and humans in London, the rules (Look, but don't touch. Touch, but don't feel. Feel, but never ever love) intended to keep people safe, but about how dangerous the fae can really be.

The queen may no longer be a threat to Alina or Reign, at least physcially, but now ALina also knows the truth of who and what she is. Now it's time to figure out what that means.

If, in that process, she can help Andrews learn the fate of his sister, that's even better.


Normally, if you introduced two main characters in a book then, in the sequel, had one of them all but disappear from the story, I would hate it. It - and Reign's absence from much of the tale - actually works quite well in City of Shadows. It reflects the mindset of the characters and and moves the plot where it needs to go. (Which isn't to say, of course, that he's entirely gone. He's there. Oh, he's there.)

We discover a lot more about Alina (and who-slash-what she is), about the Fae Authority and about why the fae are in London and how many of them feel about it. I really like how her character grows from that out of work, going to prove herself reporter from the beginning of City of Fae to where she is at the end of City of Shadows.

City of Shadows did a great job expanding on the world and characters we were introduced to in City of Fae. It was both bigger and more personal, with Alina's quest to understand herself, to continue. I have a better understanding of who, how and why the fae are in London, who the characters are and who they all are to each other. I am really hoping thre's more of the London Fae series to come!




Other Titles You May Also Enjoy: All that Glows and All that Burns by Ryan Graudin





received, for review, from publisher via NetGalley

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