RATING: 4/5
I received a complimentary copy of this book from Page Street Publishing through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
This book caught my attention not too long ago. I was scrolling the GoodReads list of YA releases for January 2020 - already preparing my #monthlyreleases post, you know - when I stumbled upon it and (of course) fell in love with the cover. Shocking, I know. Anyway, the synopsis intrigued me as well and that's why, when I discovered it was available to request on NetGalley, I immediately requested it. I was lucky enough to be granted an early digital copy and I'm so glad I did, because it ended up being one of the best reads of the year!
It isn't perfect and it isn't one of those books that will have a place in my heart forever - like ACOMAF for example - but it was a solid 4 and I truly enjoyed it.

Let's start with what I liked:
in this story we follow Eda, a girl who lost everything when she was just a kid and thus made a bargain with a god named Tuer: her life at his service in exchange for being made Empress in her lifetime. She wanted power and was willing to do everything to obtain it, even "selling" her best friend's soul to the gods. She becomes Empress as she wished, but things don't go exactly as planned - she's young and the Barons don't respect her, not really. The bargain she made starts showing itself for what it really was and things quickly fall apart. Betrayal, death, sorrow, revenge. These are the main themes of this story.
Eda is one of those MCs that aren't meant to be likable. She's mean, arrogant, self-absorbed, greedy for power, sometimes cruel. The good thing is that you understand why she is that way - her past justifies this path she took, even though it doesn't mean she's right. But you get it, or at least I did, and that made it possible to not completely dislike her. I never truly connected with Eda, never resonated with her, but I understood what she was going through and why she reacted that way, and that made me curious to witness her journey. So, if you like morally-grey characters, Eda is definitely the one for you!
Another thing I much enjoyed was the world-building. It felt complex, detailed and well thought, with lots of interesting traits, cultures, countries. The religious system was also very interesting, even though a bit confusing at times - I wish it was explained a little bit better. The writing style was on point - it flowed easily, but didn't feel shallow. It kinda reminded me of Sarah J. Maas. The book holds a few plot twists. I saw the first of them coming real soon, but it was still a nice touch in my opinion - yes, maybe it wasn't particularly original, but it made sense and it was needed to add depth to Eda's character. Some of the other plot twists were really good!
Generally speaking, the story was very good and it glued me to the pages, always yearning to read the next page and find out what was gonna happen next.

Now, what I didn't like:
to be honest, I feel like this book it's a bit too short. There was room to stretch the story out, to add more detail to the characters, to their stories and their adventures, to their feelings and personalities. If the author did that, I think I would've grown so much more attached to them, which unfortunately didn't happen. Eda is the only three-dimensional character, while the others - despite being pleasant - weren't developed as I would've liked them to be. Some of them, like Niren or Ileem, definitely needed more "screen time", since they play such an important role in the story. Eda too could've used more pages, especially in the second part of the book - the journey she takes to find Tuer should've been much longer, to better show her growth and also to let her build more solid relationships with Morin and Tairin. This is why this book didn't get 5 stars: some things were rushed, things that could've been so much more deep and complex.
Another thing I really want to complain about is how confusing some things were. For example, Eda's origins! SPOILER ALERT We know both her parents died because of sickness - we never get told what sickness in particular, but whatever. We know she somehow manages to fake being the Emperor's heir, but she also says many times that in reality she could actually be his illegitimate daughter. But why? What leads her to think she could actually be her? Which is also how she convinced the people she had to be made Empress, right? But then, later in the book, we learn that she's actually the daughter of Niren's father. What the hell? What about those proofs of her being the Emperor's heir then? Ugh, so confusing! SPOILER END
Eda's time as Empress is also very confusing - since the beginning we know that she lost her parents when she was 9, and that's when she made her bargain with Tuer. But she didn't become Empress immediately after, she had to wait... yes, but how much time? How old is Eda exactly at the moment? Because I couldn't quite grasp it. How many years has she been Empress?
Then there is the labyrinth trope, which I was super excited about - I always love a good maze in my books. The trope is mentioned in the synopsis ( "... she soon discovers that he’s trapped at the center of an otherworldly labyrinth ...") which makes you think it will be a big part of the story, right? Well, it isn't in the slightest. This whole thing about an otherworldly labyrinth ( which isn't really a labyrinth, more like a series of Circles, but whatever ) was incredibly confusing and not very well built. The ending, again, was a bit confusing, bitter and definitely not what I expected. It felt like it was missing something.
Hey, maybe all this confusion is my own fault. Maybe I wasn't able to understand simple things, I always take that into consideration - it happens when you read a book written in a language that isn't your mother-tongue.

So, to wrap up my thoughts: Beyond The Shadowed Earth is a very good book, perfect if you're feeling like reading a quick YA Fantasy that will glue you to the pages without being too intense. But if you're looking for a story where you will grow attached to the characters, this isn't the one for you. It's one of those standalone you enjoy, but quickly move on from, if that makes sense.
Still, a very enjoyable and interesting read, which made me curious to pick up Beneath The Hunting Sea - another book set in the same world.

Though I had trouble with the first few parts of the book, Beyond the Shadowed Earth flaunted exquisite story elements such as the writing style, the plot, and the rich world-building. At the end of it, I can say that I enjoyed reading the book!

I adored the writing style of the author. It was poetic, sometimes haunting, and it was definitely atmospheric. The author also did a great job with the imagery, whether that be a description of the various places and cities or the clothing worn by the characters. It was great!

I struggled a lot with the first few parts of this book, mainly because of the main character. I had trouble liking Eda, connecting with her or relating to her. She was selfish, cruel, and probably conceited as well. I understand that she's a "villainous" lead and I expected as much, but 30% of the time I was just completely annoyed by her attitude and her thinking that I couldn't read continuously. I didn't lose hope immediately though. I hoped for some sort of character development and in a way, there was. Her character went through a journey filled with vengeance, betrayals, lies, sacrifices, and friendship. Do I think her character has been redeemed? Not entirely. But I did love that she was finally on the right path at the end of the book.

As for the minor characters, Ileem was an interesting addition to the mix. Rescarin was annoying, but I loved his part as a "villain". Domin was an interesting kind of character, and I loved the change he went through. I adored Morin and Tainir as well, and what they symbolize what's next for Eda. And Liah, I wanted to know more about her, I was disappointed that I didn't get any more details about her and her story.

I also came to love the plot of this book—it wasn't the usual "I'm going to save my people" kind of plot, instead it was "I'm looking for revenge" and I found that refreshing. I also loved how it was unpredictable at times. For example, I already expected a few of the plot twists, but there were several that really shocked me and I wanted to scream just a little!

The world-building of Beyond the Shadowed Earth is definitely my favorite part. It was rich and expansive, and I loved the idea of the different "Circles". And although this is a companion level, I had no trouble absorbing all details about the fictional world it was set in. All the little tales and myths plus the brilliant imagery were just enough to get me falling for the world-building.

I also liked the insertion of religion into the world-building and the story itself! I'm gonna be honest and say that I'm not the most religious person out there, but I loved the way they talked about the gods and faith here. (I definitely have a couple of lines highlighted!)

Overall, a pretty decent read! 3.5 stars!

“Beyond the Shadowed Earth” follows the ruthless and self made Empress Eda as she races to fulfill her promise to a god. When Eda cannot deliver on time, her quest turns towards vengeance towards the very god who gave and took everything from her.

I was delighted to find strong similarities to C.S. Lewis’ “Till We Have Faces”.
Thankfully, “Beyond the Shadowed Earth” is less dry than Lewis, but also less streamlined.

There is a LOT of world building in this novel, and if makes me wonder if I would have had a better grasp on it had I read the first book instead of starting with this companion novel. With that said, I enjoyed the pantheon, the interactions, and the honest look at what it is to be angry and fighting against the object of your faith.

Eda is a difficult character. She is so very adamant in sticking to what she believes, her own point of view, and refuses to listen to any other opinion or perspective. While it fits this self-made and deeply emotionally scarred young woman, it doesn’t exactly make her easy to follow. At times, I felt as though the reader was given information, only for Eda to completely dismiss it entirely versus exploring it. While I would have liked to see more emotional range from her, I did connect with her more than I thought I would.

In fact, it was the moments where I recognized myself that kept me reading. Those small poignant bits of human connection that comes from truthful explorations of faith, anger, deepest sorrow, and isolation are the strongest part of the book and have endeared me towards both the story and the author.

3.5 / 5 Stars

Thanks to NetGalley and Page Street Publishing for a digital galley in exchange for an honest review.

‘This book gave me so much and I’m not sure how I feel about it.

“Beyond the Shadowed Earth” sees Eda working to fulfill her end of the bargain she made with the gods to become Empress but with her Barons going over her head making deals with foreign governments she finds herself playing a deadly game that could cost her everything she’s ever wanted.

So from the beginning I really loved the mythology in this that plays the biggest role in shaping the characters and influencing them both the good and bad and I think that was done nicely even if the ending left me sort of lost I can appreciate the crafting that went into making each aspect of those stories stand on their own as well as be a piece to a much larger puzzle.

I really loved Eda but I will warn that not many people might join me in this appreciation as she really is quite ruthless but, and please don’t groan at me, you can sum her entire character up into Taylor Swift’s “The Man” and perhaps you’ll love her too. Eda spends a majority of the book making mistakes and fighting harder than everyone to get what she wants even if it leads deadly consequences but to see her go from this all powerful Empress to her most vulnerable and learn from everything that happens along the way makes her a great character that I wish I had a bit brighter of an ending but I can’t discuss that without spoiling too much.

My only critique is some of the magic systems in the book as the beginning seemed somewhat mundane in that the gods had been forgotten and she was trying to restore them to their former glory and therefore power but once she found herself away from the kingdom the magic element became less natural and more convenient as the characters tried to overcome certain obstacles which overall appeared to be a little out of place since so much relied on the politics of war with human soldiers which doesn’t seem like a big deal when you’ve got people who can turn into tigers one town over.

This is a really great read and by an author that has been recommended to me for awhile and I’m hopeful that we can visit with Eda again in the future!

**special thanks to the publishers and netgalley for providing an arc in exchange for a fair and honest review**

Quick Thoughts
-Though this book is technically a companion novel, I haven't read the first one, and this book read as a standalone for me.
-It's a standalone fantasy novel! And I loved it! I love it when that happens!
-There is a tiny bit of romance in this book (definitely doesn't take over the story by any means) and I loved it! It made me go squishy inside!
-Can I just say, dang? Because DANG this book was incredible.

Lasting Impressions

Let's talk about Eda. I'm not usually charmed by protagonists who are also villains. They are hard to read about—for me, anyway. But Eda's raw energy, her /desperation/, really pulled me into her story. She's an awful person—she killed a king, destroyed many lives, and wants power above everything. But when things start falling apart, that's when her vulnerabilities started to shine. I was so intrigued to see where her story was going to go, since I had no idea what direction the author was going to take it. And I loved the direction the author took Eda. This is such a character-driven fantasy novel. The plot is also interesting and engaging, but Eda's character growth was the real star of the show. I loved seeing her frustrations, seeing her strengths, seeing her realizations as she learned more about herself. It was beautifully done, beautifully written.

Speaking of incredible craft, the world building in this book is phenomenal. The cultures the characters live in, the actual world, the magic system, the gods' lore...everything is so intricate and complex. Joanna mentions in her dedication that Tolkien and Megan Whalen Turner has inspired her work, and it really shows. I felt utterly enthralled in the world the author had created. Also, the giant golden eagles were a fun nod to Tolkien :D

I know I'm jumping around here, but I'd like to mention the secondary characters here. There are not a ton of extra characters in this story, and it's easy to keep track of the cast. Not only that, but every character felt three-dimensional to me. They each had their own motivations, their own fears and strengths. They did not exist to only serve the protagonist. Even the gods as characters were fascinating, and I loved reading their stories and how their experiences shaped them.

Will I ever get over that ending? Probably not. The tension and stakes were so built in a way that the ending had to be explosive, and impressive, and it was that. It was more than that.

Overall Impressions

Reading this book was an amazing study of craft—in world building, character, and plot. Needless to say, I will be keeping an eye out for Joanna's next books (and diving into her backlist!) because I was utterly blown away by this novel.

I was really looking forward to this, but it didn't work for me. Sadly it was Eda that made the book unbearable. It's hard to get through a book when the main character is incredibly selfish. I couldn't even admire her as a queen because she was not politically savvy at all.

Eda made a deal with a god to become empress. Of course things quickly go awry. She didn't have the right allies to strengthen her political power, so although she was the empress, her grip on the kingdom was fragile. I actually found it shocking that she didn't have spies gathering information on her enemies in the empire. Apparently she expected that no one would go against her because she was the empress. There were not any long term plans to improve the kingdom. It was no wonder people wanted her deposed since she was immature, naive and bitter.

The first half of the book was the weakest, which focused on politics. There was a big twist about halfway through that I saw coming a mile away. The second half improved because Eda was more personable although, much to my dismay, she never stopped being extremely self-centered. Her reasons for wanting revenge weren't great. All she did was blame the gods for her own bad choices. I would have liked the ending better if it had been for a dismal, depressing ending rather than try to achieve a semi-happy one.

A great YA that oozes atmosphere and compelling characters! Beyond the Shadowed Earth hooked me from page 1!

I unfortunately DNF this book around 50% of the way through. I found the main character really quite bratty & the plot seemed to jump around a bit too much for my liking

BOY WAS THIS BOOK DARK.

I have not read the authors previous work but I understood this book well enough on its own since it tied to another book.

I found the character of this book very interesting. Their thought processes and motivations were rather intriguing to read about and their selfishness and desire to become the ruler was interesting to explore.

The plot can lag at certain times but other than that, this was a solid read and offers a uniwur voice to the YA market!

Unfortunately, I just didn't click with Beyond the Shadowed Earth. I've never read Beyond the Haunted Sea, but you can definitely understand the story without it. Would it have been a more captivating read if I had? I'll never know. I loved the idea of Beyond the Shadowed Earth. Deals with gods always have disastrous consequences we can never anticipated. And while I felt bad for her, because the things Eda holds dear are being ripped from her, I never really connected with Eda. And that problem stayed the same more or less for the entire book.

I could never really figure out Eda and even though her character goes through some development throughout the book, she doesn't change enough in a way for me to understand her. Fueled by her own sense of entitlement and revenge, she's bitter that the gods have taken from her, that she's done what she can, but it's not enough. She rages at the gods for never hearing her. But the characters in the book question her and her motives - demonstrating how personal everyone's relationship with their gods are.

I was new to Ms. Meyer's books and maybe I should have read the book that was written before so I would have understood a bit more of the world. However, one of my biggest problems i probably not Meyer's felt but the version I received was so poor that I was having such a hard time reading it and so I gave up.. The works were jumbled and letters were on the wrong lines I was so frustrated so I'm going to give this a 3 as I will try it again in print and I will also read the first book that is set in the same world first.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the attempt to read this ARC.

This is set in the same world as the authors previous book Beneath the Haunting Sea but is not exactly a sequel and I guess I should describe it as a companion story as it’s fleshing out the world building. I was intrigued by the idea of a heroine who wasn’t exactly heroic but honestly struggled to actually like Eda. I think I clearly need to feel sympathy, camaraderie or just plain empathy and sadly even though the journey throughout this story is leading Eda to conquer her own demons sadly I was just left feeling dissatisfied at the end.
Essentially we have Eda who has lied, cheated and murdered in order to become Empress but along the way she also offered a soul, a life if you will but not her own oh no definitely never her own ! Now Eda is surrounded at Court by those seeking to depose her possibly even execute her but all she cares about is the fact that she’s done everything asked of her by the tricky God only to see her friend whose life she so casually bartered away become ill. Treachery and hatred, ambition and murder are rife throughout this story with an ending that I feel is perhaps meant to show redemption but sadly this reader just wanted more emotion.
This voluntary take is of a copy I requested from Netgalley and my thoughts and comments are honest and I believe fair

This was such a good and unique book! This was an excellent companion novel to Beneath the Haunting Sea and I found Eda to be endlessly fascinating. The writing style was extremely enjoyable and the mythology/political intrigue aspect was great.

Thanks so much to Netgalley for the e-arc!

High, almost gothic fantasy with a heavy dose of godly interference. The prose was solid, but the pacing was problematic for me. It is a standalone novel set in a world developed in a previous book, so the pacing issues may arise from the author's assumption everyone already knows how the world works. The MC is (intentionally) terrible, which I always find to be boring but others may well love.

DNF’ed because I didn’t realize it was a continuation of another book, also because the file that was sent to my Kindle to read was all messed up and jumbled up the sentences and paragraphs and split words apart.

This isn't technically a sequel to Beneath the Haunting Sea as it is more of a companion novel. I still think that you should read BtHS because it's where we are first introduced to Eda and it really is the driving force for this novel.

I enjoyed the first book and in some ways I loved this book more. I think that there is a lot of good lessons that can be learned if you look between the lines and sometimes they are right at the surface.

Eda is the Empress of half the world. She has everything she wanted but it all came with a price. Even though she did terrible things in the first book and we learn more about those things in this book, I couldn't help but feel sorry for her. She loses her parents and everything seems to spiral after that and where love once was, revenge has now replaced it. The one word that always came to mind for her and even the god Tuer, was selfishness. Of course, there was a lot of pride, but it all still boiled down to being selfish. I think that is one reason why she was so relatable. We have all been there wanting it all and more, then reality slaps us in the face. Eda struggles throughout and becomes like an onion. So many layers are removed by the end and then we finally see Eda for the person she truly is.

There are other characters in this book that are just as memorable as Eda. Ileem, who is a prince, and his sister also come from a harsh background of loss. Even though they are related they each deal with grief in different ways. One becomes so consumed by revenge that they will do anything to satisfy their need for it. This can even be seen as a lesson as it is always important to know when finding peace is really more important than hurting more people in the process of seeking revenge.

Just like in Beneath the Haunting Sea, the gods and goddesses are back. Along with that, there are new stories for the ones that are important like Tuer, who is the driving force for the plot. I loved learning about him even though he was super selfish and I just wanted to punch him a couple times. The mythology was interesting and definitely kept me intrigued.

As for the plot, it was fast paced and kept my attention. I didn't want to put the book down and picked it back up any chance I got. The plot twists were definitely unexpected and had me gasping out loud. The ending was a bit better than the first book and didn't feel as anti-climatic. I also thought the writing was much better.

Overall, I really enjoyed this one. It is such a compelling read told by a girl that had done terrible things but was looking for a way to redeem it all.

I liked reading this book even if it contains a lot of tropes we see in YA books. We follow Eda, a girl who made a deal with a God in order to become an empress. When things are going in a way she doesn't like, she decide to take revenge. It was interesting to read because, in France, we don't have a lot of books about emperiality, gods for young readers. I hope it will be translate in french so I can recommand it to everybody.

An interesting story that I enjoyed. Not your usual YA fantasy, it has an exciting quest with a great character arc for the main character. I love any book that has gods and political intrigues. I would recommend to fans of Emily Duncan's Wicked Saints.

This book was received as an ARC from Page Street Publishing in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own.

I have never been more excited to read a book than I have with Beyond the Shadowed Earth. This is due to being a big fan of the style written by Sarah J Maas having a twisted take on a classic fairy tale and taking it in a whole new direction. This time it is all about Eda and her desire to become empress and rule the kingdom. With every reward comes risk, she has to barter with the gods and she risks the life of her best friend. Then after she becomes empress, her best friend gets sick and dies and goes to the underworld and when given the opportunity to save her best friend, she is more than willing even if it means swapping places. The suspense and drama involved with this story was so breathtakingly addicting that I could not stop reading and I know our teen book club will go crazy for this book.

We will consider adding this book to our YFiction collection in our library. That is why we give this book 5 stars.

I think this author may simply not be for me. I really didn’t like Echo North. And I gave this a good go but couldn’t get to the end. Meyer writes beautiful, cut crystal prose. Her ideas are good. But for me personally there’s always something missing from the final product. I strongly suspect this is as much me being at fault as a reader as the author not delivering. If you enjoyed the author’ previous books, you’ll probably like this one.