To Kill a Shadow by. Katherine Quinn | Book Review

Jude Maddox knows nothing of love or even light. He knows only his grim duty as the Hand of Death, to lead the Knights of the Eternal Star into a land filled with nightmares and certain demise. It’s only when he sees her ―a young woman with wild, amber eyes who’s as fierce, defiant, and swift as the shadow beasts themselves―that he feels the warmth of life in his blood…

The other Knights may fear their lethal commander, with his hard, merciless demeanor. Outcast Kiara Frey sees only a leader, a man who knows how to survive. Someone like her . But wanting him is as treacherous as the shadows themselves…and just as seductive.

With a kingdom on the verge of collapse, the Knights must now venture into the darkest heart of the land and uncover the secrets of the misted shadows, where evil will prey upon their minds and feast on their flesh.

It will betray their senses.
It will surpass their nightmares.
Most of them will die.

But they have no other choice. Because the only way to fight the darkness… is to become it.

Content Warning: violence

I was intrigued with the premise of this book and Goodreads has pretty good reviews for this book so I gave it a try:

+ I like that it had lots of action and it didn’t shy from being brutal at times. It made the Mist seem like a very dangerous place. Characters were getting killed off with no mercy!

+~ Kiara is a fighter. She’s bold, arrogant, the only girl among boys and men (which makes her super “special”) and she’s bi-sexual except this is definitely a romance between her and Jude. She mentions giving her all to a girl in the village very early in the book but there’s nothing else about it. I didn’t love her although I did admire her bravery and willingness to fight for her friends – I just felt like some things about her were so forced – like her relationship with Jude and then her becoming like a mother to her guy friends in her group.

+ Some interesting plot twists to the story that I wasn’t expecting, especially about one of the side characters.

~ I didn’t connect to any of the characters or the story and I think it’s because it lacks world building. I couldn’t even get into the found family aspect of the story because it just felt like it happened too quick. I wanted to know more about the curse and it didn’t seem like any of the characters really knew about it either.

~ The romance happens too quick for my liking. I wanted a little bit more tension between them. He thought she was the most amazing thing days after knowing her, so it’s a bit of insta-love.

My Final Thoughts:

I must be in a crazy mood because I like how characters were being killed off because that’s the thing that surprised me most about this book! I think the romance is okay if you are into insta-love romantasy and the “special girl” trope. I think it lacked the world building I needed to be hooked on the story. Not sure if I will continue with this series but I know a lot of people will enjoy this book.

Book Links:

Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble