Heartless Gods series – Past Midnight Book Reviews & More

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Spice Rating: 🌶️

Title: Shadow Trials (Heartless Gods, #1)

Author: Evelyn Hart

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 437

Publication Date: 4/14/26

Publisher: Evelyn Hart

Categories: Fantasy, Romance, Series, Romantasy

Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

Thank you to Evelyn Hart for giving me a chance to read this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

She’s trained her whole life to kill monsters like him and the dragon he rides. Now, he may be the only one who can save her…

Humans are treated like cattle by the Godforged, the terrible creatures created by the gods to wage a never-ending war with each other. Fiona’s spent her life learning to wield magic stolen from the divine, to protect her people from the violence. Now she’s given the chance to become the thing she’s sworn to kill.

The God of Darkness’s champion is dead, and he’s holding a series of trials to decide who will be his next, open to anyone, including humans. If Fiona wins, she’d control his army… and how it treats innocent humans. And none of them know of the powers she wields…

These trials are filled with the strongest and most ruthless of the Godforged. But if they discover the secrets she hides, it will doom all her people.

In this world of magic and violence, there’s one person who truly understands secrets. Azric Cyrus, Death’s champion and first dragon rider, is the most brutal of all the Godforged. And the most beautiful. With wings of bone, shadows, and seduction as his deadliest weapons, even the gods listen when he speaks. Even more reason for Fiona to be wary when he takes an interest in her.

Destiny is not a fixed thing, and as its strings are pulled from behind the shadows, these two broken souls must learn to trust each other. Their lives are the least that hang in the balance.

Perfect for fans of Fourth Wing, Crowns of Nyaxia, and The Games Gods Play, Shadow Trials is the first in a long, epic romantasy series that will follow multiple couples. It does not end an HEA, but the series will.

Content Warning: torture, death, violence, dark themes

+~ Shadow Trials is book one in a fantasy series that follows a human, Fiona, and her quest to complete deadly trials in order to become the Champion of Nixthos – who is the God of Darkness and Secrets. The world building is heavy, there are many gods, many champions of the gods, different species, different lands, prophecy, lore, dragons and it is a lot to process, which makes the beginning slow going because of all the information and names to know. But I settled into the story after 20% into the book and then I was addicted to the story. There are some dark themes in this book, especially with Fiona and Azric’s pasts. Also mentions of how some species are created is pretty gruesome.

+ There is a huge cast but our main characters are Fiona (the human with a Priest for a father) and Azric, the Prince of Bones. We get her POV for 90% of the book and then Azric for 10% at the end. I really like Fiona because she’s human and knows her limitations but she’s so brave because she wants purpose in her life even if it means her death. She questions everything, even her choices, but I like that she never takes anything at face value. Azric, is a complicated man, he is Fae, he is blessed by the Gods, but he is broken. Learning more about what happens to him is dark, but my heart broke for him because he had a good childhood, he had a good life until the god he is promised to comes calling. Then there are secondary characters that are very interesting, like Fiona’s father, Azric’s parents, the Fae like Darian, and so many more.

+~ There is romance but it is a very slow burn, barely there spice, though there is a some steam. I love that it is a slow burn because there are so many things happening in this story. It feels like the deadly trials were the most important thing in this story and it was appropriate that the romance take a back seat. I liked seeing Fiona and Azric get to know each other instead, especially with what happened to Azric in the past. I think a slow burn is good for them.

+~ It took me two days to read this book because I was so invested in Fiona’s story. I actually love the length of this book, it wasn’t too long and not too short. But because the world-building is dense, I felt like I missed a prequel or something. Sure enough I checked on Goodreads and I missed a whole series before this book – which now makes total sense why I felt the way I did. I think I got through this book pretty good though without even reading the previous series, but when I have time, I will pick it up because I’m sure it will explain so many things.

+~ The pacing was a little up and down, definitely slow in the beginning, but it was steady throughout, which I appreciated – personally I like a little more romance in my romantasy so I might have been searching it out and got impatient when I realized how slow of a burn this story is. But I love the build up to the ending, and I’m looking forward to book two!

Final Thoughts:

There is a series before this one I think you should read called Shadowed Debts, and I didn’t know it existed until I finished Shadow Trials. But I think if you read Shadowed Debts you will not feel like you are thrown into the world, like how I felt while reading this book. It’s not a bad thing, but it made me feel like I was missing a big chunk of history, despite that I still found this story addictive. Fiona’s character is new to this world also, so through her, I learn some of what took place before Shadow Trials. I love the world-building, but it is heavy. I love the slow burn romance and am invested in Fiona and Azric’s story, I’m totally rooting for them. I’m going to read the previous series while waiting on book two!

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