"A Touch of Shadows" by Jessica Thorne is the inaugural book in the Lost Queen series. This Fantasy/Romance novel is notably light on world-building and is relatively brief for its genre, offering a swift reading experience. It appears to be the first installment of a trilogy, with subsequent volumes expected in the coming months, and I am eager to see the story's conclusion.

Wren is drawn to shadow magic, yet she must conceal her abilities to protect her life. Finn, a noble knight, has vowed to serve Asteroth by pursuing users of shadow magic. He has not forgiven his father for his heinous acts, and serving as a spy for Asteroth is his chosen form of retribution. During their travels, a creature assaults Finn, prompting Wren to use her magic to save him, risking her own life. Their touch ignites a fiery passion as Wren's magic surges between them. However, they cannot afford to delve into their newfound connection, as enemy forces are breaching the borders. Bound by fate, they must cultivate trust to safeguard their realm.

The characters are engaging and accessible, making it an ideal read for those new to the fantasy genre due to its straightforward narrative and minimal world-building. I anticipate the release of the next book with great interest.

My gratitude to Netgalley and Second Sky for providing this Advanced Reader's Copy in return for an honest review.

A captivating fantasy romance that enthralled the reader from the start. The plot is filled with unexpected twists, and the character dynamics are particularly impressive. The unique magic system, featuring light and dark magic, adds depth to the story. The author's beautiful prose brings the world to life, with rich world-building and complex court politics. Overall, it's an exceptional start to a series that leaves the me eagerly anticipating the next installment.

2.5 stars - romantic fantasy

Wren grows up isolated with her mother elodie who is the local villages hedgewitch. Elodie has light magic where wren has dark magic that is tied to her hair that her mother regularly cuts to stop her magic growing. After an attack on the village wren and Elodie are separated and Wren meets knight Finn and uncovers some secrets about Elodie.

This book was ok but there was more things that I didn’t like about it compared to other romantasy books. I found the magic system confusing and the world building lacking. I thought it was YA until the spicy scene near the 70% mark and for me it just didn’t feel right very insta love due to the short time period it’s set over.

Overall I found it a bit meh and found myself skimming to finish it.

Thank you NetGalley, Jessica Thorne, and Second Sky for a copy of this book!


This was a quick and easy read, it was very short for a fantasy novel. I think it being short though actually took away from the story for me. I didn’t really get or understand the relationship between Finn and Wren- to me it literally made no sense because there really wasn’t any background for it. The magic system didn’t make a ton of sense to me either. I think just more information and world building needed to happen for those last 2 stars. I hope more information comes in subsequent books.

4.7 / 5.0

A Touch of Shadows by Jessica Thorne is a dark fairytale fantasy about a girl with magic hair, living in a tower, raised by a witch, who meets a knight named Finn and goes on a fantastic adventure to learn who she really is and where her family is actually from…

Sounds like Tangled, well, it’s not but it is.

This story takes the Disney version of Rapunzel and flips the narrative entirely. I won’t give spoilers but the plot of the book is twisted and entertaining. Thorne is a master storyteller and exceptional writer. She has created a detailed world and populated it with a unique twist on the magic we would expect, all with a believable cast of characters that develop nicely through the story.

This ends on a cliffhanger but at an acceptable break in the plot. Going by the blurbs for all three books, the story seems like it will write itself back to Rapunzel being locked in her tower again, but with her full arsenal of magic and maturity to see her free.

I am extremely excited to read more of this series and more from this author in general.


Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for access to this eARC.

Rating: 3.5 / 5

A fast and engaging read, I would recommend A Touch of Shadows for anyone wanting to venture into the NA Fantasy genre.

Focusing on Wren, our FMC who is a witch, living with her mother in a forest and supporting a small community with healing. Wren’s life is turned on its head, when unexpectedly a knight becomes magically bound to her.

The magic system is simple (light vs dark) yet this makes it easy to follow with no complicated explanations or concepts to understand. This makes the story also easy to follow, yet the world building was immediately pulling me in.

Unfortunately, the book lacked a little bit of finesse. It could have been fantastic if the characters had been fleshed out better, and more time spent on each of them in turn. There were multiple POVs which I felt gave plenty of opportunity for this, but sadly this wasn’t utilised enough. This is particularly disappointing around Wren and Finn’s relationship. I’m normally not a fan of ‘insta love’ in fantasy, but the premise of ‘magically bound’ really intrigued me. This could have been SO good if the two main characters had some more time dedicated to their feelings around this bond and how it was affecting them.

Overall, A Touch of Shadows has peaked my interest enough to see how the story plays out and I’m looking forward to book 2!

I want to thank NetGalley, Second Sky and Jessica Thorne for the opportunity to read this as an ARC. The review is my own opinion and I have given this freely.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (3.5 stars, rounded up)

First off, thank you to NetGalley, Jessica Thorne, and Second Sky for the ARC of "A Touch of Shadows"! As someone who loves romantasy, I was excited to dive into this one.

This book is a quick, engaging read, perfect for those who are either new to the fantasy genre or just looking for a fast-paced adventure. The story centers around Wren, a young witch with a mysterious dark power, and Finn, a knight on a mission who becomes magically bound to her. Their romance is pretty central to the story, but the magic and world-building elements are what drew me in. One thing I really enjoyed was how easy it was to get lost in the world Thorne created. The magic system, while not overly complex, has an intriguing dark versus light dynamic that kept me turning pages. The writing style is straightforward, making it accessible to readers who might not be as familiar with high fantasy tropes.

That said, I did feel that the romance between Wren and Finn was a bit rushed. Their connection seemed to happen almost instantly, which made it hard to fully invest in their relationship. A little more time spent on character development and exploring their bond would have made the romance more believable and satisfying. Additionally, the world-building could have been fleshed out more. There were hints of a larger, more complex world that I hope will be explored in the sequels.

Overall, "A Touch of Shadows" is a solid start to what could be an intriguing series. It's not groundbreaking, but it has enough charm and potential to keep me interested in seeing where the story goes next. If you're in the mood for a fast-paced romantasy book with a touch of darkness, this book is definitely worth a read.

Can't wait to see what happens in the next installment!

Thank you NetGalley for the eArc. This book was a quick read and a great option for someone looking to see if fantasy is for them. The development and details of the story drew you in quickly but I felt like the first book could have been longer, more time to explain the background of things without giving too much detail and more development of the love interest. BUT overall really enjoyed this book and cannot wait to see what happens next!

This book was a maybe for me. There were sometimes where I was so consumed with it that I couldn’t get enough and other times when I was waiting for the story to speed up. Overall not a bad read. I could see this being a good book for people that are new the the fantasy genre..

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read an arc and listen to the audiobook.

I started with the audiobook, which was narrated fantastically and then moved to the book.

A Touch of Shadows was a decent romantasy read that had some unique magical elements and interesting characters. It may be a good starting point for those new to the fantasy genre, however those who are more experienced may find it lacking in originality and depth. The romance felt a bit rushed and could have benefited from more development, and the plot points sometimes felt blunt and fell short.

Overall, while enjoyable, the book didn't quite hit the mark for me in terms of world-building and character connection.

Ugh. This one had potential. There was little to no world building. No background on the characters or the magic system. We were thrown in. Normally I like insta love books. But the way these two characters came together and were each others “hearts and souls” so quickly made no sense. We get nothing from anyone and I lost interest pretty quickly.

Thank you to NetGalley for the early access to the book for an honest review!

I did enjoy this book! It had a pretty straight forward magic system and was easy to follow! This could have used more world building in my opinion, but if you're someone that is newer to reading fantasy this is the book to start with for sure.

The plot and romance were very fast paced and in all, kinda under developed? I think this book could really benefit from adding more details!

Wren has been brought up on the outskirts of society and taught only to use her magic to help others. She becomes torn when she helps Finn, a knight and finds herself drawn to him, but before they can unravel their feelings, enemy forces catch up with them.
This was an OK story. I found the romance element somewhat forced and the world building could have been better developed. It did however have a good pace with plenty of action.

Thank you NetGalley for the ebook arc, I summary sounded great but the book itself has a slow start with an installed romance. Unfortunately I felt the romance was forced and too quick, and unbelievable. The characters felt flat and I didn’t care about any of them. I had to force myself to finish

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the early access of this book!

An easy to read romantic fantasy with some good characters and interesting story beats. Nothing particularly new but the elements were used well and didn't feel stale or overused.

I did find some story elements could have been explored more. The world building and the magic system were pretty basic and could have used some expanding.

This book has a lot of potential. The story is interesting and has some twists on popular tropes. However, the romance felt forced, the character development was lacking, and the magic system was not well explained. I'm hoping that we'll get more of an understanding of the magic in the second book. What we do know is interesting, there are two types of what I believe are meant to be goddesses, the Aurum and the Nox.

I'm fairly certain that the book takes place over the course of 3 days? Definitely less than a week. This short span makes what is supposed to be an intense romance between Finn and Wren feel rushed. With comments about how well they know each other made by the two, it really put me off.

The writing also could use some work. Sometimes the chapter endings felt abrupt or weird. There were also times when it would have been nice to get an explanation about something from another character's POV. For example, [spoiler ahead] Wren gets captured by Leander and then Finn gets captured shortly after but there's never any explanation of how Finn got captured.

Overall, I think the sequel will provide some needed answers so I'm looking forward to reading it.

Intricate, fast-paced and a romance that will make your head and heart spin - A Touch of Shadows

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Spice: 🌶️🌶️

A Touch of Shadows follows Wren, a hedge witch's apprentice, who gets torn away from their safe tower in the woods by forces and powers she can scarcely comprehend. Finn, a Knight on a solo mission, soon crosses her path and can't help but protect her from harm.

Wren and Finn's romance is not the pure focus of the book, but still a very strong and important element. It's story - beats hit fast, and often, which was a delightful change of pace from all the slow-burns I've been reading. This leads to pretty much the whole book having a lot of steamy moments and a little bit of spice.

Thorne has crafted a very interesting, intricate setting - kingdoms devided, magic slumbering and the people who will decide the fate of kingdoms and magic both spread across the board. She has managed to craft characters and a story that continuously hint at Rapunzel - although saying this is not a spoiler, since the story is so much broader, complex and also very different from the popular fairytale.

The book sets up strongly divided Light and Dark factions, Light seeming classically good, Dark seeming classically evil. Everything turns out to be much more complex and interwoven than that. The characters seem to have very little agency amid these powers, being torn along by magic, fate and power just as the reader is.

I absolutely tore through this book, constantly thinking chapters felt short when in fact, they weren't. The pace of the novel is just so high that it feels that way. As the reader, I am given little to no respite between plot events. Which is thrilling and captivating, but also felt...unsettling, in it's way. Which fits the energy we get from the characters, so I couldn't bring myself to mind too much. What did bother me a little is that the narrative sometimes feels muddled - we experience the story as the character who's POV we are currently reading, and don't know much more than they do. In the many instances where a character was "out of it" in some way, shape or form, that made it a bit hard for me to follow.

Overall, the pacing of reveals was also very fast, but not too fast. Little intermezzos of lore, prophecies and the like teach us more about the world's dynamic at the perfect moments. The last one of these - at the very end of the book - is chilling, and wonderfully teases the continuation of the story.

I would absolutely recommend "A Touch of Shadows" to readers that prefer their books fast-paced and thrilling, their fantasy a little dark and grim without being grimdark. It's a very worthy addition to any bookshelf, and I cannot wait to see what the next installment of the series brings!

Dark and light magic, a lost queen, a terrible power , romance , multiple POVs, Kingdom politics, hunters of magic-wielders, as well as the start of what might be an amazing world , what more do you need or want in a start of a new seris .

4.25/5

I really really enjoyed this! A super quick-paced fantasy (and the book being so short probably contributed to that) that had my attention captured from the very beginning.

I could predict the first little twist, but that's so common in the genre that I don't think it was supposed to be a massive surprise. I just got really happy and excited that my prediction/theory was correct.

I love when characters have seemingly chance encounters that turn into something so much bigger than they could've ever predicted - and this book has that for Wren and Finn!

Kingdom politics, hunters of magic-wielders, independent FMC, hidden shadow magic, and a touch of mystery. I would like a bit more world-building and I hope that we get that in the next book in the series.

I really am so excited to read the next book and I think that tells you everything you need to know about my feelings for this book! (I will begin reading the sequel as soon as I finish writing this review.)

Thank you to NetGalley for the e-ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review! My review is already up on Goodreads and my TikTok (Zoe_Lipman) review will be up at the end of the month with my monthly reading wrap-up.

This book was a quick and enthralling read and I’m very happy, that I don’t have to wait too long for book 2!
I found it very easy to dive into this magical world, about dark and light magic and some strange dark monsters.
Right at the beginning Wren meets Finn and both fell in love at first sight.

”There was only her. His dark queen. A goddess of shadows thought long lost. And he was hers. Just as it was always meant to be.“

I really enjoyed their love story, but it could’ve been a little bit more tension between them, there was a lot of potential.
But all in all their journey caught me and I liked the bond between them.

”Her Wren. So brilliant, so powerful, so impossibly stubborn. Elodie realised that she had never been more proud.“

Alongside Wrens love story was the mysterious relationship between her and Elodie, which may be her mother but one doesn’t really know.
I did love, that the book was written in different perspectives and not only the ones from Wren & Finn.

I think it’s a perfect, fast read romantasy and I can’t wait for the other 2 books!