Review Detail

THE OATHBREAKER’S SHADOW is an exciting YA fantasy adventure set in a vivid and fascinating world.

I loved the magic in this novel - the knots and the shadows in particular. In Raim’s world, to make a promise to someone is taken very seriously. So much so that knots are tied between two people to represent the pledge, and if it is broken, the oathbreaker is physically scarred. Once discovered, an oathbreaker is captured and killed, or banished to the desert. Not only that, but they are then haunted and constantly goaded by whoever they betrayed. Both the shadows and the knots are such fresh and unique elements. The imagination here is astonishing.

Raim is a fantastic character. He is confident and ambitious - training to be a Yun warrior and first choice as protector of the future Khan, Khareh. When Raim binds his life to Khareh’s, he unknowingly breaks a vow he’d already made and becomes the very thing he loathes - an oathbreaker. Raim needs answers, and his only hope of staying alive is to run, so we’re taken on an emotional journey across a harsh, yet beautiful, landscape.

I’d recommended THE OATHBREAKER’S SHADOW to fans of Zoë Marriott - rich fantasy, beautiful writing and exceptional world-building.