Book Review | Shadow Fall

9:27 PM


synopsis.

The asteroid hurtling toward the earth will kill billions.

The Emperor and his Gold Court will be safe in their space station, watching from the stars. The Silvers will be protected underground. But the Bronzes must fight it out at the Shadow Trials for the few remaining spots left on the space station.

When an enigmatic benefactor hands Maia Graystone a spot in the Trials, she won’t just get a chance at salvation for her and her baby brother, Max: She gets to confront the mother who abandoned her in prison, the mad Emperor who murdered her father, and the Gold prince who once loved her. But it’s the dark bastard prince she’s partnered with that will make her question everything, including her own heart. With the asteroid racing closer every day, Maia must trust someone to survive. 

The question is who?


my thoughts.

Shadow Fall is a Young Adult dystopian novel set in a unique world that is under threat of an asteroid killing the majority of the population. It has hints of other popular dystopian novels (including The Hunger Games, Divergent and Red Queen) but it distinct on it’s own.

By the time I finished reading Shadow Fall I can say that I enjoyed it more than I did at the beginning. The first half of the book was, at times, confusing to follow as the author tries to build an image of a world that is heavily segregated and at odds with one another. It’s bleak and grim with no prospect of redemption as the deadline of Shadow Fall approaches. Likewise, the characters fit this grim world, with our main characters fierce and gritty, but none of them really stood out until the book reached the half-way mark and the story shifted into something a little more fast-paced.

From that point on the sense of urgency increased and so did my enjoyment. As expected in a novel in this genre, there are twists and turns in each chapter. There is quite a bit of violence (fair warning, if you’re not a fan of that) but for the most part it suited the tone of the story and some of the characters in particular were defined by their acts.

While I felt the world was a little underdeveloped, this does appear to be the first book in a series and there’s definitely room to expand on that in subsequent books. If you’re a fan of the dystopian genre, then this may be a book that piques your interest.

Overall, I gave Shadow Fall 3.5 out of 5 stars. I will keep my eye out for future books in the series, if only to see how the world itself progresses. Shadow Fall will be released on November 22, 2016.

title // Shadow Fall
author // Audrey Grey
publisher // Blaze Publishing 
genre // Young Adult, Science-Fiction & Fantasy
publication date // November 22, 2016
format // Paperback

I received a copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review from the publisher via Netgalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.



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