Overall, I felt pretty meh about this book. I liked the characters well enough, but there wasn't a whole lot that really drew me into the plot enough where I would care. The magic system wasn't really explained at all and the twist was very obvious. But, it could still be a charming read for Greek history fans I suppose. It just felt a bit bland to me and it never really kept my attention.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I recently read "Spears and Shadows" by Grayson, and I was impressed by the rich and immersive world-building. The novel is a fantasy that follows the journey of a young woman named Keralie, who is forced to confront a dark and dangerous conspiracy that threatens to destroy her kingdom.

Keralie is a strong and likable protagonist, and Grayson does an excellent job of capturing the complexities of her character. As Keralie navigates the dangerous world of political intrigue and betrayal, she must rely on her cunning and intelligence to survive. The novel explores important themes of loyalty, friendship, and the power of loyalty.

The writing in "Spears and Shadows" is crisp and engaging, and the pacing is perfect. Grayson creates a rich and immersive fantasy world, and the story is full of action and adventure. Overall, I highly recommend "Spears and Shadows" to fans of fantasy and anyone looking for a thrilling and well-written read.

This book gave me wonder woman vibes. Its a well tought book, The characters are well developed and the plot is good. Its a mid fast paced book, theres a lot of intrigues and action. it was a cute read overall.

This is a really good adventure and not at all what I was expecting.

The romance is light with well developed characters and the story is highly engaging.

I would highly recommend this.

Spears and Shadows by S.C. Grayson has a lot of potential but fails to deliver.

The good things about the book were its world and its plot. Grayson builds a world loosely inspired by greek mythology and Atlantis that has dwelled alongside humanity for thousands of years. Its people are sworn to fight against Chaos in a never ending battle, yet they isolate themselves from humanity, especially after the last big battle decimated their ranks. As a whole, I found the world intriguing with particular details standing out, which only made me want to read more.

The other thing that stood out was the plot and the way Grayson moves it along, with a good balance of action, worldbuilding and character building. When Nora finds herself drawn to both the spear and the random scholar who has an unhealthy fascination with it, she quickly gets swept up in this larger than life battle against evil, but the progression never felt rushed. Having studied history myself, it is obvious the care Grayson took to make that part of the book appealing and enlightening without bogging down the action.

However, the reasont his book left a sour taste in my mouth was how Nora was written. From the beginning she's got a lot of 'pick me' and 'not like other girls' energy as she complains about having to do anything feminine. The problem didn't seem to be femininity in general, she doesn't critic other characters for performing it, but rather when it came to her having to do any of it. There is an instance where she has to attend a gala, one that announces her promotion, and she complains about everything from her hair being done, to the dress she's wearing, to the heels being uncomfortable, etc. It quickly stopped being a small flaw, and started becoming grating, even overshadowing the character development at times.

Unfortunately, it is because of this that I will not be continuing the series. No matter how much the plot and world intrigue me, I just could not sit through more of her complaints when she is the only POV we get.

Spears & Shadows is an amazing book and quite refreshing. It’s wonderfully written and I really like S.C. Grayson’s writting style. Another thing that I also love are the short chapters which, in my opinion, encourage the reading even more. It’s an absolute page-turner and a fantastic read. I believe that fantasy, adventure and romance lovers will enjoy this book.

[This review was posted on NetGalley and GoodReads on June 30th, 2022. A similar review was also posted on Instagram. Links to the reviews are attached]

I enjoyed this for the historical/academia vibes, the premise, and Adam's creative expletives.

The skeleton of the story is pretty solid but I think the execution wasn't the best and the book felt hollow and not as robust as I expected a fantasy book to be.
The world building left much to be desired. I usually appreciate when authors leave some details up to the reader to fill in, so that we're not faced with a wall of descriptive text, but there wasn't enough for my imagination to contribute to with this.
In regards to the characters and their personalities, there was a lot of telling instead of showing. The characters didn't leave much of an impression on me, I feel like the writing was shallow and the story would've been more impactful if there was more time spent developing the emotions and backgrounds of the characters to establish why we should root for them. I think we were meant to feel shocked and betrayed when the antagonist was revealed but we barely knew this person so it wasn't as dramatic as intended.

Overall, I'm intrigued by this series enough to potentially read the sequel, but this installment didn't blow me away.

Spoiler: Hearing how over the years Adam only successfully found his reincarnated wife 3 times really hit me in the gut.

Thank you NetGalley for a chance to read Spears and Shadows.

I loved this book. It was well written and easy to read (I read it in one day), and I thoroughly enjoyed the plot. I also loved the romance in this book (especially the reveal at the end), although it definitely wasn’t the main focus of the story. We have a secret society of sorcerers, ancient weapons, and a battle between light and dark. I would definitely recommend this book to others and can’t wait to read more from this author in the future.

I’m obsessed with this story! I LOVED the characters and the world Grayson built. This style of fantasy/magic is refreshing and was such a joy to read. I loved the character relationships and developments throughout the book. A must read!! Cannot wait for the serious to continue!!