A Touch of Shadows is a tight, well paced fantasy with some absolute gems of prose. (Get your highlighters ready!)

The world building is wonderfully done. You are immersed in the world from the very beginning, being introduced to the magic system and politics at exactly the right pace.

The mystery and intrigue are tantalising, drawing you into the story and deeper into the shadows. There's enough foreshadowing that the climax is satisfying, but not obvious. As a reader you are right there with Wren trying to navigate the many secrets wrapped around her and those closest to her.

I love Wren as a FMC. She is feisty, without being bratty. And she shows a wonderful amount of insight! A combo I can get behind for my fantasy heroines.

As much as I loved Finn and Wren together - their smutty kisses making my feet kick - it's quite a fierce instalove, so it feels like we missed a step in the romance. It works plot wise, but left me a little hollow. However, I get the feeling we've got more to explore on that in the next book.

Fantasy takes precedent from the romance here, which is not a bad thing when there is so much to delve into within the main plot and the world itself.

All the characters jump off the page, each with their own mysteries and histories. I wish we had more depth to them in this book, but I think the sequel will let us dig deeper.

Overall:
7/10
A solid, quick read, which will benefit from a sequel.

I was here for the plot and the romance, but wanted more depth to both. It feels like there is so much plot and character development waiting in the wings, but we're yet to see it.

Oh, and that last page ... gods, I don't want to wait for the sequel!!


Thank you so much Second Sky, NetGalley, and the author, Jessica Thorne, for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest and fair review. All opinions are my own.

It took me a while to get into this one and it was worth it. A girl who is so much more than she seems. Her guardian has hidden everything from her. Magic, betrayal, love and pain all woven through the story.

ARC from NetGalley. All thoughts in this review are my own!

Synopsis: Wren lives in the woods with Elodie, outside of a small village. Elodie is a hedge witch who acts as a healer for the village. Wren also has some magic, but she struggles to control it in the same way that Elodie can. She's been warned not to call the shadows, but to only call for the light. One day, Wren is forced to run from the village, and a knight (Finn) comes to her defense, only to find that they are in trouble from the shadows in the woods. Wren and Finn quickly become attracted to one another, and continue to journey on together as they try to figure out who to trust.

My Thoughts: I really enjoyed this book. I was quickly engrossed in the world of Asteroth, and needed to know what secrets Elodie had been keeping from Wren. I liked that while Wren and Finn did seem to have a bit of an insta-love (lust?) connection, there were questions around the role that magic played in all of it. This was definitely an exciting book, and there is so much more that I need to know, so I can't wait for the next book in the series!

Quintessential Quote: "The shadows here were deeper, darker, and somehow that was a comfort. It shouldn't be. She knew that."

The plot is quite promising but it needs more oomph. It is a very easy read but the lack of world building deterred me from fully investing in the story.

What got under my skin the most was the meager breadcrumbs. I want to be let in on the secrets too!!!! Why did the queen did what she did? What IS wren?? What IS Finn? Tbh I initially regretted skipping the glossary (esp when reading the first 30%). In retrospect, even if I did read it, I don’t think it’ll help better understand why the story unfolded the way it did.

Nevertheless, the last 40% was pretty engaging with all the escaping and battling. Overall, I just wish there was more explanation to everything.

Thank you Second Sky and NetGalley for this arc!

Elodie left everything to save herself & her child. She has stayed hidden all this time but her enemies have never stopped looking. She has tried to keep Wren safe by not telling her the truth about the past. And now it is too late. Wren has always been tempted by the shadows and she can’t understand why Eloide has kept them isolated in the forest. Everything changes when Wren meets Finn & she uses her power to save him. The darkness has changed Finn & she fears that she will lose him. They can’t keep running & she has to find Eloide but everything changes when she finds out the truth about her mother but she knows that she can trust her no matter what. But will they make it out of here alive? A good read. Interesting storyline & characters. The main characters each have their own story to be told & I want to know more about Eloise’s story. Thank you Netgalley & the publisher for the copy. This is my honest review.

This was a pretty enjoyable fantasy romance to read! I liked the first half of the book a lot but the second half fell a little short for me, but was still enjoyable. The plot seemed too rushed the second half and parts could have been embellished more to make it more intriguing. I really liked the main character Wren, but I thought the other characters could have been written in more depth, especially Finn. I would recommend it to anyone looking for a quick romantasy read.

I want to thank NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC.

Thank you for an ARC of this book! I thought it was a good read. I felt the world building and character building could have been a bit better. I did enjoy the journey with Wren and the magic involved. I think this book would be a good intro to romantasy.

Overall, I think it was a good and easy read and I would recommend this to any reader who likes fantasy, especially a Serpent & Dove lover.
However, though the book was good I did find that some world building elements were a bit lacking but I know as the story progresses it will get stronger. For me, I think the biggest issue was the romance between Wren and Finn, I wish the relationship was developed more because I found their relationship very confusing a couple of times throughout the book. I look forward to reading book two to see how the story continues. Thank you to NetGalley and the Publishers for providing me an early access to A Touch of Shadows!

Thank you Second Sky for the eARC!

Wren grows up deep in the forest on the edges of the nearest town as a healer’s apprentice and witch. One day when an ex love interest turns on her and attempts to harm her, a knight dressed as a traveler saves her, but Wren takes off deep into the dark wood - where one should never go - and she and the knight soon find themselves in danger. As they run, Wren tries to make sense of the web of lies and truths that have been told to her for her whole life.

This book was very short, interesting, fast-paced, and action packed. The concept was certainly interesting, especially the magic, but possibly due to the short length it just wasn’t developed enough for me to get attached to any of the characters or the story. I often wasn’t entirely sure what was going on due to plot holes and lack of world building which overall made it less enjoyable of a read for me.

I was excited about this book based on the blurb, but unfortunately it fell kind of flat for me. The beginning was kind of confusing and didn’t really provide anything worth knowing and it definitely could have used more world building. I thought the magical elements were cool, but again, they felt like they needed something more. They were kind of just there. I think this would probably be a good book for someone just starting out trading fantasy, but it wasn’t really what I was looking for in the end.

This was a very short quick read for me. Overall, I did enjoy the book and will be reading the second book in the series to see what happens with Wren and Finn. The beginning of the book was a little too confusing to me and lacking enough world building and character development. I hope to see more things about the magic world explained in the next book of the series.

Thank you Netgalley and Second Sky for the digital arc in exchange for my honest opinion.

Thank you Netgallery and the publishers for this advanced reading copy.

A Touch of Shadows (The Lost Queen book #1) by Jessica Thorne is an enjoyable read. This book features a simple yet captivating magic system, with witches, fates, and other fantasy elements that I always appreciate. I enjoyed Thorne’s writing style and look forward to the next book, hoping to see the story develop further.

⭐️ 4/5
The story follows Wren, our MFC, who grows up in a remote village as a ward to Elodie, the hedge witch. Wren can wield shadow magic, which poses a significant risk if the wrong people find out. Her life takes a turn when she saves Finn, the MMC, from a life-threatening situation in The Darkwoods, a place everyone knows to avoid.
While the world-building and character development could be further explored, this book is a wonderful entry point for anyone new to the fantasy genre. It avoids overwhelming readers with excessive details and complex introductions.

Recommended if you enjoy:
✨ Witches
✨ Hunter x Hunted
✨ Multi-POV
✨ Shadow Magic
✨ Love at First Sight

This book has a bit of everything: war, world politics, witches and hunters, knights, magic, romance, hidden identity, and a hint of spice.
Elodie's story is only briefly mentioned in this book, but I was eager to learn more about her and Roland. The plot is intricate and moves swiftly with numerous twists and turns.

This was a wonderful start to a new series! It primarily focuses on the romance, which I don't mind with romantasy. I enjoyed the characters and the story. Will definitely pick up the next book in the series.

This was a quick, romantasy read which was ok and enjoyable. To me, it seems like it had a strong start but later on it started to fizzle out. I wasn't bothered by the lack of explicit world-building because it was very well understood, which is always a plus. What didn't help me get into it more was the fact that it felt a bit underdeveloped, like a lot of good elements were there to make it something very good but they weren't fleshed out, like the characters themselves and the relationship between characters. The love-at-first-sight at the beginning maybe didn't help things along as it should have. All in all, it's a very quick read that doesn't confuse you and is pretty straightforward, so go for it if you're looking for something like this.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

There’s a lot of really good potential here and I mostly enjoyed the story but it felt rather rushed. I felt something’s needed to be explained more and like I was missing small pieces of information that would help bring the book up a level. I’d say it’s closer to 3.5 stars than just 3 though. I was always drawn into the story and wanting to know what happens next. I’ll most definitely be reading the next one.

Thank you to NetGalley, Jessica Thorne, and Second Sky for providing me with this ARC!

2.5 Stars

A Touch of Shadows follows our main character, Wren, a young witch who is drawn to the shadows. When her city is burned in flames, she runs into the wood that is infested with darkness. On her escape, she runs into a man named Finn, whom she instantly trusts. The story follows their journey to a palace until they are separated by her “mother” Elodie, against Wren’s will.

Plot: The plot was very quick paced, but unfortunately, underdeveloped. At times there seemed to be big plot holes, and I felt confused to what was happening.

Worldbuilding: There is very little worldbuilding included in this story. We move from one place to another quick enough that it’s hard to imagine the places we go.

Characters: All of the characters also felt underdeveloped to me as well. We have a classic “Rapunzel” story of Wren being held in a tower (and has magic hair when it’s long), and Elodie didn’t want Wren to be discovered. None of the characters seemed to have any special qualities that drew me in to their development.

Romance: The romance was an instant love situation, and it was hard to buy that instantly Wren, who has little experience with men from what we know, instantly loved this stranger.

Overall, it was a very average romantasy. Nothing more, nothing less.

This is an easy, fast paced romantasy that would be good for people wanting to dip their toes into the genre.

Really easy to read and gets straight into the action. Could be a bit more world building as I didn’t feel invested fully into the world, but I enjoyed it nevertheless

I desperately needed more world building to fully understand this book. I loved the ideas but they didn’t feel fully thought out enough.

A Touch of shadows had great premise but needed more world building, the book was very hard to connect with and I had to force myself to continue. Its a shame as I said the book had a great start.

I really attempted to get through this book, on multiple sittings and I unfortunately just was not connecting with the story or the characters. I feel like the potential for a really great story is there, it just needed to be built upon more. Some deeper world building and character development to really bring the story to life. This was unfortunately a DNF for me