I'm pleased to share my review of a fabulous book, today! Scroll down to read what I thought about it, and to grab yourself a copy!
(Shadows & Ash, Book 1)
By Isadora Brown
Most genteel young women in Hannah Walker's position are looking for a suitor to provide the finer things in life. Hannah isn't one of them. She faces difficult challenges, not the least of which is a disappearing Pyrate Mage, the death of a beloved friend, and finding out exactly what her forbidden magick can do.
Surrounded by intrigue and deception, she must determine who is friend or foe before it destroys her and the people she loves.
In her darker thoughts, she wonders why after all she knows about sexy and alluring Adrian Blood, she still wants him.
Adrian Blood is no gentleman and he's familiar with the stench of evil and lies. He's been alive a long time. Someone is trying to sabotage his efforts to change an inhuman agreement made by despicable men in power.
As he races to find out who the traitor is, his instincts tell him Hannah is in mortal danger and needs his protection. Peril and treachery abound and it's a battle to the death as the bond between him and Hannah grows stronger.
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult
MY THOUGHTS
Hannah Walker has spent her entire life hiding that she has magick running through her veins. She can tell when people are lying, and her ability is one that she despises. In the world she lives in, those with magick, if caught, are likely to be burned at a Fire Consumption, restrained by iron chains to render their magick useless as they burned to death. But, when Jonathan Nox, a Pyrate Mage who has previously avoided capture, escapes death at the same time as Hannah loses control of her magick, the day before Hannah’s best friend, Claire, is found torn to pieces in the Forest of Legends, Hannah starts to think there might be more going on.
Adrian Blood might be, on the outside, a stubborn and successful businessman, but on the inside, he is so much more. Running a brothel in a town where such a service is otherwise unavailable is a business plan to combat all the other businesses, and yet, Adrian does not completely have control of his brothel, and he is not accustomed to doing as he is told. When Hannah Walker saves him from receiving a silver knife in his back, however unexpected such an action may be, he cannot deny the fact that he now owes her a debt. And what she asks for is something that he may or may not be able to achieve.
Hannah is a character I greatly admired. She is not as brave or bold as her elder sister, Lizzie, and she might obey the rules instead of breaking them every step of the way, but that does not mean Hannah doesn’t have a mind of her own. She is incredibly smart, and underestimated by everyone around her – that is until she comes face to face with Adrian Blood, who, although intimidating, is oddly charming, and captivates her attention. With Hannah’s determination to find out what happened to Claire, and her lack of faith in the Patrol to do what is necessary to find the truth, rather than simply slacking off and asserting their power wherever possible, as they were known to do, she takes it upon herself to do find out what actually happened. And, with Adrian Blood, the powerful and seemingly all-knowing man that he was, on her side, willing to help her to pay back the debt he owed after she saved his life, the truth seems to be reachable.
Adrian is the kind of person I wasn’t too sure about, to begin with, but grew to like as I read. He is not against using force when possible, or threatening to get his own way, but something changes when he meets Hannah. He has always been one to hide away feelings, for to simply not feel was safer than to let things like pity and pain get in the way of getting a job done, but Hannah brings out things, makes him feel things, that he is not entirely sure how to deal with. The two are rather distant through the book, and although they feel drawn to each other, there is more than one thing standing between them. But, when facts start coming to light, Adrian and Hannah start spending more and more time together, and, slowly, they start to grow closer.
This book is full of suspense, for it will reveal one character as someone you think you can trust, and then something will happen and you are not sure you can trust them again. Likewise, there are characters that you are certain are untrustworthy, who prove these ideas wrong and become people you can, perhaps cautiously, put some faith in. Both Hannah and Adrian are surrounded by people they cannot trust, and they are both in danger, although Adrian has a deeper insight into why some people are a threat to him than Hannah does.
The aspect of fantasy in this book is weaved into the storyline perfectly. Humans are scared about what those with magick are capable of, and react with violence and destroy what they can get their hands on. But, people live below the radar, such as Hannah, and sometimes, even things thought to be scary bedtime stories turn out to be true. Hannah has always through Blood Mages were something her mother told her about to keep her out of the Forest of Legends, dangerous as it is, but with events unfolding as they are, Hannah learns things that question that logic, that might just be enough to prove that the scary stories are very much real, and very capable of hurting her.
This novel ends with strings left untied, and everything seemingly falling apart for Hannah. And, yet, it is not the kind of ending that leaves you without satisfaction, for it is the kind of book you want to spend more time in, and the ending leaves you with plenty of anticipation for book 2. Unfortunately, this book has only just been released, and I will be waiting particularly impatiently to continue reading about Hannah and Adrian, with my fingers crossed that the author will choose a happy ending for them!
I don't speak in third person (normally) nor do I wear glasses (except when I'm feeling particularly mischievous). I'm lucky to have found my soul mate at the ripe old age of 22, even though he frustrates me on purpose to get a reaction out of me. We live near Disneyland, have two rambunctious female puppies, and have two beautiful girls. He has two amazing boys, and has gotten me hooked on Smallville, watching soccer (okay, okay FOOTBALL - FC Barcelona, baby!), and Cancun Juice.
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