Review: Shadowfell by Juliet Marillier

Release Date: September 11, 2012
Publisher: Knopf Books for YR
Rating: YA 12+
Genre: Fantasy, Romance
Pages: 416

Sixteen-year-old Neryn is alone in the land of Alban, where the oppressive king has ordered anyone with magical strengths captured and brought before him. Eager to hide her own canny skill—a uniquely powerful ability to communicate with the fairy-like Good Folk—Neryn sets out for the legendary Shadowfell, a home and training ground for a secret rebel group determined to overthrow the evil King Keldec.

During her dangerous journey, she receives aid from the Good Folk, who tell her she must pass a series of tests in order to recognize her full potential. She also finds help from a handsome young man, Flint, who rescues her from certain death—but whose motives in doing so remain unclear. Neryn struggles to trust her only allies. They both hint that she alone may be the key to Alban’s release from Keldec’s rule.

Homeless, unsure of who to trust, and trapped in an empire determined to crush her, Neryn must make it to Shadowfell not only to save herself, but to save Alban.

**An Advance Readers Copy was provided by the author (thanks!)**

Shadowfell landed up on my doorstep in May. And, me being the eager and die-hard Juliet Marillier fan that I am, finished it the day I got it. Now I wish I hadn't. Because I'm one of those people who has a really short-term memory loss, so as you can guess, I'd basically forgotten all about it. Which, of course, meant that I would have to reread it and all that jazz. Okay, enough of my random and useless thoughts...

Shadowfell started out slow. I mean, super, slow. Like as slow as I probably am during my Physical Education classes LOL. I was expecting a lot from this book, and I was majorly let down. I guess it's kind of my fault because I shouldn't have set such high expectations, but there you go. The only reason I finished it so fast was probably due to the fact that I kept hoping and wishing that it would get better, and in the end, it did, but not good enough to make up for it's terribly slow start.

Neryn was an okay character for me. Not that memorable, but also not the type of character I'd hate. Some things she did really annoyed the doodles out of me! I just couldn't wrap my mind around why she was so determined not to accept any help from anyone, and why she stuck around that crude and horrible father of hers for so long. I'm all for empowering and strong female (and male) characters, and Neryn was weak, kind of pathetic, and really watery, if you know what I mean. 

While normally I'm a huge sucker for the mysterious, dark, edgy stranger, Flint just didn't do it for me. I liked how he was scary and real mysterious and all at the beginning, and how he opened up in the end, but it was really unbelievable for me. He was too kind, too sweet, too caring, and all for what? It just didn't make sense why he was willing to sacrifice so much for a random stranger he met just a few days ago. 

The ending was probably my favorite part of the book, and (no, not just because it meant that it was almost over :P).  But because I got to see a side of Neryn and the whole world of Shadowfell that I thought I'd never see. Neryn, for once, was brave, courageous and strong. Flint, was, well, okay, still Flint. But it was really magical to see everyone, all the Shadowfell folk working together. And I was reminded of why I picked this book up in the first place, because of Marillier's beautiful writing. 

So, in spite of all the problems I had with this book, the wonderful and magical words that Marillier always manages to string together is what made me give this book three muffins, not two. And, also the fact that I'm most probably going to read the sequel. I mean, gotta give Marillier some credit for that!

                          

If you like this, try:

Unspoken (The Lynburn Legacy #1) by Sarah Rees Brennan

House of Shadows by Rachel Neumeier

Falling Kingdoms (Falling Kingdoms, #1) by Morgan Rhodes