I loved this book, it was a great read. It was also a pretty quick read. It pulls you on from the very start. I found it easy to follow along in the world building. I really enjoyed each character. I would have to give it ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
And as for the spice i give it 🌶️🌶️🌶️ . I can't wait for more.

Sanctuary of the Shadow" whisked me into a realm where magic intertwines with mystery. Harrow, the lone surviving Seer, seeks asylum in Salizar, concealing her true identity. However, when Raith—a winged stranger with no memory—enters her life, everything changes. Their forbidden love ignites, unraveling secrets like ancient scrolls.

What Shined:

World-Building: Salizar's mystical landscapes and concealed sanctuaries felt palpable, immersing me in its magical aura.
Harrow and Raith: Their electric chemistry kept me hooked, with Harrow's vulnerability and Raith's enigmatic past adding depth to their dynamic.
Pacing: The story skillfully balanced action, romance, and revelations, propelling me forward alongside Harrow and Raith in their quest for answers.

Room for Growth:

Character Depth: While I rooted for Harrow and Raith, I longed for deeper insights into their characters, as well as more development for secondary characters.
Predictability: Some plot twists were foreseeable, but I craved surprises that would leave me breathless.
Dialogue: At times, conversations felt rehearsed; I desired more raw, authentic exchanges.

"Sanctuary of the Shadow" may have its imperfections, yet it presents a promising beginning. If you seek forbidden love, concealed destinies, and a touch of magic, venture into Aurora Ascher's captivating world!

It took a few chapters for me to really get into it, but once it picked up I couldn’t put it down. There were more spicy scenes than I was anticipating but that’s never a bad thing to me! Overall, the story was interesting and I’d love to read more in this world.

This is an excellent book!! I would recommend. The book was a little hard for me to get into at first but picked up. I then found it hard to put down and finished ot in 2 days.

Thank you Entangled Publishing for the advance copy of this book!

My thoughts;

This was a 4.25 star read for me! The beginning i was slightly confused and it felt slow, but once it picked up booooy did it pick up. It only took a few chapters and i was officially sitting on the edge of my seat constantly flipping pages ready to see wht happens next. I love the premises of the book and execution. The aspect of a traveling circus is what truly did me in.

Harrow was a great female lead. Shes been with the circus for many many years and this is her home. Except shes keeping a massive secret, shes a Seer but everyone in the circus believes she is just human. One day her water magic tell her something is coming, something big.

Raith, i loved Raith so much. Hes just the mysterious handsome stranger that swoops right in. He has no memories of his past and doesnt know what to do. Harrow wants nothing more than to save him from the torture of his captors.

I saw alot of low reviews on this book and im not sure why. I absolutely loved it. I thought it had a great balance of romance, world building, adventure and spice. The only negative thought i have on this is that it started super slow in my opinion. But that happens with some books. Once i hit a certain chapter i just couldnt stop. I thought this book really brought to life how to accept ones self, show heartbreak and unconditional love. Its definitely not like most romantasys but i loved it. Im also super excited its set up for more books to come into this series. I cant wait to see what Queen is next.

You can also find my reviews on good reads and my instagram https://www.instagram.com/bookishcaitt

I waver between 3.5 and 4 stars. Reasons as follows:


The storyline is fun and fascinating to unfold.
There's some action scenes, some better than others.
The world building was there but not fleshed out as much as i would like.
I did like the Raith and Harrow a lot. I didn't care for the other characters too much.
The smut scenes were well done, moreso than other actual scenes.

Some other thoughts:

-I noticed people said they couldn't follow the change in POV, while it was confusing for a second, i didn't have an issue following along.
-I am not a super fan of insta-love so that put me off a bit
-The ending was super quick and wrapped up in a bow easily so it kind of threw me off
- The circus setting isn't like caraval, it's more like a background information, but that didn't bother me. I just know some people pointed it out.



eARC from entangled in exchange for an honest review. :)

I really wanted to like this but sadly, it’s sitting at maybe a 3 stars for me? I feel like it failed to deliver and although the book is marketed around a circus, why did we hardly get any time with this at all?

The roots of the book were good but I just feel like the world building was very dry, the romance was odd and awkward but tell me why the sudden jump in writing quality happened during the sex scenes??? Like cmon.

This book is so cute! It is a little slow at first, but it helps the character development in a way where you instantly fall in love with them! The plot is great! Super fun read. I love how witty and fun these two characters show with the plot. Must read book!!!!!!!

Such a fun read. I really enjoyed the world building it made this such a good story. I loved the characters, the name made me giggle when he decided his name was “what he was.” I recommend this book to anyone! If I could give 15 out of 5 stars I would.

**I was sent the ARC for review from NetGalley- thank you!!**

This was a completely engrossing novel from start to finish. Harrow, our main character, is a disguised magic user who belongs to a chosen circus family. Here is where she finds her destiny, love, and true test of her merit,

I don’t want to give away too much, but the story was engrossing, the spice was generous, and the ending left me wanting more.

Wonderful read!

A huge thank you to NetGalley and Entangled Publishing for the early copy.

I didn’t know what to make of this book. I originally picked it up because of a read along, but I wasn’t able to keep up. It sucked me in right away, but then it wasn’t able to hold my attention the same way to the end. I found myself less interested as it went on. And finishing it felt tedious.

The premise is very interesting. Harrow is a real seer living undercover at a circus, pretending to be a mere fortune teller. Already you can tell the hierarchy of the circus. Magical beings are less than, and need to stay hidden even though a circus would naturally be a place they’d fit in… the ring leader of the circus is super intimidating and obviously up to no good. Harrow is just trying to survive each day. Things kick up pace when a prisoner is brought to the circus.

Unfortunately the rest of the pacing was a bit out of wack. I LOVE a spicy book, but there was no tension to be found. The main characters were instantly attracted to each other before we learn anything about them. The way Harrow just dives headfirst into lust with a mysterious being that EVERYONE said stay away from gave me the ick. Raith’s seemingly been on earth for .5 seconds. He has no memory and can’t even communicate yet, and they they’re all over each other. Like girly, I get it. But assess the situation for a minute???? That’s kinda gross. HE’S JUST A (POSSIBLY EVIL) BABY (and nothing you say about him can change my mind). But Harrow’s magic tells her that he can be trusted and that she should break him out out his prison.

I found myself being really off put by Harrow’s character in general. She was supposed to be older, but her thought process and the way she spoke made me feel like she was a preteen. I just couldn’t bring myself to believe that she was a mature character with the way she acted. That really really impacted my full enjoyment.

This book has lots of promise, and I’m sure plenty of people will love it. Although this book didn’t hit its mark with me, I’m still very curious to see what the author does next.

Maybe I'm just a niche audience, but I think this book is underrated. It's got some darker tones and I don't mind a bit of magical insta-love, so I overall enjoyed this one. This was pretty high spice for what I expect from a trad pub, so I appreciated that as well. I think as long as you are good with a morally grey hero and a bit of a fated mates scenario, plus all that entails, I'd recommend this!

3.5 stars! I enjoyed this book. Harrow and Raith's story was a good one. I loved the friendship between Harrow and Malaikah. I'm interested to learn more about all of the elementals. This book was very creative and magical, and I'm looking forward to another book!!

"Sanctuary of the Shadow" initially drew me in with its stunning cover and intriguing premise. However, my excitement quickly turned to disappointment as I delved into the story. The book felt like a hot mess, with disjointed writing, rushed romance, and a lack of world-building. Yet, I can't deny that the book's aesthetic appeal may still attract readers seeking a visually pleasing addition to their shelves.

I had to DNF this one. It looked so promising but unfortunately I couldn’t get invested in the story. I saw great reviews and had such high hopes.

I have very torn feelings on this one, part of me loved it and part of me found it frustrating.

Let's start with the good shall we, I'm a big lover of found family and Harrow has found a family in this ragtag group she travels with, while some of them are downright evil (Salizar) some of them are exactly what I picture when I think of a true friend (Mal).

The story itself is beautiful and lyrical and flows in such a lovely way, it's easy to get sucked into it and find yourself in a world filled with shifters, villains, and magic, the world truly is beautifully written.

Our characters are where things start to get to me, in the first 70% of this book I loved Harrow and Raith, even with the seemingly instant love I could understand it, when we got to the end, I just had to wonder why the characters had to make certain decisions and why certain situations happened.

All in all, this is a four-star read for me, I need to know what happens next, I need to know where our characters end up and I can't wait to get my hands on the next book.

Thank you to Red Tower Books and NetGalley for providing a copy of this e-book, I have voluntarily read and reviewed it and all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Sanctuary of the Shadow is an interesting premise. We start in the world of the Salizar's circus, where Harrow is hiding in plain sight as a fortune teller. We get hit with the mystery of Raith and get to see his character develop even though he has no memory. The two are immediately drawn together and both have missing pieces of their pasts to find.

I'm honestly really split on this book. The idea of it is fantastic, but the writing often kept me from staying totally in the moment. A lot of the storyline and relationships seem to move too quickly.

I expected the circus to play a bigger part of the story, and I'm a bit disappointed that less of it was explored or developed, as I think that would have added so much to the world building.

The side characters were my favorite parts of the book. Nashira and Malaikah both drew me in more than Harrow and Raith did. I really hope that a certain snake is explored more in the next book too.

Overall, I'm glad that I read it, and if the next book is about Malaikah's journey, then I'll definitely be reading it!


I received a review eARC provided by the publisher and am providing an honest review.

I kind of went into this blind so I didn’t have any expectations for this journey other than what I would find between the pages.

Harrow is a seer that works with a traveling circus as a fortune teller. She is secretly the last of her people and definitely thinks everyone believes she is a human even though she’s been with the circus for 50 years and has barely aged. One day her water magic tells her something big is coming…

Enter the shadowy mysterious Raith. Who knows nothing other than being tortured at the hands of his captors.

Of course our lovely water sign Harrow, I mean water elemental sees nothing but the good in him and devises a plan for them to escape the circus so Raith isn’t forced to perform.. (even though that’s what Harrow and her friends do daily..)

Anyways there’s some spice and love and maybe fated mates. All in all it had me screaming at my phone but also kicking my feet over the adorable Raith getting feelings. This is definitely more romance than fantasy. Still was a great read and look forward to getting that beautiful book in my hands.

Thank you NetGalley and Entangled Publishing for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I really wanted to love this book, I really did and I feel like that’s why it has taken me so long to write this review. There were so many things missing from this book, in my opinion, such as the world building. I got excited thinking that this book was set in a magical circus, but it just didn’t feel like there was much magic that was portrayed in the book. I also couldn’t get invested in the characters. Like they were just not it for me and they didn’t have much character development throughout the book. Overall, I have seen so many people enjoy this book and I feel like it is one where it works great for some and not as much for others.

Sanctuary of the shadow is a book unlike anything I’ve read to date, the first 15% I struggled to get into it because I couldn’t picture certain things however I decided to stick it out and I’m glad I did because once it picked up I couldn’t put it down. This is multi pov and there’s questions that you as a reader have that keep you driving forward which i love. I loved raith (our main male character) and so many times found myself just wanting to reach thru the pages and wrap him in a hug. The underlying message this book has is beautiful and I think once you stop and really absorb the lesson it’s one that will stick in your mind. We all have choices to make everyday and those choices determine who you are and who you become not whatever circumstances stand against you. This story did feel a little rushed at times and maybe not all the way fleshed out there was definite room for improvement on just overall character depth and building but it was a fun read and I was hooked after the struggle in the beginning.