Reign of Shadows

By: Sophie Jordan

Narrated by: Phoebe Strole, James Fouhey

Length: 8 hrs and 20 mins

Publisher's summary

Destiny and darkness collide in this romantic, sweeping new fantasy series from New York Times best-selling author Sophie Jordan, perfect for fans of Sarah J. Maas and Leigh Bardugo.

Seventeen years ago an eclipse cloaked the kingdom of Relhok in perpetual darkness. In the chaos, an evil chancellor murdered the king and queen and seized their throne. Luna, Relhok's lost princess, has been hiding in a tower ever since. Luna's survival depends on the world believing she is dead.

But that doesn't stop Luna from wanting more. When she meets Fowler, a mysterious archer braving the woods outside her tower, Luna is drawn to him despite the risk. When the tower is attacked, Luna and Fowler escape together. But this world of darkness is more treacherous than Luna ever realized.

With every threat stacked against them, Luna and Fowler find solace in each other. But with secrets still unspoken between them, falling in love might be their most dangerous journey yet.

©2016 Sharie Kohler (P)2016 HarperCollins Publishers

Needs more background

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

Overall, the book was okay. My first impression was a retold, darker version of Rapunzel and I had a hard time getting into it. I would have liked to known more about the eclipse, dwellers, and the current king's intentions. Why is he so threatened by Luna? He had no issue with her parents and killed them to obtain the throne. I understand she's heir but should be no match for him. Where did these dwellers come from? Were they once human and evolved into these blind, flesh eating monsters once the eclipse happened? The ending does give hope for a second book or continued series. Maybe more of a background will come from there.

Could have been better.

Reign of Shadows is a dark and mysterious retelling of Rapunzel. In this world, darkness rules for 23 hours a day because of an eclipse, leaving only an hour of daylight. During these 23 hours of darkness, creatures called dwellers emerge from the ground and roam the world, hunting all living beings as food. Meet our MC, Luna (aka Matt Murdock), a 17-year old blind princess who has grown up hiding in a tower under the care and tutelage of Perla and Sivo, the pair who rescued her from being murdered by the Chancellor who killed her parents and took their throne when she was a baby.

At the start of the story, Luna sneaks out of the tower to fetch a birthday present for Sivo, and stumbles into a young archer named Fowler and a pair of siblings, who are being attacked by Dwellers. Luna helps them and offers refuge in her tower. But the safety of the tower doesn't last, as they are attacked, and Fowler and Luna are forced to escape the tower in search of a rumored island free of dwellers. And then the rest of the story revolves around Luna and Fowler fighting for their lives and falling in love as they trek through the dangerous landscape. This is where the book suffers, because there's not much a plot or a resolution. The romance takes over, and though it's a decent romance (a bit insta-lovey but that's understandable given Luna's been locked up in a tower all her life), it left me wanting more from the story.

This dark world swarming with dwellers is, imo, a great and intriguing concept, but sadly it wasn't explored or explained. How did the dwellers come to be? Did they exist before the eclipse? How are trees and plants still around in a world with one hour of daylight?

And then there's Luna's blindness. Though she can't see, she is somehow an expert at throwing weapons, has augmented hearing and smell, she can travel unknown landscapes without tripping, and has an uncanny sense of direction; it's never explained how she can do these things. The author paints this as though Luna's blindness is what makes her strong and unique, suggesting her lack of sight is what improved her hearing and smell. I can see someone being more attentive/focused when you don't have sight to rely on, but that doesn't explain supernatural abilities; perhaps this will be revealed in the next book? Luna is a little too much of a selfless do-gooder, but I was ok with her. I really liked Fowler, he's a good romantic interest, and the author does a good job of differentiating his POV from Luna's. The one thing I did not like about Fowler was the occasional flowery monologue that sounded too feminine for a male character.

Bottom line: the plot and world building are lacking, but the characters and romance were decent enough to keep my interest. I plan on listening to the next one, whenever it comes out.

It was amazing

It's like Rapunzel but not really I enjoyed the characters so much that I give it five stars because it was just amazing and I love it and if you love romance action and tree wolves and other monsters and murderers then you will love this book... It's totally worth a credit or to buy it's just amazing

Rich Fantasy World Very Well Done

Well drawn fantasy world. Interesting character POVS. Well worth the read/listen. Romance wasn't high on my priority list here, but it's there, a little thick in a couple chapters, but otherwise not an impedement. Looking forward to the next book!

Romance is the only substance

The book is not bad. But I feel that I could have simply waited for the local library to make this book available rather than purchase it on audible. The book is more about developing the romance between the two main characters rather than what's going on in their world.

Hence, both spend a lot of time alone together on the road.

This is not to say I didn't like Luna and Fowler's developing relationship. Because I do. But I feel that that is the only draw this book has. And that may not be enough for most people especially if the reader wants to learn more about the book universe's history and culture.

It seems to me that the setting (a land in a perpetual solar eclipse) and the circumstance (Luna's a princess in hiding from the chancellor who murdered her parents and usurped the throne while Fowler has some of his secrets too) are nothing more than a prop for the romance.

Which does seem to leave a lot lacking in my opinion.

I'm interested enough in Luna and Fowler to see what happens in the next book. But I think I'll just borrow the next book in the library.

Fast listen

I enjoyed the story for sure and managed to listen to it in one sitting. I did find I enjoyed the female narrator a bit more though she just seemed to sound a bit younger compared to the male lead and the back and forth made me notice how much older he sounded for the 19 year old lead. I enjoyed his cadence and such but it would jar me a bit when it went back and forth between them as she just sounded more like the 17 year old then to someone more mature not bad just when back to back it drew my attention. Overall really enjoyed it and look forward to reading or listening to the next one.

Loved it!

Love Phoebe Strole and LOVED this book. I can't wait to see what happens in the deep, dark, down under 😜