I did not find the audiobook narrator particularly engaging and was unable to bring myself to finish it. This was unfortunately a DNF for me though the plot did seem intriguing. Were I to simply read this book I may find it better.

I did not know beforehand that there was another series prior to the start of this new series. This could have played a factor in why I did not enjoy Shadows of the Lost.

I found it to be very evident that Maxym M. Martineau has a great idea of they wanted to craft this fantasy world and plot, but in the end, it felt very discombobulated.

I personally wished I would have enjoyed this book, but here are my reasons on why I struggled reading Shadows of the Lost:

-Pacing issues. The book dragged a lot, which made me loose interest in what was happening. Plus, this book could have been cut down a bit since some scenes felt like they were too long or unnecessary.
-The characters were pretty one dimensional, which ultimately caused me to not create an emotional attachment with them because there was no depth. Also, the romance aspect felt too insta-lovey for my taste.
-The world building felt very messy and not final.

In the end, I was left confused due to all the listed factors. This had potential with the author having an interesting story concept, but I wish it would have been executed better.

I do think people may enjoy Shadows of the Lost, but only if you read the series prior to this one.

This book was good! I liked the characters and the setting. The author writes good too!!
I hope to read more by this author in the future! Looking forward to it!

I loved this book so much I brought a copy as well! I cannot stop thinking about this amazing plot and story telling! I'm excited to read more of this author's work in the future!

thank you to netgalley for the advanced reading copy. this was fantastic, just what i have come to expect from this author and look forward to carrying in my book store.

Shadows of the Lost is a fantasy romance in the world of Maxym M. Martineau’s Beast Charmer series. I didn’t realize that this was a spin-off/sequel series until I was almost all the way through the book 😅 It was definitely still understandable without reading the first trilogy, but there were quite a few times that certain aspects of the characters and world were referenced very briefly, as though you already know about them.

I really liked the various pieces of the magic system and this is definitely a great read if you love magical creatures! The romance and the spicy scenes were 👌 I absolutely adored Gage and Kost 😍 I did feel like the first half or so was a little slow and repetitive, but the second half picked up and was much better.

It also took me a little while to get into the audiobook - there are multiple narrators, one for each PoV, but I wasn’t the biggest fan of the narration in the beginning and it took some time to get used to. Also the hour long bestiary recital at the end is interesting but doesn’t make for very good audiobooking 😅 It would have been nicer if the audiobook came alongside a PDF of the bestiary or something so you could actually reference it throughout the story and read through it in a more productive manner.

I DNFd this audiobook at 25% in. I had a hard time following the story and caring about the characters. I felt like I was missing something and realized that while this is the first book in a series, it’s a follow up series to one that was published previously. I out that previous series on my TBR in hopes of coming back to this one later.

A perfect continuation of the Beast Charmer Series! Angsty, spicy, and enemies-to-lovers, MY FAVORITE!! Throw in the fact that it's an LGBTQIA+, and it's perfection!

• NA Fantasy
• Shadow Magic
• Beast Charming
• Romance LGBTQ+ MM
• Multiple POV
• Found Family
• Assassins

This book is the first book in a spin off series ( The Beast Charmer Series the first book is called Kingdom of Exiles ) I didn't know before requesting this book, that I might want to read the other series first but that being said I still really liked this book. I would have probably liked it more if I had, so I would have know more of their history, the world and the characters. This gave me such fantastic beasts vibes with all the magical creatures with a tiny bit of Pokémon in there. Also I am a sucker for shadow magic. I look forwarded to reading the first series, continuing on with this one and reading more from this Author.

I DNFed this around 20%. I did not know that this was related to another series when I signed up for the ARC. I felt thrown into the middle of a story, without knowing what was really going on or what past events the characters were referencing. I feel based off the synopsis and MM Romance, this book has great potential and would really be loved by someone other than me.

I am thankful to NetGalley, Maxym M. Martineau, and Dreamscape Media for sending me this audiobook to review, but it was not a right fit for me.

I wish I had know that this was a spin off of another series prior to reading it. There is a lot of world building that is missing from this novel that I feel I could have gotten from the other series. Everything, including characters, are already established in this, and at times the reader is left confused as there are missing pieces of information that leads to relationships. Despite this, the writing is very descriptive, including emotions, conversation, and the actions in the novel.

The multiple narrators, Mark Sanderlin, Nick Mondelli, Jess Nahikian, and Jay Alder, make it easy to tell the POVs apart. Each narrator did a fantastic job of portraying the emotions of each character. They kept the listeners attention, without having to try to.

I want to thank Netgalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for an ARC of this book and Dreamscape Media for an advanced audiobook.

This book actually has a very cool magic system between the charmers (can communicate with creatures) and the shadow people (basically like immortal assassins from what I understood)! Admittedly though, if you haven't read the previous trilogy, this books feels very much like you were picked up and thrown into the middle of a series. I was confused for a little while but eventually did manage to piece together what happened. Kost and Gaige are in a tough place at the beginning of this book, both mourning what they have lost. I absolutely found myself rooting for them to get together and was very happy when they finally gave into their feelings! Overall, I enjoyed the story, a great LGBTQ fantasy romance - that giant shadow monster was also definitely something lol and I need to go back and read the original trilogy! I listened to the audiobook of this one and while I enjoyed the narration, I think I will try reading it with my eyes next time around!

Thank you to Dreamscape Media, Sourcebooks Casablanca and NetGalley for the audiobook for review. All opinions are my own.

This is the first book in the Guild of Night series of suspenseful romantic fantasy by Maxym M. Martineau. It’s a spinoff from The Beast Charmer series, and it will make more sense if you have read that trilogy first. This book ends on a bit of a cliffhanger, so it’s best if you go into it planning to read the entire series.

I didn’t enjoy this book as much as The Beast Charmer series, but I do love this magical world of sorcery, beasts, and shadows. I enjoyed the suspenseful scenes of magical training, monster attacks, and battles. The plot is interesting enough that I will probably continue reading this series.

Most of the story is told from the alternating perspectives of the Kost, the leader of the immortal shadow assassins, and Gaige, a former Beast Charmer who was recently raised from the dead to become a shadow assassin and isn’t adjusting well. A couple of chapters are narrated by their fellow assassins, Ozias and Calem. (To me, those chapters felt out of place.) Each character has interesting abilities, and they share a strong bond. However, I wasn’t particularly drawn into the romance between Gaige and Kost. There was too much angst for my taste, particularly for characters who are supposed to be mature. They acted more like teens or very young adults.

I enjoyed the narration by Mark Sanderlin, Nick Mondelli, Jess Nahikian, and Jay Alder. Their performances were well paced and easy to understand, and the audiobook production was good. It was easy to distinguish the different characters, and all of the narrators were able to convey the mood and emotions of each scene effectively. The story worked well in audio format, although it’s not an ideal format for the bestiary at the end of the book.

Note that the book contains violence, foul language, and explicit MM sexual content. Also, there is a bestiary at the end if you want to learn more about the magical beasts.

I received a free copy of the audiobook through NetGalley. I volunteered to provide an honest review.

Like a lot of the other readers I didn’t realise this was part of another series so I was also rather confused with most of the book. What I did piece together I really enjoyed.
The narrator was great also!

Story is good but sex scenes are too graphic for my taste. Interesting characters with good development. The dead and living interact.

An epic soaring fantasy novel. For fans of Shadow and Bone/ Six of Crows!

Thank you to Netgalley, Maxym M. Martineau and Sourcebooks for providing the audio arc in exchange for an honest review

Why doesn't anyone talk about this book?

𝑶𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝑰 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒎𝒆𝒓, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒈𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍 𝒃𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒎𝒆. 𝑵𝒐𝒘 𝑰'𝒎 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒆𝒍𝒔𝒆. 𝑺𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒅𝒂𝒓𝒌𝒆𝒓.

ᴀꜱ ᴀ ᴍᴇᴍʙᴇʀ ᴏꜰ ᴛʜᴇ ᴄʜᴀʀᴍᴇʀꜱ ᴄᴏᴜɴᴄɪʟ, ɢᴀɪɢᴇ ɪꜱ ᴀʙʟᴇ ᴛᴏ ꜰᴏʀᴍ ʟᴀꜱᴛɪɴɢ ʙᴏɴᴅꜱ ᴡɪᴛʜ ᴛʜᴇ ᴍᴀɢɪᴄᴀʟ ʙᴇᴀꜱᴛꜱ ᴏꜰ ʜɪꜱ ᴡᴏʀʟᴅ. ᴀᴛ ʟᴇᴀꜱᴛ, ʜᴇ ᴜꜱᴇᴅ ᴛᴏ ʙᴇ ᴀ ᴄʜᴀʀᴍᴇʀ...ᴜɴᴛɪʟ ʜᴇ ᴅɪᴇᴅ ᴀɴᴅ ᴡᴀꜱ ʙʀᴏᴜɢʜᴛ ʙᴀᴄᴋ ᴀꜱ ᴏɴᴇ ᴏꜰ ᴛʜᴇ ɪᴍᴍᴏʀᴛᴀʟ ᴀꜱꜱᴀꜱꜱɪɴꜱ ᴏꜰ ᴄʀᴜᴏʀ. ɴᴏᴡ ʜᴇ'ꜱ ꜰᴀʀ ᴍᴏʀᴇ ᴅᴀɴɢᴇʀᴏᴜꜱ.

...ᴀɴᴅ ꜱᴏᴍᴇᴛʜɪɴɢ ʙᴇʏᴏɴᴅ ᴛʜᴇ ꜱʜᴀᴅᴏᴡꜱ ʟɪᴇꜱ ɪɴ ᴡᴀɪᴛ, ʜᴜɴɢʀʏ ᴛᴏ ᴄʟᴀɪᴍ ʜɪᴍ ꜰᴏʀ ɪᴛꜱ ᴏᴡɴ.

ᴀꜱ ʟᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ ᴏꜰ ᴛʜᴇ ᴀꜱꜱᴀꜱꜱɪɴꜱ, ᴀʟʟ ᴋᴏꜱᴛ ᴄᴀɴ ᴅᴏ ɪꜱ ᴡᴀᴛᴄʜ ᴀꜱ ɢᴀɪɢᴇ ꜱᴛʀᴜɢɢʟᴇꜱ ᴡɪᴛʜ ʜɪꜱ ɴᴇᴡ ʟɪꜰᴇ ᴅᴀʏ ʙʏ ᴅᴀʏ. ʜᴇ ᴡᴀɴᴛꜱ ɴᴏᴛʜɪɴɢ ᴍᴏʀᴇ ᴛʜᴀɴ ᴛᴏ ᴇᴀꜱᴇ ɢᴀɪɢᴇ'ꜱ ꜱᴜꜰꜰᴇʀɪɴɢ--ʏᴇᴛ ʜᴏᴡ ᴄᴀɴ ʜᴇ ᴡʜᴇɴ ᴛʜᴇʏ ʙᴏᴛʜ ᴋɴᴏᴡ ʜᴇ'ꜱ ᴛʜᴇ ᴏɴᴇ ʀᴇꜱᴘᴏɴꜱɪʙʟᴇ? ᴛʜᴇʀᴇ ɪꜱ ɴᴏᴛʜɪɴɢ ʟᴇꜰᴛ ʙᴜᴛ ʙɪᴛᴛᴇʀ ᴍᴇᴍᴏʀɪᴇꜱ ᴀɴᴅ ʜᴏᴘᴇʟᴇꜱꜱ ʟᴏɴɢɪɴɢ ʙᴇᴛᴡᴇᴇɴ ᴛʜᴇᴍ. ʏᴇᴛ ᴡʜᴇɴ ɢᴀɪɢᴇ ɪꜱ ʟᴏꜱᴛ ᴛᴏ ᴛʜᴇ ꜱʜᴀᴅᴏᴡ ʀᴇᴀʟᴍ, ᴋᴏꜱᴛ ɪꜱ ᴛʜᴇ ᴏɴʟʏ ᴏɴᴇ ᴡɪᴛʜ ᴀɴʏ ᴄʜᴀɴᴄᴇ ᴏꜰ ʙʀɪɴɢɪɴɢ ʜɪᴍ ʙᴀᴄᴋ: ɪꜰ ᴛʜᴇʏ ᴄᴀɴ ʟᴇᴀʀɴ ᴛᴏ ᴛʀᴜꜱᴛ (ᴀɴᴅ ᴘᴇʀʜᴀᴘꜱ ʟᴏᴠᴇ) ᴇᴀᴄʜ ᴏᴛʜᴇʀ ᴀɢᴀɪɴ.

ꜱʜᴀᴅᴏᴡ ᴏꜰ ᴛʜᴇ ʟᴏꜱᴛ is the first book of the ɢᴜɪʟᴅ ᴏꜰ ɴɪɢʜᴛ ꜱᴇʀɪᴇꜱ, born from the incredible pen of Maxym M. Martineau.

As always, I start with the technical information.
The author's writing is truly sensational. Although I got to listen to the audio book of this fantastic epic fantasy, I still managed to get an idea about his pen: incredibly compelling fluid and very detailed.
I think it was the details about the setting, the places and the characterization of the characters that struck me first.

The worldbuilding, at least personally, I did not find excessively complex. In fact, I found it simple and very, very intriguing. I also madly loved the combination of paranormal elements to more romantic ones.

I consider it to be a very interesting fantasy also for the so much action. However, there were some details that made me turn up my nose a bit. The first of all is the age of the characters. Yes, ok. Maybe I'm exaggerating on this point of view but believe me, at some point I could not understand if they were young adults or mature and vaccinated adults. Spoiler: they are mature and vaccinated adults.

Another thing that made me turn up my nose was the spicy. I don't know... For what has been the course of history, it seemed to me exaggeratedly pushed. And... Gloomy? Maybe?
Small details appear, I madly enjoyed listening to the audiobook ( the narrators are really great).
Will I continue the saga? Yes, absolutely. I have to find out how it ends.

Thank you Netgalley, Maxym M. Martineau and Dreams ape Media for sending me the audiobook in exchange for a candid review.

This is a new-adult magical fantasy offshoot of The Beast Charmer trilogy. Sadly it does not work as a standalone, which is a bit confusing as it is marketed as the first in the series, I feel there should have been some basic backstory coverage, explanation of magic rules and world building to make sure the reader knows what’s going on. Instead you are kind of thrown in at the deep end.

If you had read the previous series first I am sure this would be a much better book to read than my experience, but sadly I had no idea what was going on from the very start.

I loved the premise of this book, magical beasts and assassins, what a great fantasy mix.

I did think the world and character building were in parts well written and diverse, although I did feel the characters were depicted much younger than they were supposed to be.

It was however, rather complicated to follow and often very confusing. At times I found it difficult to connect with the main characters who often behaved childishly, which given the very graphic scenes in this book at times, didnt correlate. Especially for an audiobook.

I felt this really needed to be aimed at a very YA, YA audience based on the characters behaviour and dialogue.

Full disclosure: I don't usually read romances and wasn't aware this book was going to be so heavy in the romance department. It was a good book for being a romance once I realized what it was. In the beginning I thought there was a lot of "woe is me" and "I can't like him because I've been hurt before" or "I'm mad he resurrected me" vibes. It was a lot to get past and kind of depressing, but it started looking up once they started to think "does he actually have these feelings for me" and "omg, he has feelings for me". As all love stories have, there were a lot of bridges to cross and there were in this one. Honestly, for me, I would have liked a lot more world building, magic, etc., but this book wasn't meant to have all that. So, based on it being a romance/fantasy, it was pretty good. One part did confuse me though. There was a whole other person that got there own voice that seemed random and out of place. Not sure of their names, but I wasn't sure of their purpose to the story. Maybe they'll be in book 2? Also, I really liked the narrators.