Review - Reign of Shadows by Sophie Jordan

Reign of Shadows (Reign of Shadows #1) 
By Sophie Jordan 
Published February 9th, 2016 by Harper Teen 
304 pages

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Synopsis from Goodreads.com:

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.

With lush writing and a star–crossed romance, Reign of Shadows is Sophie Jordan at her best.

My Rating:

Review:

So, I’ve been in a reading slump lately. Actually, I’ve been in a “get things done” slump lately. (If that even makes any sense.) But the good news is that I checked out Reign of Shadows and was actually able to finish it! This is big for me because I was on a roll and then it became so hard for me to even get past the first chapter in some books.

I will say that it took the first chapter to really be fully intrigued in this story but that’s just fine for me. Once I figured out Luna was blind I was definitely interested in how the story would play out. Just so you know, Luna’s blindness is discovered within the first few chapters so it’s not really a spoiler. I think it is actually essential to mention since this makes Luna such a unique character.

Luna is the lost princess of Relhok but that’s because she is being hidden in a tower by her two guardians. Luna knows that it is essential to stay hidden but that doesn’t stop her from dreaming of adventure and freedom. I definitely enjoyed Luna’s character. She was strong and she used her blindness to her advantage. She was able to do many things that seeing people can do and it almost reminded me of Daredevil (which I just recently binged watched on Netflix). She was pretty badass. :)  But there are also, obviously, things that she didn’t know or wasn’t aware of and it was great watching her learn about things through Fowler.

Fowler is a mysterious, brooding, pained, and talented archer that Luna rescues in the woods outsider her tower. From then on Fowler and Luna spend most of their time taking turns saving each other in various situations. I loved Fowler as much as I loved Luna. It was helpful to be able to read in his point of view too and to be able to learn about his past and fears. I absolutely loved reading about the two of them falling in love with each other.

Because of the eclipse that cloaks the kingdom and refuses to leave, there are some pretty scary things outside. There are bats that are four feet tall and dangerous dwellers intent on eating folks. A good portion of the action in this book was a result of Fowler and Luna fighting these grody dwellers as they made their journey.

Which reminds me, if you are looking for a good amount of action and reasons for why things are happening, then you might be a tad bit disappointed. There is action but it’s not diverse in a sense and while we do know why some things are happening, we don’t have all the answers yet.

I’m definitely looking forward to the next book to see if some of my questions are answered and because that ending was a total cliffhanger! If you are looking for a spin on a Rapunzel retelling or a unique fantasy read, then look no further!

Vanessa