Shadow’s Fall by Natalie Johanson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Rose Trewin is a Shadowstalker, a person with magic who can walk within and speak to the shadows, as well as those who dwell within them, she has a past which haunts her and a future which is full of responsibility she doesn’t know if she can handle, all she wanted to do was find the ruins she knew existed within the forest, but what she found instead was a clan of people like her, the Shademaker Clan. This clan of people have remained hidden from the outside world since the hunting of those who wielded magic, but now they have been found and are looking to the first Shadowstalker in years to become their Chief and although she is reluctant, Rose is determined to try and work with the Council, even if she doesn’t exactly trust them. King Micah Ellsworth has been trying to subdue an uprising in the southern part of his Kingdom, a group of chieftains who were led astray by a powerful mage, claiming to be a god, but now he has disappeared and the King is looking for answers, he wants to know where the mage Gerik is, but he knows that he has to shed blood to find this out.

When he has the information he is looking for, he agrees to return and try to negotiate something that will work for both parties, but until then, he has to return to his home and ensure that things are running smoothly, however, he also knows that he has to visit Rose on the way, he feels that their blossoming bond needs it and he realises that so does he, but he also needs to update Rose on the whereabouts of Gerik. As soon as they are near, Rose and Micah can sense their bond relaxing and so they welcome the others return, even if it is short lived, they both have news they need to share with the other and have time just to be in one another’s company again, as well as speaking to the Council. While Rose was waiting to Micah to arrive, strange things have been happening to the clan and the shadows hold the answers, but they are not the ones she hoped for and neither is the news that Micah brings about Gerik escaping because she knows that can only spell danger to herself and those she has just found, her family and the people who are now depending on her.

When the sojourn is over and King Micah returns home, it isn’t as welcoming as he expected, things have been happening while he was away in the south and not good things either, it seems that the idea of uprisings has started here as well, but this time it is a religious group who are stirring up trouble and the people are listening. The group are using the famine and other occurrences in the Kingdom as evidence that something is coming and this is making the King’s people uneasy, not to mention that they hate anyone with even an ounce of magic within them, the prejudices of old are returning and it is causing a divide, even the fact that King Micah is still unmarried is being used to this groups advantage, so he has to request Rose’s help to find Gerik while he tries to hold his kingdom together, but will this return to her past destroy the tenuous bonds she has built with those around her and will this cause her to lose what she feels is most precious to her? This is a fantasy adventure with magic, rebellion and shadows all around as one woman tries to save herself and those she loves without being consumed by darkness and losing herself in the process as you follow along her journey through a harsh environment until the end.

Reviewed by @roxsannel

View all my reviews