"Curse of Shadows" immerses readers into the world of Amassia on the brink of catastrophe. As Ash, a fallen warrior, we navigate a realm thrown into turmoil by the return of the second sun and the ensuing war among the nine realms. The narrative masterfully weaves together elements of loss, redemption, and the unexplained emptiness within Ash.

The quest to collect the original twelve whistle bones becomes a central focus, led by the enigmatic Marcus and his volatile phantom. Amidst the chaos, diplomacy is as crucial as the sword, and the race for the bones intensifies as other factions seek them too.

This installment in the Amassia series promises a gripping continuation of the saga, filled with intricate world-building, complex characters, and a looming threat that keeps you on the edge of your seat. Fans of epic fantasy will find "Curse of Shadows" a compelling addition to the series.

“What’s the High Savant, red-robe of Baiseen, afraid of?” Finally. De’Ral exhales. The right question…
Curse of Shadows by A.K. Wilder is the follow-up to Crown of Bones—the YA Fantasy that still lives completely rent free in my brain even though it’s been out since the beginning of 2021. The storyline of Curse of Shadows picks up directly where Crown of Bones left off. Trust me when I tell you that as a reader, you hit the ground running and won’t slow down until the very last page.

Curse of Shadows is a treasure hunt combined with an adventure race. The Amassia series is shaping up to be perfect for fans of The Lord of the Rings with all the different characters set to a task, as well as those who would do anything to prevent their success. Where Crown of Bones ensnared readers, Curse of Shadows sets the hook.

“It’s simple. Whoever holds the crown, holds the future of all the realms in their hands.”
Marcus has been denied his birthright and has been given a new journey that has been foretold for years. Ash grapples with memory-loss related to the great battle in the previous book, as well as coming to terms with what she inherently knows and what she’s been told to know. Kaylin and the Mar are featured again and hold a particular role in how the events of the book play out. All of that to say, the new name of the game is the hunt for the Whistle Bones. The characters from the previous books are all important—specifically the Shadows.

A.K. Wilder had a Herculean task of weaving all the major plot points of Crown of Bones into the events of Curse of Shadows while also setting the stage for what is surely going to be an epic third installment of the Amassia series. The attention to detail, and the complex magic systems are some of my favorite aspects of A.K. Wilder’s writing style but that also means that readers should start at the beginning of the series. Each book is important on its own in this series and must be read in order.

“A curse of shadows blinds all but one.”
There is absolutely something for every style of reader. Romance, friendships in unlikely places, mysteries, and plots upon plots upon plots. Someone is always scheming when there is a kingdom at stake, or the world is being threatened. Curse of Shadows is just as beautifully written as Crown of Bones. A.K. Wilder is a keen storyteller and will undoubtedly win over readers with this latest release. Curse of Shadows releases today, December 6th! Trust me, you absolutely need to read this series!

I loved loved loved this sequel!

 Brogal is such a douche.

I’m so happy that we finally get to see some of the mystery surrounding Ash. Things are shaping up for book 3 to be even more amazing.

Thanks to Netgalley and Entangled Teen for providing me with an e-arc of this book.

Reading the first book in this series was such an adventure and I was very excited to read book 2! It didn't disappoint to say the least and after this ending I can.not.wait for book 3 to come out!

This story starts off pretty much right where the first book ended. I don't want to spoil too much but in this book we follow Marcus, Ash, Kaylin and their friends on new adventures. The future of their world may well depend on them... 

I loved reading this book a lot. It's fast paced, has lots of action and it has plot twists I didn't see coming. I'd recommend this series to anyone who is looking for a great YA fantasy series full of adventures, love and friendship!

I have to give a lot of credit to A.K. Wilder. Because of her, I’m a YA fantasy reader and fan. Reading Curse of Shadows put me in a happy place, where I was able to forget the real world. In doing so, I was teleported to Amassia, a planet consisting of seven continents, which now forms a single landmass. It’s a world of savants and phantoms. Where two suns have appeared, heralding the next Great Dying. Where a band of seemingly misfits have the fate of the world on their shoulders.

Curse of Shadows is the second book in the Amassia series. This is not a standalone read. Crown of Bones needs to be read first. I thought Crown of Bones was a great story. Somehow, A.K. managed to make Curse of Shadows even better. Where Crown of Bones left readers with tons of questions and possible theories, Curse of Shadows answered those questions but created a couple of pretty big ones. She amped up the story, as well as the violence.

Deception is the theme of Curse of Shadows. This was an intense and gripping story. So much happens within the pages of this book. There are twists and turns. A.K. takes the characters and readers on an emotional rollercoaster. Getting to the end gave me a sense of relief. Of happiness. Of anticipation for what is to come next.

~ Favorite Quotes ~

“Notice the little things.”

“Your entire path is in your hands.”

“Sometimes, the heart is afraid to speak, for fear of breaking the spell.”

“Damaged is not always a weakness.”

“Mortality is an essential ingredient for love. Winning another’s heart means nothing if you can’t lose it just as quickly.”

Curse of Shadows had an intriguing premise, but unfortunately it just didn’t live up to my expectations for it. I prefer fantasy books that are more fast paced than this one!

Thank you Netgalley and Entangled Teen for allowing me to read and review Curse of Shadows. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Curse of Shadows is the sequel and conclusion to the Crown of Bones duology. Crown of Bones was definitely an "out of left field" read for me. It was an unexpected book that hit me in the face and demanded to be read. Curse of Shadows is just like that. While I was not crazy about the pacing, the story itself is written beautifully. I enjoyed how everything was wrapped up in the end and the development of the characters was well-executed. I love the magic and the fantasy of Curse of Shadows and the world building is outstanding. I'm very excited to read more from A. K. Wilder in the future.

4.75 stars

Curse of Shadows by A.K. Wilder - 4/5

I recieved the Curse of Shadows by A.K. Wilder for free on NetGalley for an honest review. 

This is the second installment of the Amassia series, and it picks up right where the first book ends.  I love when a book has cliffhangers, and the next book is right there from the start bringing you back into that world.  The author has a true hack for writing stories that will captivate the reader with this amazing new fantasy world and characters that bring the story to life.  Great read would highly recommend to those who enjoy fantasy, Multiple POVs and fantastic world building.

Curse of Shadows is the sequel to Crown of Bones and I really liked this one too. 
I liked the stoyline, the world and most of all the magic system which I found pretty unique. 
The book has very good chracters, it is fast paced and has a lot of action. It also has a multi POV narration and many twists and revelations that I really enjoyed. 

I believe that this is an underhyped fantasy series that you should definitely check out.

I loved the story, the world building and meeting the different characters. I felt completely immersed in the story and couldn't stop reading it.

Pretty mid honestly. I rated the first one so high because I thought it was just growing pains, but I really didn’t care for book 2 either. Great concept. Rough execution. The main character's plot twist was pretty obvious from the beginning, and I think it took way too long for us to get to the point where she knows too. There was one good twist, but overall too much explanation that broke up the flow of the plot.

I had high hopes for this book. The concept sounded so intriguing. unfortunately, It was tough for me to get into it. The writing and timeline felt really disjointed. I've heard other people like this book, so it is possible that it's just me, not the book.

Unfortunately, I have one word to describe this book to summarize my experience with it. That word is "long."

I'm not opposed to long books, but this book felt like it dragged on forever. I'm a fast reader, but I kept looking at the amount I had left in disbelief. Part of the problem is that the book has several things that probably just didn't need to be included. We didn't need to see the point of view from as many characters, for example, and some things happened over and over again (how many times does Kaylin need to be threatened by his sea dad? We get it. Sea dad is scary. There are big stakes. How many of these meetings of learning nothing do we need?) It also made it hard to follow. There are so many things going on that I found myself sometimes forgetting what the main plotline was actually supposed to be. And did we HAVE to have the weird love triangle that wasn't entirely a love triangle but sort of?  Overall, the length made it hard to follow the important points and became overwhelming. The length of it, unfortunately, detracted from the good things the book had for me. In general, there's a lot of second book syndrome happening.

So the book things. First of all, the cast of characters is entertaining. Even with more characters, the additions and returning people don't feel shallow. I do particularly enjoy the dynamics between the characters: the ones that are friends, the ones that are less comfortable with each other, the ones that don't like each other much, etc. With most of the characters, the POVs add depth and interest. Many times with POV characters, it can be hard to differentiate the voices. This book doesn't have that problem. 

The book also has some interesting reveals that are well done. There's exciting, life-threatening danger, and some interesting lore developments. This series does have some incredible world building that I don't often see in fantasy. The ending is shocking and emotional, ending with a lot of questions fans of the series will be dying to have answered. However, I did feel some small annoyance that we had two such long books and Ash doesn't realize key things about herself until the very end.

If you love rich, detailed worlds and don't mind taking a while to get there, I would absolutely recommend this book for you.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the free copy to review.

I was obsessed with Crown of Bones when it came out. Reread it to make sure I was familiar with the book when this one came out as well. It was so good. Now, I really liked this book but it didn't have the same affect on me as the first one did. This one was more concentrated with gathering the original bones but it didn't feel as adventurous. It's a little hard to put into words what didn't really work for me. However, I still immensely enjoyed it. I loved learning more about this world and the lore behind the bones. They went to different lands so there was more exploration there. However, the pacing was a little slower and there were too many side things going on. But I swear, if this isn't a trilogy - I'm going to be very upset. I definitely need conclusion because the end of this book is what I was looking for the whole time. It was epic and that very, very, very ending that happened - did not see it coming!

The first thing I'm going to say is that Rhiannon's point of view was totally pointless and I hated it. I was so tempted to skip these chapters as they provided no insight at all. It was obvious what she was doing and these interjections didn't help with the pacing issues I was facing. Marcus' and De'Ral were probably the best characters in this book. I loved reading their bickering and how they are really learning together their power. It still seemed so weird to me that Ash still didn't realize who her "inner voice" is, even after losing it! But I'm excited to see what she does in the future. Kaylin is still amazing as ever. I loved that we still has Sampson and Piper throughout the book as well.

Overall, Curse of Shadows by AK Wilder was still an amazing book, but didn't hit me the same way Crown of Bones did. I immensely enjoyed the exploration of the other lands in this book and learning more about this world. I had some issues with the pacing but the end of the book was definitely a ride! Rhiannon's point of view was such a waste of book space but I really enjoyed getting Marcus' and De'Ral along with the others. If you enjoyed the first book, then absolutely pick this book up because it is a great continuation of the story!

Curse of Shadows by A. K. Wilder
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Started: Oct 7, 2022 - Finished: November 30, 2022
Favorite Quote(s): “The red star twinkling in the sky is not an omen of joy and prosperity. It’s the second sun, herald of the next Great Dying. And according to prophecy, it marks the beginning of the end of the world”

I loved this book. I loved getting more of the world and characters and meeting more characters and seeing more places. I didn't trust Rhiannon or Peten, who ended up sick. Everything with them was so intense to read and I also found myself annoyed with Rhiannon. It gave me anxiety. The whole thing with the Second Sun was wild. I kept feeling like Brogal was hiding something. Teern was very suspicious and messed up. Rosie was interesting to read about as well. I loved how nothing that happened was expected and especially the ending. This was such a great second book and cannot wait to read it again or for the next one. And I hope we get more of the characters we know and love and new ones. And I highly recommend this series.

This sequel fell flat for me. Curse of Shadows picks up fairly quickly after the end of book 1, which was great after the crazy ending. I like that some characters we didn’t get to see much of in book 1 were more present, but I also felt that with the larger cast of characters we were missing some depth and development. I didn’t particularly connect with any of the characters and just wanted to feel more invested in them. 

Of course the romance was my favorite part of this book! There are some sweet and swoony moments that I loved. 

This was an okay read, but I’m not sure that I’ll pick up the rest of the series when it comes out.

I read this Crown of Bones for the first time about a month after it came out and I have been anxiously waiting this release for SO LONG!! im really happy that the book lived up to my expectations and then some. The characters were even better this go around and I was really happy to get more from Ash this time around too. I think it is so amazing when an author can give us an even better sequel. It did end on a cliffhanger like the last but it was one that made me even more excited to see where this phenomenal series goes. I will forever talk loudly about these books. The writing is fun, it's so original and the concept is so creative. I love the way this magic system works and I love even more that we get a deeper look into the magic system and the history of this world! LOVED THIS!

Unbeknownst to me, I went into this novel without reading the first book. It explained to me why the beginning felt so confusing, but it was still a very nice read. I found the characters likable and the plot extremely intriguing. The fact that I managed to enjoy and understand this book even after my mistake, clearly shows how clear and smooth the plot is. I look forward to the next piece of work that this author comes up with!

Curse of Shadows is the second installment of the Amassia series by A.K. Wilder. 

We continue to follow an elite group working together to save their country from the next Great Dying.  As seen in a prophecy, the second sun has returned to the sky and will bring with it a war between the nine realms. This group must collect the original twelve whistle bones which are spread out across the work in an effort to keep the destruction at bay..

Wilder has developed a beautiful and unique world with characters who are flawed and yet lovable. The multiple points of view allow you to get a fresh perspective on the storyline. I would recommend to any fantasy reader.

Book Summary:

Ash fell during the battle of Baiseen – but they didn't stay lost. Though it certainly feels like they have lost over such a short time span. Somebody will have to get back up and put the world together again.

It looks like someone is going to have to be Ash. And so a quest begins, with many others (friends and foes) hoping to complete the same task – for their own gain, naturally.

“Sometimes, the heart is afraid to speak, for fear of breaking the spell ," my wise inner voice says.”

My Review:

Ohhhh! Curse of Shadows is the second novel in the Amassia series, and I have been looking forward to this release! It's a creative take on fantasy worlds, and that worldbuilding is perfection! Obviously, I have a lot of good things to say about this book.

The trick is putting my thoughts into non-spoilery words, which is a challenge for this particular review. I guess I have a lot of feelings this time around! This isn't too much of a surprise because Curse of Shadows will put readers on one heck of an emotional roller coaster. Seriously, get those tissues ready. Expect a few strange looks from those around you because keeping your emotions in check will NOT happen. Speaking from experience here.

Highlights
Fantasy World
Worldbuilding
Multiple POV
Secrets galore