Review Detail

I read this book at the second most perfect time one could. Of course, the obvious best time is at the very beginning before diving into the other books of the series. I knew it was about Daemon's brother and I honestly didn't see Dawson playing more of a roll than just some back story. I figured I would just read it once I finished with the series as a fun side story. Well, Opal features a LOT about Dawson and I chose to read Shadows right before I jumped into Opal. Wise choice, really. A wiser choice would have been to stay with Shadows and go through the books in order but... I digress.

Shadows starts with Dawson and Bethany meeting and falling in love. Their relationship almost seems too easy when you compare it to the relationship between Kat and Daemon. I almost like the teasing insults between Kat and Daemon to the confessions of love and devotion from Dawson and Bethany. Bethany is the first human to form a relationship with the mysterious Luxen people. Her relationship with Dawson causes the Luxen to be completely up in arms and resentful of Dawson rocking the boat, so to speak. Why can't he just fall for a nice Luxen girl, they demand, instead of essentially mixed species dating?

I see Daemon's hatred of humans in Shadows and it really makes me want to go back through the first two books I have read and watch how his opinion slowly changes. How ALL the Luxen change due to Dawson's romance with Bethany. Do they become more accepting? More resentful? More cautious? I seem to remember some of these changes when they were made obvious but not with the same fine-toothed comb analysis that I could possibly do after reading this prequel.

Of course, I liked Shadows. Was there any doubt? While it didn't feature my favorite book blogger character, Kat, it still had some Daemon snippets and I got to acquaint myself with a new book boyfriend, Dawson. It was very similar to Obsidian but Kat and Daemon definitely have more fire between them that is irresistible. There were some sexual innuendo in the book that made me choke on my drink once or twice. All in all, another A+ for Jennifer L. Armentrout's witty and robust writing.

Shadows is the perfect beginning to a perfect series. It sheds light on situations in the sequential novels that the reader may not have gotten without it. It features a less than prominent character and shows how significant his appearance in the books truly was. Masterful.

Review Posted on: http://www.ladybugliterature.blogspot.com