I received a copy of this book to review from Netgalley. Thank you for the opportunity.
This book is a good book with detailed and interesting world building that really gave the reader a concrete image of being there. The writing is excellent with appropriate pace. The story is interesting and I think we'll suited to its audience readers of YA.
I found it confusing why the author spent so long describing the MC's childhood. I felt the same knowledge could have been achieved without this, for example using flashbacks or something similiar. I think more could have been done to develop the characters within the book as at times they seemed flat and one dimensional.
Overall, a good read.

I received an early e-arc of From Fire and Shadow by J. F. Baptista from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
I DNFed this book at 15%. While reading the synopsis I was intrigued, but I was bored with how slow the pacing was and nothing was really grabbing my attention in the first part of this title. Although I only read a few chapters of the story, I was confused as to why the main character was still six years old, even five chapters into the novel if this is classified as 'Young Adult," I was expecting there to be a prologue where she is six years old and comes into her powers then the story begins ten years later.
While From Fire and Shadows wasn't for me, others who enjoy slow pacing and lots of traveling fantasy worlds would probably like this title. In the first few chapters, I was getting vibes from The Witcher-- though these stories aren't very similar.

One thing that I truly admired about this novel was the world-building. From the first few pages, Baptista began to create a setting of a world that is intriguing and had room to grow and expand as the plot progressed. This was also benefited by the continuous moving of characters and dual points of view.

I struggled at the beginning to feel invested in the characters or the plot. It wasn't until chapter 10 that I began to understand the plot and the motivations behind different characters.
For the first 2/3 of the book, I would say that I would have given From Fire and Shadows 2 stars. However, the last third redeemed it and brought my rating up to 3 out of 5.

For the characters, I enjoyed the two different points of view so that the reader could see the different power groupings and territories. The contrast between Thea and Kai was jarring in a good way as you switch between a child/teen's naivety to a hardened warrior who has dealt with death his whole life. I did find that there were many secondary characters and I kept losing track of them all. I also wish that there was more interaction with them, such as Ikar and Gene, instead of the long descriptive sections of the settings.

Overall it wasn't a bad read, and I did stay up late to finish it.
*I received an eARC through NetGalley*

I received an eBook copy from the publisher in return for an honest review.

6-year-old Theadora comes to find her powers in a devastating event. Not only has she lost everything and everyone she knew, but she gains something mysterious and deadly that not even others with powers can explain.
Kai is an assassin for a powerful man, but no one knows his deepest secret: the shadows he calls to assist with his kills.

While reading, I really wanted to enjoy this book. But there were lacking elements. While the plot story is intriguing and eventful, but not until Part 2 of the book, the world building is blotchy and the magical abilities are thrown at the reader sporadically. The author jumps paragraphs with important details, which calls for minutes and minutes of re-reading for better understanding of what's going on.

Also, Part 1 describes new-to-adulthood Kai and 6-year-old Theodora, which I described above as uneventful. Although boring, it did describe what was going on in their minds as they used their powers and their emotions surrounding them. Part 2 jumped about 6 years into the future without much of an explanation on what happened during that time period. Kai was still in his self-induced heal prison and Thea hasn't learned anything new about her powers. At this point in the book, things start getting a little more interesting. However, there were other periods where the book jumped months, or even years, ahead without explanation.

The glossary in the back of the book is helpful, and if kept open on another screen, comes in handy.
The plot is interesting and I will be looking for the next book in the series to learn more about Thea's and Kai's "power" struggle and search for the hidden cities.

Thank you, NetGalley and the publisher for providing this arc in exchange for an honest review.

I DNF'd this book at 19%. I wanted to like it. The summary captivated me and I was excited to read this book. However, I had a couple of issues with this book that prevented me from being able to finish it. Before I get into those I would like to say I loved the concept as well as the atmosphere of the book once I started reading. I felt like I was actually in the world walking alongside the characters. Now onto my concerns. The main character Theadora is supposedly six years old. However, when reading from her perspective it felt as though she was much older. Mainly through the language, that she was using to describe things and places. Secondly, it felt overly wordy at times and that resulted in me not fully comprehending what was going on. I found myself having to go back and reread several pages. I believe that that is just the authors writing style and some people thoroughly enjoy it but it is not for me. I would like to try and read it again once it comes out and see if my opinion is different.

Overall, I'm giving this book two stars.

Thank you for providing me a copy of this ARC! I was hooked in from the first chapter! You are introduced to the main character who has no memory of their youth years and it grasp the readers attention on wanting more! Pacing is slow while all the worldbuilding is being introduced but I didn’t mind! I can’t wait for the future books as theres a lot left unsaid!

I chose From Fire and Shadows truly believing it would be something I would thoroughly enjoy.

However, despite some excellent world-building I was left.. disappointed.

The story starts with Theodora being six years of age, but it doesn't read like a child’s thinking or observation at the world. Of course, there is nearly always an element of maturity added when the focal point is from a child’s perspective but this was too mature. I was often left utterly confused as to what was going on when we would switch from Theodora to Kai’s part of the tale it was sudden and jarring - I even found myself re-reading chapters in a hope of making sense of what was happening.

I was left still very confused. Despite the visualisation of differing areas of the world that J.F Baptista has created, I couldn't fully comprehend just where the characters where - were they near one another? Where they miles apart? It wasn't made clear.

With Theodora being given a map near the beginning of the book by a character, perhaps it would have been a good idea to include a clearer one for the reader? I know I certainly would have welcomed it as the one included was small and not very easy to read due to its size. Personally, I find it not only a beautiful addition to any fantasy novel - but a trusted aid when the chapters send you all over the lands that the other has created.

I have to add at this point, I got to 57% (beginning of Chapter 23) and stopped reading. Despite really wanting to read this story there were too many problems with it that left me disconnected and reluctant to go on which was a great disappointment to me.

I found the six-year switch in Theodora’s age even more jarring especially as she talks and acts very much as she did in the majority of the book I had read where she was still six. It needed a couple of chapters talking about her learning and adapting to going from not being born with powers to being able to do many things that unsettle those around her.

I wanted so much more from this book and it wasn't there.

[2]
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this arc in exchange for an honest review. From Fire and Shadows captured my attention with its description of an assassin questioning his loyalty and a young girl grappling with a newfound power she is struggling to control. The overall concept really intrigued me, I just think it completely missed the mark in the execution of it all.

Throughout the book there were so many elements, that, on the surface were really interesting and furthered the plot along, but underneath lacked the depth needed in a story such as this. The magic system present in the novel is just one example of this. It seemed fairly straightforward, but it was really hard to keep track of as it was extremely underdeveloped. The same can be said for the world building which just didn't work cohesively between the two points of view and the various locations. I couldn't tell where the two characters were in relation to one another or how their lives were even related. That only became evident towards the end of the book, and even then it wasn't thoroughly explained. The characters themselves just couldn't stand on their own to me, they seemed tied to the plot and really flat. Little to no backstory was given to them and that really made it all the more difficult to enjoy where the story was headed. That and the continuous time jumps for Theodora which were way too abrupt and seemed to just exist to age her up to a young adult. I really wished I could have enjoyed this more, but I was on the fence about not finishing at all so I'm just glad I was able to put my thoughts into a comprehensive review.

While seeming like the book was becoming lengthy i started to wonder if i would start to lose interest but Author Bautista did an amazing job keeping the audience entertained through out the book.

J.F. Baptista really built an interesting world, I know this is usually a struggle with authors when it comes to world building but he did an amazing job detailing the books world without it taking over. Can't wait to see the world grow and the character development to come.

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

This book solely reminded me of the His Dark Assasin Trilogy and I was excited to see what this book had to offer. At first if I am perfectly honest was very hard to get through and understand but midway through the book, the plot started to pick up and the characters of Theodora and Kai were well expressed and executed throughout the book and how her powers and his determination were sole powers of the war of death and all as they know it will cease to exist. My jaw was to the ground through the whole book and my mind was completely blown.

We will consider adding this title to our YA collection at our library. That is why we give this book 5 stars.

I am DNFing at 17%.

I have 3 main issues with this book. Well 3 & a overall, I am bored….

Firstly, the sentences do not flow. They feel very choppy which makes it hard to follow and difficult to read as there is just no flow to it. I am confused as to what is going on because it is so jumpy. It feels like I am just missing something.

Next, there has been basically no world building (besides names of towns really), explanation of the magic or really plot since the first few paragraphs. Nothing is really happening to interest me in continuing and I keep finding myself putting it down and getting distracted by other things because it’s just not gripping me in any way.

Lastly, the characters feel very 2 Dimensional. I feel like I don’t know the main 2 characters at all and it’s been 17%. Things are happening and they are talking but I feel no personality to them at all. Which is another reason that the book isn’t gripping me. I couldn’t care less what happens to the characters because nothing has made me like them as they just feel like cardboard cut outs of people.

Overall, this book sounded really interesting but it’s just not gripping me enough to make me continue. At this point I would be forcing myself and I just do not do that to myself. Reading is for enjoyment, so unless I am enjoying it, I don’t keep reading.

The description for this book is fantastic. Assassins and and a girl with powers that has to learn to use them. What more could you ask for?

My problem with this book is execution of it. The pacing is very slow and I just have a hard time with any book like that. My attention span is quite short and if I can't get into it by 20-25% it just goes downhill from there.

The characters I also couldn't get into either. I did like that there was two point-of-views to help bridge everything together though. Theodora is also introduced from the beginning as a six year-old which I have never seen done before in a book. Usually they just start off as teens.

The beginning part was pretty intense when things were happening because of her power. I was intrigued but like I said above, the pacing is just slow and it quickly lost my attention.

Overall, it was okay. I did skim most of it because I know if I didn't it would take me weeks to finish it. Maybe I just wasn't the right reader for it, who knows. 🤷‍♀️

From Fire and Shadows is a story told over the course of a decade, following a little girl learning about the unique powers she has and an assassin, both are connected in a way.

The world building and the fantasy element of the book were done really well and I really enjoyed the story and the characters in the book however the book is really hard to get into and can be confusing to read. It is slow paced and switches between the 2 narrators who have unique voices in the book but it makes it hard to read. I did find myself getting bored even though the plotline was interesting, the way the book was written can be quite dry and made the book drag on. I did find Kai’s chapters really confusing at times.

The book is a good first book, it sets up a lot of plot points but this also means little actually happens in the book, there is a lot of focus on building up the story which is good however it was not for me. It was slow paced and then the last quarter picks up a lot, with the quick time jumps and action which I found weird since the rest of the book was slow paced. However, I am still interested to see what happens next.

3/5

From Fire and Shadows is a well-crafted story with delightful characters. The beginning grips the reader right away as we meet Theodora who appears to have some kind of power she is afraid to use. The book is filled with adventures and constantly keeps the reader intrigued as to what might happen next.

The first half of the story is set when Theodora is 6 years old, and the second half, six years later, when she is 12 years old. While the world-building and story are amazingly executed, I found this a little problematic. It felt like I was reading two separate stories. I am a big fan of separate timelines that meet up in the end, but that wasn’t the case here. In this story, there is simply a huge jump between timelines. The second half also felt very rushed with constant jumps in time.

Another thing I found I didn’t particularly like was that Theodora never read like a 6-year-old character. She felt older than that. And even after the six-year jump, she still felt older than her age.

Overall, the story was beautifully crafted, but I think I would have executed it differently.

Thanks to NetGalley for the eARC of this book.

This book was a good start to this series! J.F. Baptista really built an interesting world, and it was easy to buy into the story because of the detail given about the world! The characters have a lot of promise to develop into super intriguing characters later in the series!

My biggest issue with this book is how passive Thea is. Her perspective going from a six year old to a young teen was interesting, but it left me feeling a little disconnected from her.

Overall, this was a easy read and I am looking forward to the second book! Thank you to the publishers for giving me a chance to read this book early for an honest review!

I really really loved this book! I was hesitant at first but just decided to jump into the story. The plot was so good and I am so sad that it is over!! If you love action with hints of romance this is the book for you!

Thank you to the publisher for providing this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Many elements of this book showed promise. The world was fully conceptualized; it was easy to imagine stepping into this world alongside the characters. The writing focused on atmosphere, on setting us up to not just read about, but to fully experience the world.

I struggled the most with our narrator. Theodora starts off as a 6-year-old, and we spend a decent portion of the book with her at this age. However, this portion still reads as though the narrator is much older, with the rare exception of a self-aware moment of narration intended to emphasize her 6-year-old-ness. We get a time jump later on, where Theodora is older and the reader is able to more fully settle into her established, older-feeling voice. The portion with such a young narrator is difficult to interact meaningfully with as an older reader, as the older-sounding voice prevents a solid suspension of disbelief. I worry that it may also alienate younger readers, who might not be thoroughly able to see themselves reflected in a main character whose perspective is written at such a higher level. The narrative may be better served by adjusting Thea's ages in each section of the book, or else allowing us to spend the majority of our time with older Thea, disclosing only the most essential moments of younger Theodora's story.

While Theodora's close third perspective was often difficult, and although the plot did not feel incredibly compelling, the reading experience was enjoyable enough. I just wanted to like it far more than I did. I'm not sure I was the right reader for this book, but I also don't know if I know the right reader/audience, especially given the vast difference between the ages of our primary narrator.

Thanks to the publisher for providing an eARC of From Fire and Shadows in exchange for an honest review.

The World building in From Fire and Shadows was wonderfully done. You get a very clear layout of power dynamics, cultures, and the world as a whole. I really loved what the narrative chose to describe. This is a very atmospheric lead. How the magic system worked was a little underdeveloped, but I'm sure that will become clearer in later books.

My main issues lay with Thea's perspective. This almost felt like 2 seperate books. Half with Thea as a 6 year old, half with her twice that age (I think. There was a 6 year time jump anyways so that's what I'm going with. Either way, she's significantly older). It's almost split exactly 50/50. The problem is, following a 6 year old is a vastly different experience to following a teen/pre-teen. I get wanting to give background to a character, but splitting it 50/50 made it feel like the beginning was more of a prequel than part of 1 story arc. I would have preferred it to either be divided into 2 books or for the time we spend developing Thea's backstory to have been dropped closer to 25% of the novel. Since we spend so much time with Thea as a young child then catch back up with her when she's still basically just doing what all the adults in her life want her to do, the stakes never quite stuck because she became a passive character. You don't sit there worrying about what a character will do when they don't make decisions for themselves.

Overall, From Fire and Shadows was a perfectly average start to the series. It established it's world, characters, and magic system, but it didn't have enough plot wise to get me excited about the next book.