Uptown Oracle Reads… Circle of Shadows

Circle of Shadows
Evelyn Skye

(Affiliate Links)

Sora can move as silently as a ghost and hurl throwing stars with lethal accuracy. Her gemina, Daemon, can win any physical fight blindfolded and with an arm tied around his back. They are apprentice warriors of the Society of Taigas—marked by the gods to be trained in magic and the fighting arts to protect the kingdom of Kichona. As their graduation approaches, Sora and Daemon look forward to proving themselves worthy of belonging in the elite group—but in a kingdom free of violence since the Blood Rift Rebellion many years ago, it’s been difficult to make their mark. So when Sora and Daemon encounter a strange camp of mysterious soldiers while on a standard scouting mission, they decide the only thing to do to help their kingdom is to infiltrate the group. Taking this risk will change Sora’s life forever—and lead her on a mission of deception that may fool everyone she’s ever loved.

I was so excited when I had the opportunity to request Circle of Shadows, and even more excited when a copy appeared. The premise was something that really excited me when I read the blurb back in January, as I wanted to know more about Gemina’s and the Society of Taigas.

First things first though, Daemon is a normal human ‘partner’ for Sora, similar to police partners. I genuinely thought that a Gemina would be like the animal side kicks in the golden compass books. Even though realistically, Skye would not be able to add them in exactly the same as Pullman. But Gemina’s are just bonded students who will act as partners in crime once graduated. Plus they have some kind of telepathic link too.

I did find that the book fell into YA tropes a couple of times, such as with the romance aspect of the book. This wasn’t awful though and I actually enjoy Circle of Shadows as a whole. But, there was one ‘plot twist’ which I had seen coming, and it meets your expectations for what you think will happen most of the time. There are of course little details which make the book unique though.

I adored the magic system(s) in Circle of Shadows. There was a lot of explanation and training for magic which gave a lot of in depth information. This is something I love in fantasy novels, because it’s not just a case of ‘oh magic did it’. But whilst there was this great info, there are still mysteries left to discover in future instalments.

Both Sora and Daemon are really well written. I loved that Sora was extremely intelligent and great at what she puts her mind to. I loved even more that they gave Daemon insecurities because of this, and that he was sensitive, but stubborn, because of his history.

The secondary characters were wonderful as well with some like Broomstick and Fairy written so well to be distinct from others. Plus, all the relationships with one another whether friends or family felt real and true to how you would expect them to act.

The main antagonist is Prince Gin, Empress Aki’s long lost brother. I really hope we get a bit more back story about him in the next book because I loved the snippets of information we do get. Often his wants actually seem to be for the good of people, although other times not so much. This makes his character super intriguing, especially with the fairly mild Empress Aki who apparently fought him many years ago.

Overall, it was a lovely read for an anticipated book. There were a lot of good aspects, with only the predictability putting me off slightly. However the ending left just enough mystery to intrigue me for the next book.

Positives

• World building and magic system
• Character development

Negatives

• Predictable from tropes

I received Circle of Shadows by Evelyn Skye from the publisher. This is an unbiased and honest review