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Shadowflame

Tekijä: Dianne Sylvan

Sarjat: Shadow World (2)

JäseniäKirja-arvostelujaSuosituimmuussijaKeskimääräinen arvioMaininnat
17611153,790 (3.52)1
It's been three months since musician Miranda Grey became a vampire and married David Solomon. But when a powerful force from David's past appears, Miranda begins to realize how little she really knows about her husband.
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Näyttää 1-5 (yhteensä 11) (seuraava | näytä kaikki)
In the normal course of things I would have given this book a 4.5 because I was excited for this book (very excited) and what excerpts I've read were promising indeed. QUEEN OF SHADOWS was different and Miranda was the sort of heroine I enjoy reading about; she didn't just suddenly fall for David, she made him work at gaining her trust and Sylvan showed Miranda actually learning to defend herself. David for his part didn't push her or act irritated by the fact Miranda needed time to heal and process. If maybe some of it was a bit too convenient I could forgive that because the overall book was refreshing.

So imagine my surprise when during the course of this book I get a sudden, overpowering urge to hulk smash David into the next millennium. I won't spoil anyone for why, but its important to understand I'm not upset by the nature of what happens between David and this person. Sylvan handles it well and under any other circumstance I would have fallen for it hook, line and sinker. The thing is the circumstances are extremely unforgivable for me. Not just on his end, but also on the other person's.

For me it was kind of a slap in the face and confusing to boot because it didn't really flow with the in-world dynamics set up in Book 1. It threw off a lot of the characterization as well because Miranda is just as thrown as the reader.

Miranda seemed to have fallen back from the 'Vampire Queen Hear me Roar' from the end of the first book. I rather liked that she instinctively got the whole vampire thing and because of her earlier training was better prepared. There wasn't any sign of this Miranda at first. That Miranda didn't resurface for a while and when she did, a whole new curve ball is thrown and there's that.

Admittedly she's able to handle her own when things start to go bad--she keeps a level head, and I applaud how she handles her emotions without devolving into 'my world is crumbling'. That's when the Miranda I loved came out to play. The Miranda who pulls herself together, dusts off her hands and says 'All right I got this'. She takes command and doesn't let anyone push her around.

The world intrigues--the set-up and power play and the different ways each Prime views leadership. I enjoy those parts. I enjoy watching Miranda come into her own. Unfortunately the plotline involving David's past and his present did not make sense given the world set up.

review originally published at Night Owl Reviews ( )
  lexilewords | Dec 28, 2023 |
Over the last couple of years I have read a lot of Urban Fantasy, and one of the things that has bothered me most about the genre is the expectation that everything is perfect and roses between the couples. If you bond, you lose your identity and all the baggage that you're bringing in suddenly disappears in a poof of rose-colored smoke. That's not how relationships work. Ever. It may be how they're done in Paranormal Romanceland, but Shadowflame is not a paranormal romance, and these relationships are not perfect. In the end that's what sucked me into this book. It took me a while to get back into Miranda's world, but what cemented it was that nothing was perfect. I could believe that the Shadow World existed and it made me get goosebumps. When I wasn't reading voraciously, I was thinking about how easy it would be for the Shadow World to move around my own town.

That right there is talent, people. I don't usually spend my days flitting through life wondering if there are vampires moving about my city, but Sylvan got that idea stuck in my head. When I walk my dog at night I look behind me. THAT is why I read Urban Fantasy. I'm looking for something that makes me a little creeped out. Shadowflame delivered that, and is a perfect example of the genre.
Are you looking for something where everything is sunshine and rainbows plus vampires? This book is not for you. There are costs for each decision the characters make, usually personal ones. You feel for Miranda and David. You get attached to them as people, and without those flaws I frankly wouldn't care.

What's also wonderful is that Miranda manages to balance who she was before she became a vampire and her responsibilities as the Queen of the Southern States. She doesn't fall in love and give up her identity; she carries on with the things that matter the most to her. I like her backbone and that she stands up for what she believes in. Her core doesn't change.

You'd better believe I'm counting the days until I can get my hands on Shadow's Fall. The Shadow World is a masterful example of what Urban Fantasy used to be, and what I would love to see it get back. Thank you, Ms. Sylvan. You made a loyal reader with this last installment. ( )
  taimoirai | Jun 25, 2021 |
I continue to feel that Miranda is the character I would have dreamed up if I had chosen to write novels 15 years ago. She is a badass redhead with a penchant for Tori Amos and who loves her soul mate and her Bosendorfer. The vampires in this series are not wimps, and there is not shortage of violence that happens; however, they are trying to be more civilized vampires. I like how that causes conflict within the overall society itself. We're slowly being introduced to the main players, the history, and the Shadow World. The major conflict within the story felt slightly off for a long awhile, as if it was forced into the story. The ending brought all the pieces together, which definitely helped. I'm intrigued to see where this new thread is going. ( )
  ladypembroke | May 17, 2019 |
Trigger warning for discussions of violent homophobia and rape

Miranda has been Queen of the South for three months now. As is custom, when she married her husband David Solomon, the Prime of the area, the other Primes pay a visit to show their respect of the new couple. Although Miranda loves David, she is very new to the shadow world and still feels the call of her human life. Learning to be Queen for Miranda means accepting that her 350 year old soulmate has had a long life without her and that comes with consequences. In between all of the political intrigue and trying to protect her human friends, Miranda has to come to terms with the new world that she has entered and all the costs that come with it.

Spoilers Ahead

When I read some of the reviews on Goodreads those who chose to give Shadowflame a low rating seemed largely to do so based on David's infidelity. Obviously, these are people who go into an urban fantasy/ paranormal romance book with the belief that once a couple pair up that they shouldn't deal with real world problems. I understand that there might be some who find David's infidelity a problem based on this; however, the problems with Shadowflame extend far beyond that.

In this book we learn that David had a past same-sex relationship of 10 years with Deven. There could be a lot of positive to say about having a bisexual co-protagonist - except the book makes it very very very clear that he's totally not bi, honest (there's more than a whiff of no homo about the whole thing)

This just sets the tone for the depiction of the same sex relationships involved. David and Deven split up not because of actual reasons but because of the magical Signet (which now demands David be with Miranda and Deven with Johnathon - screw true love, the Bling has spoken). While we could view this as a tragedy that magic has destroyed a long term, loving relationship, instead what we see is the spiteful, conniving Devon trying to steal Miranda's man (how very dare he!). Her relationship with David is presented as not only superior in her eyes (she decides she has the advantage because she "has a vagina" yes, penis + vagina is the one true relationship!) but also in general depiction - with Deven and Jonathon's relationship being almost chaste and certainly less passionate and powerful than Miranda and David.

To rub some salt into the wounds, we also have David described as "swishy", by Kat, Miranda's best friend. Miranda and Kat then proceed to fetishise the idea of David and Deven together and, to crown it all, Deven apparently working long term to make sure Miranda and David got together. Yes, this gay man devoted time and energy to bring his true love together with a woman to form a Real and Proper bling-sanctioned relationship.

Honestly, I could go on for pages about the trainwreck here (I haven't even touched on the gratuitous and graphic depiction of homophobia or the implication that Deven is bitter and nasty because of his origins that Miranda happily clubs him with), but the review would end up ridiculously long, especially considering the other many many problems with this book.

I'm starting to think that no Shadow World book is complete without some form of gratuitous rape involved. In this case, Prime Hart comes to pay his respects to the new couple and with him he brings his string of sex slaves. Prime Hart tortures these women, starves them and rapes them repeatedly. Though Hart keeps a stable of nine women, he chooses only to bring four of them on his state visit. Sylvan includes a very graphic description of Cora's rape. It's gratuitous and made further problematic by Cora's suggestion that women who give up after years of torture, rape and starvation are weak. Everyone in the Shadowworld is aware of how Hart treats women and yet no one intervenes. This is explained by the misogyny of the Shadowworld which seems to dictate that women are to be silent and stand behind their men. When Miranda brings this to the attention of David, he is unwilling to risk a war to free these women. David expressly forbids Miranda to intervene unless one of the women asks for sanctuary. To be clear, we are supposed to think of David as a complicated man but a good man but good people don't allow four women to be raped under their roof without trying at least to intervene.

Read More ( )
  FangsfortheFantasy | Mar 1, 2016 |
This review is also published at http://thebookaholiccat.com

Shadowflame is book two in the Shadow World series by Dianne Sylvan.

This book starts three months after the events in Queen of Shadows. Miranda is coming to terms to being queen and sharing her new life with David. There are still many things to know about each other, three months is not enough time to know everything about your spouse but they are doing their best. Miranda is not just working on her relationship; she is also making a name for herself as the new queen in the Shadow World.

While dealing with all this other Primes are coming to visit to congratulate the new couple, but not all of them are nice, some are evil incarnate and others bring serious conflicts to their home. If this wasn’t enough there is somebody out there who wants to kill her and is hurting people close to her to make her suffer.

Pamela (@SpazP) recommended me this series. I love book one Queen of Shadows and was very excited when I started to read Shadowflame, but when I got almost halfway in the book I was hating Pam for suggesting me this book and “putting me” to experience the roller coaster of emotions that are in Shadowflame.

Let me tell you that Shadowflame is not a pretty book with love and roses, it is dark, bloody and harsh. In this book something happens, something that made me say WTFNOSHEDIDN'T (Mrs. Sylvan) but yes she did and she did it well, so well than when I was reading this book and had 100 pages to go it was after 3 am and I had an appointment in the morning, so I had to force myself to go to bed when the only thing I wanted was to stay awake and finish the book. And I guess I could have done just that because I stayed awake in bed twisting and turning after 5:30 am thinking about this book, thinking about how Mrs. Sylvan was going to “fix” that. I was so upset I even considered no reading more, I thought I will give 2 Paws (stars) to the book because how she (Mrs. Sylvan) dare to do that!
Later that day when I returned home I ran to read and finished it. And then with a cold head, I said, wow Mrs. Sylvan is a genius, she made experience feelings with this book that I don’t remember other doing, maybe Dreamfever by Karen Marie Moning but no other, no even Hard Bitten by Chloe Neill made me feel the way Shadowflame did, I’m not saying the events in this book are similar to those, because they are not, I’m talking about the emotions that Shadowflame aroused in me.

My final thought: Shadowflame is a great addition to a great series, with its compelling new and old characters, a well-developed plot full of action, intrigues, betrayals and more. With an exceptional and interesting world building. All in all a page-turner difficult to put down and for sure a book not easy to forget.
As Pam recommended it to me, now I’m recommending it to you and please don’t hate me for it, I don’t hate Pam (anymore), I’m very thankful she recommended it. Shadowflame is an amazing book.
Shadowflame is not a stand-alone book, you should read Queen of Shadows before this one and please do, Shadow World is a great and a must read Urban Fantasy series for the lovers of this genre.
I can’t wait to March 27, 2012 to read the next installment of this seriesShadow’s Fall. ( )
  BookaholicCat | Mar 4, 2015 |
Näyttää 1-5 (yhteensä 11) (seuraava | näytä kaikki)
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It's been three months since musician Miranda Grey became a vampire and married David Solomon. But when a powerful force from David's past appears, Miranda begins to realize how little she really knows about her husband.

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