I'm a tad bit late in writing this review, but Of Silver and Shadow was an enjoyable read! The world was intense and a little hard to follow at times, but I'm glad a stuck it through those few areas. And that COVER. My goodness it's beautiful!

Of Silver and Shadow by Jennifer Gruenke is a courageous story that doesn't hold back; its myriad of rough characters pulls you in as they reveal their insecurities as the plot unfolds. The themes of forbidden love and violence with poetic justice really give this story a punch but it is the flowing writing style of the author that makes this novel so easy to enjoy. There is so much going on that this review is very subpar when it deserves to much more. Very well done and can't wait to read more from the author. I loved this book!

You'll want to read this book purely for how fast-paced and quick it is! I read the entire thing in a day and a half, which when I'm busy with college work is fairly impressive!

I loved that the novel was told from four different perspectives as I find it really interesting! There's also an enemies to lovers trope, so what's not to love?

The world building was also very detailed and I found myself to be fully immersed while reading it so I highly recommend to anyone who loves to feel like you're really in the novel.

Overall, I really enjoyed my reading experience with this book and I'm only sad that it's currently a standalone as I'd love to read more!

This was a fantastic read. Great for fans of SIX OF CROWS! Thanks @netgalley & @jenngruenke for the #arc We will definitely be adding this to our classroom library!!! Instagram:@chs309reads

Title: Of Silver and Shadow
By: Jennifer Gruenke
Publisher :North Star Editions
Flux
Theme: Sci Fi & Fantasy | Teens & YA
Pub Date: 26 May 2020
Review on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3215037465

At a time and place where being a silver wielder could have you hung we follow Ren Kolins. A young woman who is a secret silver wielder.. In the land own by King Erdis this secret could cost her life. Ren has no ambition to get involved in the rebellion in her country. Ren just wants to live the life she has known for so long, card games and fighting pits, perhaps the odd five finger discounts in locals shops but that is it.

However, when she is offered a fortune to help the leaders of the rebellion she can not afford to turn it down. Not only because she is greedy but also because she is the co-proprietor of a building that is some what of an orphanage. The catch however is that the king must be dethroned or usurped before she will see a coin.

That is before she comes head to head with the Kings privet solders known as the King’s Children. They are a brutal group of worriers who have been trained to be emotional, uncaring bunch. Might this change Ren's mind. This was not what she signed up for.

It is clear within a few pages that Of Silver and Shadow is a fantasy telling of a genocide "Silver Purge". People with this kind of magic have been murdered until only the royal family are the only ones left with the power. The society in which the book was set had a class system that was sexist. Apart form the King's Children it seemed that woman were not held in high esteem. Which made the characters of Ren, Adley, Holland, and Freya so vital and empowered.

Personally, I'm not a fan of hate to love stories but this might just be an exception. Though Gruenke made the characters 3D and have gray morals at times, I was at times hoping Ren would end up with Kellan rather then with Darek but we can't have everything.

I did see more than one twist coming which made it a little laborious to read at times. However I was still wait to see how Gruenike would pull the twists off.

If this book teaches readers anything it is to be true to who you are. To not let family, friends or a career dictate who you should be or who you should love.

Great read with multiple pov, dark settings, and the familiar love tropes of YA. The story is direct, the banter entertaining, and a cool magic system that makes this a YA fantasy a terrific stand alone read!

A magical fantasy novel! This book was full of action with a rebellion at its core and a sassy heroine. This book kept me engaged and intrigued with every storyline and character we met. Ren and Darek moments were hilarious and made me smile as did other moments from the book. The action scenes were action-packed, the violence is descriptive but the pace was fast. The ending did wrap up everything, but I am hoping to get more from this author.
Well done!

I didn't really want this book to end and I’m really hoping for more (there has to be more with that end surely-I hope so). This was such a ride, it’s emotional, hilarious, it has amazing three dimensional characters ( I adored Ren and Darek), it’s enemies to lovers so what’s not to love. The world building and magic is great, s much to love about this book. I’m not sure why others seem so critical, to me it was a fabulous read. More please !

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

Magic in the form of Silver has been outlawed in the country of Erdis for years. The Kingdom's bloody history includes a huge genocide of magic wielders and a systematic eradication of trade routes and immigration from areas where refugees fled. Silver is just an innate ability like fire wielding or any other mage ability. It seems to be the only magical ability in the kingdom. The world building is really excellent in some places. The descriptions of the city, buildings, river, mood, political structure, and tension in the city were real. Definitely felt more like adult fantasy than YA fantasy given some of the teeth in the book.

"None of us are good people. We've all done things we're not proud of. We've all made mistakes. Your demons might be louder than mine, but we each have one or two hanging around. We're all just people, Ren. We're doing our best"

Of Silver and Shadow by Jennifer Gruenke, is a young adult fantasy set in the world of Denfall. We follow multiple characters as they go about their adventures of hiding magic, finding magic, and hunting magic.

First is Ren, a silver wielder. The dangerous magic of silver was outlawed by the King for everyone except himself and his family. The king has an army to keep the silver out and to "take care of" anyone known to be a silver wielder.

Next are the rebels. This group is trying to overthrow the king and avenge the people who died from the purge of silver wielders.

We also follow the story of a girl who is a part of the King's army. She is trying to become the king's Fang, the only way she will be allowed to leave the army and live a peaceful life with her girlfriend.

Lastly, we get the perspective of a prince and his struggle with living up to his dad's expectations and finding his passion in the world.

This book gave me Six of Crows vibes. The part of the city Ren hangs out in is run down and there is lots of gambling, which Ren takes part in, and lots of petty theft, which she also takes part in. The world seems dark and mysterious. Gruenke does a great job of making you feel like you are right there walking through Denfall with Ren.

I think this was a great story to utilize multiple perspectives. At first glance, they seem like separate stories, but as you keep reading and learning more details, they are all intertwined and fully coming together at the end. The only complaint I have is with the pacing. At about 40-50% I was getting a little bored. I was interested in the concept but I felt like I knew where the story was going. At around the 60-70% mark, there is a plot reveal that pulled me back in and hooked me until the end of the book.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I give it 4.5/5 stars. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys YA fantasy, especially if you love Six of Crows.

I was given this book by netgalley as an arc in exchange for my honest opinion. I wanted desperately to like this book and unfortunately it fell very flat for me. While the synopsis sounded amazing I just couldn't get into it and struggled to finish.

The cover is simply stunning. The story is fast paced and features a diverse cast. Yet, I am conflicted. Some parts are a little overdone and tiresome

I really enjoyed Ren, the character was great and I liked the world that was built. I look forward to more from the author.

I didn’t finish this one. The main character was extremely annoying and the plot didn’t hold my interest with enough details on the world or the magic.

I LOVE THIS BOOK! If you took Six of Crows, Red Queen, and Throne of glass and smushed them together, you would get this book. Ren is such a strong female character, and the chemistry between her and the people that surround her is enticing. The book was very to the point, and there was not room for filler that would have made me lose interest, which is a good thing. Although centred around Red having magic, the book didn’t throw it into your face, as it was more so there to enhance the story. I would recommend my bookstagram fam to read this when it comes out next year!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

***Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thank you NetGalley and Flux!***

This book was originally scheduled to be released in May and because of COVID got pushed back to February. So for once I am doing an ARC review very early. But I didn’t want to wait too long to write the review lest I forget what happened.

This one took me by surprise. I was intrigued by the cover but honestly it’s a pretty standard YA sci-fi/fantasy cover. The blurb sounded interesting but not anything I haven’t read before. I prayed that there wouldn’t be the typical YA love triangle, and there wasn’t so that was nice. I expected it to be a very typical YA book and nothing more. I was wrong.

Ren was a pretty good main character. She was a bit one-sided at times in that she she insisted that all she cared about was the money when it was clear from her actions that she cared for a lot more than that. That got annoying. It was mostly like she was trying to convince herself that she didn’t care. But I did like her spunk and enjoyed following her through the story.

Darek was probably the most useless character in the book. He was the stereotypical tall, dark, handsome, brooding YA male lead. He doesn’t break any of the models here and fits the character well but wasn’t very compelling.

I adored the relationship between Adley and Lesa, and I loved them separately too. At times I was horrified by them and other times I was overcome with sympathy for them. I wanted their story to have a happy ending so badly.

Kellen was a delight to the story. I expected him to be the typical charming, sarcastic Prince who didn’t want to be. And in some ways he was but he also displayed a lot more depth than that.

The worldbuilding in this book was spectacular. The world was created with so much detail and depth, I could picture every inch of it. The politics, classes, social structure, all of it was rendered in beautiful detail.

What ultimately clinched this book for me was the ending. I was shocked. I was completely taken by surprise. In hindsight I can see the blocks that were put in place for this ending and I should have seen it coming. But I was enjoying other parts of the story so much that I didn’t pay enough attention and missed the clues. It was wonderful and I hope there’s another book planned. I need to know what happens next.

Unfortunately I had to DNF this title. The description was intriguing, and the characters were all interesting but for some reason the plot just didn’t grab me in the way I had hoped it would. I may try to try revisit at a later date. Maybe I’m just looking for something different and that’s why I wasn’t able to fully immerse myself.

3 stars because the writing was very good and I was initially very intrigued. Lack of interest is the only reason I wasn’t able to push through.

4.25 stars

Of Silver and Shadow was such a hilarious and enjoyable reading! I laughed multiple times, which is rare in fantasy books nowadays. I loved all the characters, especially Ren who reminded me of Lila ♥ She was such a sassy character that it wasn't impossible to not like her! Plus, her banters with Darek and their enemies to lovers relationship were SO FREAKING GOOD! I can't help myself, I LOVE this trope! I also enjoyed the story itself and the magic involved, even if it could have been explored a little bit more. The last chapters were an escalation of action and I couldn't put it down. And after that ending, I'm sure there will be more books because there are so many things left to explore (the author herself said there's room for sequels in the future). And you know what? I'm eager to continue this adventure and I really need more Ren/Darek moments!

I'm gonna be honest, I didn't really vibe with Of Silver and Shadow. It was a high fantasy, so it should have been right up my ally. I tried, but at the end of the day I just didn't like it.

The thing that annoyed me the most was probably the main character, Ren. In the first half of the story, the she was basically a female edge lord. I got really tired of her dark and broody schtick pretty fast.

She levelled out and became more likeable as the story progressed, but she was never fully redeemed to me.

The side characters were a lot more interesting. There was a large cast, but a lot of time was spent on character development. So the reader was given ample time to learn about and connect with most of the characters.

My favourite was Prince Kellen. I don’t know why, I just enjoyed reading the chapters featuring him the most.

The world and magic system were developed nicely. The author does a good job of painting a picture of Denfell with it’s class systems, history, layout and architecture.

The story is written in third person, but cycles through multiple POVs. It was interesting as far as character development goes, but this probably contributed to the slow moving plot. I felt like I was still reading the introductory “meet the characters” part at the 30% mark.

The plot progressed a little too slow for my liking. It finally started to pick up at about the 70% mark. The last 30% where everything was coming together was great, but I found myself struggling to stay entertained up to that point. The story could have benefitted from more of a balance between characters and plot.

Overall, I give Of Silver and Shadow 3 stars. For most of the book the narrative focused on character development and the plot moved slow. REALLY slow.

It was great in the last 30% or so when everything came together, but it was a little bit of a struggle to get there.

It was an okay read. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys backstory and world development as much as much as the main plot in their fantasy novels.

This was just an okay-ish book for me, I feel like I shouldn’t have gotten into this with such high hopes. I hadn’t been expecting the plot to go in a direction I wanted, I feel like I would have enjoyed it more than I did.