I had requested this book on Netgalley some time ago, but because I ended up DNFing the book I didn't leave a full review. I honestly don't think anyone would enjoy this book and for me it rates at a solid 1 star. It was an easy DNF and I won't be trying again in the future.

I was originally drawn to this book for the cover and the idea of the world, but `I sadly didn't enjoy this as much as I wanted to. I saw so much potential in the circusy setting, and then so little time was spent in it was really disappointing and made it so difficult to stick with the book. I also feel like there needed to be more relationship development between the main characters. Again, the premise of this relationship sounded like it would be up my street and I could really see potential in it, but it seemed like we were rushing to the spicy scenes and the love declarations without anything to back this up.

I hate to review this so low, especially when I can see so much potential here, but ultimately this wasn't for me.

I did not love this. I particularly didn't like the major insta love that seemed to only be included for the sake of including smut. I don't mind spice but not if it overshadows decent plot and believable characters

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.
4 stars book from me. Loved the plot and the storytelling in Sanctuary of the Shadow and relatable, likable characters,. Loved every single second reading it.

Not sure this was for me I’m afraid, i love circus themed books but this just fell a bit flat. It wasn’t bad per se, but my expectations were really high and unfortunately this just didn’t meet them.

Why are we scared of the Deep? What is it about the Dark that we fear? Perhaps if we embrace the Deep and absorb the Dark we become Whole?

This book encompasses those themes through the story of star crossed lovers.

I loved this book! I thought Harrow was a fantastic protagonist and I loved seeing how her relationship with Raith developed, as well as her friendship with Malaikah. I only wished the book had been longer and had explored more of the world building and character development but hopefully there will be future books!

I dual read and listened to this book as I have been plagued with migraines of late and focussing on pages has caused issues.

This was a quick and easy read for me and I liked the story overall.

I enjoyed the world and the Elementals and their powers. I was mostly drawn to the circus 🎪 element in the synopsis and on the cover of the book so was disappointed that the actual circus acts did not feature as much as I hoped. I do however fully understand the why there was a circus element within the story as throughout history the circus has been a place for those not considered ‘normal’ to be kept and to feel safe and that is what our FMC needed.

The story was interesting throughout and though character driven kept the pages turning for me.

Full disclosure, I did not realised this was a spicy 🌶 book so just a heads up to those who are used to my recs - this one does contain descriptive scenes 😁

I am aware this is book 1 in a series and would be keen to know what is to come from the next books as I would love more on other Elementals introduced in this book or even the Queens.

I look forward to seeing who or what is explored in the next book!

I really don’t like giving negative reviews but I really did not enjoy this book. The premise sounded great and I was really looking forward to it but sadly it just wasn’t for me.
I really feel like with more rounds of editing it could have been so much better.

Sadly i just didnt vibe with this at all. I felt it promised a lot it then didnt deliver on. I was so hyped for a magical circus and all the vibes that go along with that, and i felt we spent about 5 minutes in said circus before moving on to something else. There is a lot of telling without showing, and moving the story along with quite blunt direct dialogue, in a way no one would actually talk but feels like a voiceover setting the scene. Its very clunky.
The worldbuilding felt a bit lacking and almost, dry, compared to what i expected. It just felt like it was missing something, an extra spark somewhere. Almost like a first draft outlining the plot without the depth needed.
The only bit that felt well crafted and like the effort and time had gone was the soicy scenes which then stood out as they felt so insterted in to an otherwise quite lackuster relationship.
Just a miss for me, both on what it was sold as, and on the finishing of the title too.

I was really excited to read this, after all it promised a story set in the magical world of circus and forbidden romance, but I was disappointed. I can’t say that I enjoyed the writing and the world-building often left me confused. The promised circus makes just a small appearance and I think that the romance was too immediate and more based on mutual attraction than anything else. Based on the synopsys, I expected much more and I really wanted to like it, that’s why I read it until the very end, but, unfortunately, it wasn’t for me.

Sanctuary of the Shadow is a somewhat spicy fantasy novel that has a loose circus setting that quickly drops off to be something else - I just wanted to say that from the off as I wish I had gone in knowing that. I was drawn in by that circus tent and I ended up feeling the tiniest bit disappointed as a result. However if spicy novels are your thing then this might work for you! Overall my feelings were that I can't say this book was bad, it had a structure and some interesting worldbuilding elements - but for me it just never felt like the story took off and we stayed solidly on the runway for the majority of the time.
I believe there are people who will wholeheartedly love this story and these characters but alas I am not that person this time around.
I received a free digital copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley, all opinions are my own.

Sanctuary of the Shadow is a fast paced tale that follows a young woman working at a magical circus. Harrow is the last of her clan and the circus is the perfect place to hide her abilities and who she truly is. When a newcomer comes to the circus with no memory of who he is, Harrow finds herself drawn to him and must unravel the mystery of who he is.

Sanctuary of the Shadow is a compulsively readable story and one that I flew through in a few sittings. The story is quick paced and is easy to get into. I thought the story had a really intriguing premise I loved the idea of a circus setting and would love to learn more about the circus and its performers in future books. Ascher’s writing style is vivid and I found it really easy to lose myself in this magical fantasy romance tale. This is my first time reading a book from Aurora Ascher but I am certainly keen to read more from them, and I would be interested to see where the story goes in book two.

While this is a fantasy romance tale, it does lean heavily towards the romance and I do think the fantasy elements and worldbuilding could have been fleshed out a bit more. I liked our main characters Harrow and Raith, but their relationship develops very quickly and I think it could have done with the characters getting to know each other more. That being said both Harrow and Raith felt like dynamic and well crafted characters. I was really interested in the different elementals and the different abilities they had, this is definitely something I’d like to see explored a bit more in the next book in the series. There are also some very steamy scenes in this book which wasn’t what I was expecting but overall this was a quick and entertaining read.

While I didn’t completely fall in love with this one, Sanctuary of the Shadow is a story that will have fantasy romance fans absolutely glued to the page. So if you’re looking for your next fantasy romance read, this one should definitely be on your reading list.

Sanctuary of the Shadows is a highly anticipated romantic fantasy release for 2024 and one I was excited to read.
Our main character, Harrow is the only surviving Seer working as a fortune teller in Salizar’s circus. For decades she has kept her identity secret to protect herself.
Raith is a bit of a mystery to begin with. He was captured by flesh traders and Salizar purchases him to use as a spectacle in the circus. As his treatment gets worse and Harrow discovers him trapped in a cage, she is determined to get him out and escape.
Unfortunately, I didn’t enjoy this book. It was incredibly rushed with a lot of details lacking. The story didn’t flow naturally and the few time jumps that occurred didn’t aid the story in any way. The romance was very rushed and didn’t seem natural. I’m disappointed that I didn’t like this as much as I had expected. The book itself is beautiful but unfortunately it did not match this.

DNF @ 20%

I was shocked by the low rating of this book and wanted to read and decide for myself if this was truly something I would enjoy.

From the first bit that I read, I didn't find it bad but it is a very generic story, variations of which we have read numerous of times.

I am sure this will find its audience but I am not the target audience for this book so I will give this one a pass.

Thankyou to the author and publisher for the opportunity to read this ARC.

I have to say the blurb really pulls you in, and it sounds like such an exciting read.. however.. this book just isn’t everything I expected and hoped it would be,
The plot although good, just missed the mark for me.

I wish I could have loved this book. The blurb sounds like something right up my street - but the amount of sex scenes took away from what would have been an amazing story.

The blurb sound exciting and intriguing, a fatal fascination in the world of circus. I found it less spicy than I expected. As the Queen of Skipping Sex Scenes because The Bore me to Tears I skipped the even if they seemed less mechanical than usual.
There's potential but somehow it didn't work at its best
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

I was so excited to read this one and loved the idea of a circus being used in the story. Unfortunately this one felt very slow and the writing was not grabbing my attention. I decided to DNF at 20% which is a shame because I had such high hopes for this one.

I'm afraid this was a DNF for me.

I was worried it was a me problem, but looking at the reviews I am not alone.

I can't put my finger on the problem beyond it not being what I was expecting having loved the blurb & I just didn't get the vibe I wanted from it.

Thank you for the opportunity to give it a go, but this wasn't for me.