Shadow Study by Maria V. Snyder Series: Study #4, Soulfinders #1
Published by Mira Books
Published on March 1st 2015
Genres: Fantasy, Fantasy & Magic
Pages: 407
Format: ARC
Source: HarlequinTeen Australia
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New York Times bestselling author Maria V. Snyder wowed readers with Poison Study, the unforgettable story of poison taster Yelena. Now she's back with a new tale of intrigue.
Once, only her own life hung in the balance…
Oddly enough, when Yelena was a poison taster, her life was simpler. But she'd survived to become a vital part of the balance of power between rival countries Ixia and Sitia. Now she uses her magic to keep the peace in both lands—and protect her relationship with Valek.
Suddenly, though, they are beset on all sides by those vying for power through politics and intrigue. Valek's job and his life are in danger. As Yelena tries to uncover the scope of these plots, she faces a new challenge: her magic is blocked. She must keep that a secret—or her enemies will discover just how vulnerable she really is—while searching for who or what is responsible for neutralizing her powers.
Yes, the days of tasting poisons were much simpler. And certainly not as dangerous…
I received a copy of this book from HarlequinTeen Australia in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
SUMMARY
Yelena, Valek, Janco and the gang return in this fast-paced, action-oriented fantasy novel as Yelena struggles to find out what caused her magic to disappear and who is attempting to murder her, Valek deals with a cocky new assassin after his job, and Janco must find out who is smuggling illegal goods into and out of Ixia.
WORLDBUILDING
The worldbuilding is given even more oomph in this novel as we travel in flashback to Valek’s youth where he trained as an assassin, and the rules of magic are defined even further as more anti-magician technology evolves and magicians themselves learn their limits or overcome their loss of power in other ways.
CHARACTER
The powerhouse trio of Yelena, Valek and Janco all serve as great characters to read about this adventure. While Yelena’s lost her magic, she has to rely on other methods to continue kicking ass, and Valek’s point of view is heavy on the flashbacks as we view his training as an assassin, meeting the Commander, and eventual murder of the tyrannical king of Ixia. I’m still surprised we get Janco’s POV: sure, he’s a great character, and interesting, and funny, and as annoying as ever, but I feel like he’s being favourited over Ari who is in fact my own favourite of the pair. I understand why we don’t get Ari’s point of view: he’s too similar to Valek.
The newest character addition makes me wonder why almost every named female character in this series suffers from some kind of traumatic sexual history. I understand that the men in the series hold a lot of power and although Ixia is a pretty fair country, it’s far from a feminist ideal, but I am beginning to tire of sexual violence and wonder if there is some other kind of trauma for these female characters to suffer from rather than immediately going to rape.
RELATIONSHIPS
Yelena and Valek have been together for years by this point, and while Lief’s gotten married and it appears Opal has some kind of commitment (not quite sure if married or not), our favourite couple haven’t committed to each other. For some reason I really enjoyed the romance aspect of this novel though, and I think it’s because Yelena and Valek were forced to spend so much time apart, and all they wanted to do was get back together, which showed in their thoughts and actions. Although I’m kind of lukewarm about Yelena and Valek, in this book I suddenly became a shipper.
OVERALL
An absolutely fantastic start to a new spin-off series and a continuation of an old one, Shadow Study is an absolute must to anyone who’s enjoyed Snyder’s work in the past or who enjoys character-driven action fantasies with strong, competent women and sexy, brooding assassins.
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About Nemo
A lover of kittens and all things sparkly, Nemo has a degree in English Literature and specialises in reviewing contemporary, paranormal, mystery/thriller, historical, sci-fi and fantasy Young Adult fiction. She is especially drawn to novels about princesses, strong female friendships, magical powers, and assassins.
Sara Letourneau
Totally agree that Janco was too annoying sometimes. He made me laugh, but other times I wanted to smack him. *lol*
I kind of wonder if Valek can’t commit himself fully to Yelena because of his job. His loyalties to both his lady and the Commander come into question here, and it will be interesting to see where things go from here. I have a feeling that particular subplot will become increasingly important as the series goes on. (Especially given the ending! What did you think of that, in a non-spoilery kind of way?)
Nemo
How do I feel about the ending? This pretty much sums it up:
In continuing to be non-spoilery, the loyalty test would have had to eventually come to a head and is perfect conflict for the series.
Sara L.
LOL! Your GIF is perfect. 🙂
Emery
…. how do I even… My soul is fine to the magical world of ixia and Sita the day I read poison study