This is the kind of book that I think could have been so damn good with another round of edits. It has so much going for it - a dual timeline with sapphic relationships, powerful queens, a war over a thousand years - but it kept getting in its own way with pacing that was all over the place and so much info dumping. This was a frustrating read because I could see the book it wanted to be, but unfortunately it was an uneven experience.

Unfortunately, this book wasn’t for me. The dual timelines and lack of distinct characters made it difficult to follow. While there were some interesting elements, the first 60% felt messy and confusing. I won’t be continuing.

Based on the cover and blurb for Where Shadows Meet, I had incredibly high, maybe too high of expectations. Staring with what I liked about this book - I loved the representation that Caldwell brought to this story. I’m also a huge fan of morally grey characters which Caldwell used well in this story. I also appreciated that Caldwell leaned into the darker and more violent nature of vampires. There were also parts that fell flat for me. I felt there was a mixture of both trying to do too much and also not doing enough depending on which element we’re focusing on. For this being a fantasy book, I wanted way more world building and the lore established earlier in the book. There just wasn’t enough world building for me in general but maybe that was by design since it’s the first in a series. I also felt like the book was all over the place with how the story was introduced - it jumped between story telling perspective, characters, and using journal entries to get information across. I did feel that this book ended on a high note that sets up book 2 quite well. For the audiobook, I did love the choice to use multiple narrators. With how the story was told, I think it would’ve been impossible to keep track of everything had only one narrator been used. I also felt that the narrators were captivating in how they told the story making for an enjoyable listening experience.