The Book Of Shade

Yes! Oh, yes. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.
What a ride.

I'm usually wary of books with so few reviews and such an amazing overall rating. So far, these books have hardly ever lived up to my expectations - quite the opposite, in fact, they tend to turn out a huge disappointment. Not this one, however. The Book of Shade deserves every single one of those four and five star ratings.
This story was absolutely unique in the Urban Fantasy genre. Here's why:

- The concept. The book starts off like any other NA college novel, with Lily's arrival at campus, starting classes, building a social life. As soon as she sets foot into the Theatre Imaginique, though, it takes on a totally different direction. Aside from all the supernatural elements (this is Urban Fantasy, after all), the author keeps describing the most wondrous acrobatic and magical acts. The created atmosphere is very mystical and artsy, and extremely riveting.
- Lemarick Novel. What a name, huh? As unusual and intriguing as its owner. I've never encountered a character like Novel before. Not only are his looks unlike any other hero's I've ever read about, with his white hair, icy eyes and almost androgynous stature, but also his personality. Novel is an enigma - closed off and serious as can be, quite eccentric in his fashion taste and manners, impatient but polite. An extremely complex and fascinating character I can't wait to get to know even better.
- The supporting characters. Instead of giving us just the obligatory quirky best friend and maybe a well-developed antagonist, K.C. Finn created a wide array of amazing, interesting and well-elaborated secondary characters with a great variety of different personalities. Friends, villains, artist, each of them adds something special to the story.
- Between every few chapters, the author added several cutouts from the monthly flyers showing the theater's playbills. Sometimes, they were quite funny (Salem Cross wields the buzzsaw - will the delightful Dharma be cleaved in half?; Biting the Bullet - The Slovak twins take aim at Monsieur Novel), and each month one of those cutouts would also show a little glimpse into the following chapter - and it would be our job to guess which one. I loved the idea. It was original and cute.

"Why don't you smile anymore?"
"Because it's not necessary," Novel said with a sigh. "I have seen and done everything worth smiling about already."

Elements that weren't exactly unique, but welcome all the same:
- A fantastic heroine. Lily is smart and curious, yet mature and sensible, with a very pleasant voice. There are no TSTL moments to speak of. All that made her very relatable and likable.
- Beautiful, atmospheric writing that creates a mysterious, almost a little melancholy mood.
I loved the world building, too. We don't get overwhelmed with tons and tons of unnecessary information, but only bit by bit when the situation requires some explanation.

So, in case you haven't figured it out yet, I absolutely loved this book. Everything about it. 5 stars!

"Because you love her, Lemarick!" Salem pressed, "and love is freedom and fluidity and unpredictability and wild abandon and that's water . That's the spirit of the thing, and now you have it within you! Let yourself love her, and the elements will give you what you need!"

This is book one of the Shadeborn series and cannot be read as a standalone.

This book started out as any other might, with a young girl just starting university. However, the story took on such a unique and wonderful world of magic and mystery. At times creepy, at others swoonworthy. Loved it!

Having loved 'The Night Circus' I thought this book sounded interesting so I requested it from Netgallery. I wasn't mistaken. The character of Lily was very engaging. I liked that she didn't go 'ga-ga' at the appearance of any good looking male- a failing most teenage heroines seem to suffer from! The members of the Theatre Imaginique are intriguing and I was soon swept away with the story. I will be downloading the next installment soon, as I want to know what happens next- which has to be the best recommendation you can give! Thanks to Netgallery for giving me the opportunity to discover this great read.

The Book of Shade started out very slow for me and took me a while to get into, but once I did I quickly fell in love with Novel and his world. This book had me so wrapped into it that I didn't want it to end.

Lily Coltrane started her first year at college. Along with her roommate, Jazzy, they joined a reading club. Once a month the members of the club went to a theater to watch a show of magic. The highlight of each show was put on by Lemarick Novel who owned the theater.

Novel could be very intimidating. His pale skin and piercing eyes, he was different in every way. Those that worked for him knew of his moods and what he was capable of. Lily got to know him along with everyone else that worked at the theater. What she didn't count on was the opening of her eyes to a world she never knew existed.

Trust, faith, and love came together in this story and leaves you flipping the pages as fast as you can. The suspense had me reading into the early hours of the morning. I had to know what was going to happen and kept reading until my eyes closed. What I loved about this book was the introduction into a very original world and an unlikely love. By the last page I was looking for the next book, because I really want to know what happens with Lily and Novel. It does start slow, like I said, but hang in there, because it will pick up. You'll be glad you read it.

Book Of Shade...  Let me start by thanking the author, K C Finn and NetGallery for providing me with an ARC in exchange fr my honest review.  What is a Shade? A Shade is a being that resembles humans, looks human, acts human & in fact is a human with extraordinary powers,that out lives us by hundreds of years and has powers we can only dream of having. Imagine living several hundreds of years and still looking young!
It took me a while to get into this book as it is out of my comfort genre, but I did enjoy it just the same!
Lily Coltrane is a young girl going off to college and believing her only worries are making it thru World History. Little does she know who or what she really is. She starts school and joins a unique book club. This club gets monthly trips to a very old theater. One day she goes to the theater and meets a man called Novel. Novel appears to be doing magic tricks that Lily can't figure out. Novel is a Shade himself and has to convince Lily she is also a Shade.
To make a long story short, without spoiling the story, Lily has a long road ahead of her and Novel has many things to teach her about herself. This book has many twists and turns. The author has a knack for story-telling & a great imagination! I feel this is a great read for young & old alike.

Finn has achieved that rare thing - an original and unique YA paranormal romance. Lily's story is one of the best I've read for a long time, and I'm delighted that it comes from a Brit author. It's been a while since I read a decent book based in the UK, and I tend to forget how enjoyable it is to read in my native language without being peppered with americanisms. Lily is delightfully British, feisty and level-headed in the presense of so much weirdness.

However wonderful The Book of Shade is, it's not easy to review without giving much away. Let's just Finn has put together a world of intriguing magic and mysterious characters. The romance is deliciously slow-burning, with a host of far more practical things to be taken care of first. Such as why Lemarick Novel is covered in lightning flowers, how he performs such incredible feats on stage, why his arctic blue eyes keep locking with hers, and why he never, ever smiles.

Finn has that perfect combination of characters that will hold your interest completely, a story that will grab hold of you and won't let go, and a world so curious that you won't be able to leave it alone once you get a glimpse. She isn't afraid of doing things differently, such as introducing a male MC who is nothing like any I've ever encountered, but somehow in his ennigmatic, stoic character is utterly divine. Lily starts out as a completely normal girl - a freshman at uni who does all the normal things like going out drinking with her friends and joining an intriguing society just because a cute guy asks her. Even when things turn distinctly un-normal, Lily maintains her down-to-earth tendencies, and isn't afraid to face things head-on.

I want to leave as much as possible a mystery for new readers, so that they can enjoy the full effect of the book, so I'll stop here. I'll just add that I can't wait to read more from K.C. Finn, and the Shadeborn series.

What a fun read! While a little slow to start, I quickly found myself enveloped in a well written world with natural, developed characters. The narrative flows nicely and I enjoyed the voice of this book – it felt fresh in an overcrowded marketplace of paranormal/urban fantasy books. I know many customers that I will be recommending this book to. Thank you!

How to put this …… I loved, loved, loved this book and has shown me my dream job… if only it was real. It’s reminiscent of my favourite book The Night Circus but with a more thought out plot and I can’t wait to read more of the series.

I loved Lily. She was everything you could want in a protagonist. Smart, sassy, excited about magic and older than in most books I read. Generally most of the heroines are high schooled age but we meet Lily on her first day at university. Nice change. She studies Modern History which you don’t get often – on TV and books, of course you do in real life- and is, at first, very practical when it comes to relationships. She doesn’t start anything unless she means it and – with Michael anyway- sets boundaries on what their relationship was. Her father left when she was a baby and - as someone who doesn’t talk to her dad - I appreciated how she doesn’t really try to find him or think about him much, its not one of her concerns. I do think she’s a bit oblivious at times, there are clear signs that one of the performers isn’t human and I don’t think she had worked it out yet by the end of the story, pretty sure its explicitly stated in next one though.

The other main character is Novel and he is fascinating in his own right. I would love to know why he has the family dynamics he says (can you see me trying to avoid spoilers here?). They don’t make sense as we’ve heard them so far and just makes me more curious about him. He’s loyal, mysterious, inquisitive, too serious for his own good but with a flair for theatrics. He owns the Theatre Imaginique and is a regular performer there. In his spare time he does experiments as well. Novel was so interesting to read, and I do love a man in Victorian clothes.

There was some great side characters as well – and villain but I don’t want to spoil anything. Lily’s best friend Jazzy is a shy English student, and since I am half Indian, its nice actually reading an Indian character – surprisingly doesn’t happen often in my books. Professor Victoria Havers actually reminded me of one of my English professors, Avril. They’re both petite, auburn haired women who are fascinated with the gruesome. Avril had lots of fun teaching my class about the witch trials and Havers starts her lesson with a picture of a dead body. My kind of teachers. I’m not going to talk about any others except Baptiste Du Nord and that’s just because my mind just goes elsewhere when I hear his name. Every single time I read his name, even at the end, I kept thinking Marquis De Sade – kudus points to anyone who recognises the name without looking it up. There is no reason for my mind going there, I don’t think there’s any similarities in personality or sound of his name, but his name makes my mind go there.

There is nothing I can really fault in this book, it was all brilliant…

...

Ok. Maybe there was one thing but that’s just because its fresh in my mind. The whole university aspect feels a bit like an American College you see on TV than an English University. I’ve at least looked around a lot of London universities as well as Hertforshire and Kent and it’s not usual to share a bedroom in campus accommodation. It does happen, normally for couples though, but it s really rare for strangers to have to share a room on campus, or even off it. Also there isn’t – I don’t think- any mention of Lily having any other professor but Havers. I know I had about 5 in my first term alone but Lily only talks about one.  Also just to be annoying, people usually move into campus accommodation the week – or weekend- before freshers week, freshers fair is rarely on the first day and you do not have lessons in freshers week. Rant is done now. Sorry, I graduated in July so my uni experiences are fresh in my mind.

Other than that, nothing to fault. This story grabbed me from the first sentence: - “All she knew was earth. Earth crumbling in to make the black dream blacker…” This was a great opening that had me hooked. I liked how for each month there was a flyer for the upcoming Imaginique performance, complete with a picture. Humour is added in just right the time to reduce tension and I loved the theatrics.

The world-building was good as well. From what I understand, most supernatural creatures are real – it only directly mentions vampires, werewolves and shades- but shades are the main ones. They’re like magical people made of starlight who have control over the elements. There are some magic specific jobs, my dream job of a booksmith being one of them, and its very specific on how the ageing process works with shades. They have their own culture and beliefs and I just want to read more.

There's some little plot twists, some I was sort of expecting, others I thought would happen to different characters and one that I just did not see coming at all. Some of those annoying troupes like instant love is thankfully missing and there could be a love triangle but it honestly doesn’t seem like one. Finn was great at showing the age of some of the characters with how they acted and spoke. Even using some outdated words like “Egad” which I admit I looked up though I could have guessed with how its used.

Overall this book it just brilliant. It was beautifully written, great characters, made me yearn for a job I can never have and made desperate to read more. This had a much better plot than my favourite book and there is … mostly … nothing I can fault. I would absolutely recommend this book especially to those who like The Night Circus or theatrics.

Lily is going off to college in this fascinating sci-fi fantasy primarily for young adults. She learns more about herself and the Shade world in this first volume of the Shadeborn series.

*An ARC was given in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to the writer and the publisher for the opportunity to read this.*
I very much enjoyed this book. It is well written and caching.

(Thank you to the author and Netgalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for a reviewbookofshade)

This book ended up not being quite what I expected from the cover and the blurb, but I still ended up really enjoying it. I did expect something a bit darker and mysterious and quirky, with a bit more mystery, but what I ended up reading had enough redeeming features that I still felt it deserved a higher rating.

Lily Coltrane is beginning her first year at Piketon University and during Freshers week, joins the Illustrious Minds Literary Society, a group who attends the local Theatre Imaginique every month. The theatre’s headline act, Lemarick Novel, seems to be able to produce lightning from his fingers and levitate with no sign of wires. At first, Lily is unnerved that his eyes always seem to light on her, but it turns out it is with good reason. Lily has her own magical abilities, inherited from a father she never knew, and she is a Shade, just like Novel. Novel takes her on as an apprentice, but when news comes that Shadehunters are closing in on Piketon, Lily isn’t sure whether she or Novel will be able to protect each other, and the people closest to them.

From the way the blurb is worded, I expected that the mystery of who or what Novel was would take centre stage for most of the novel, and that he would probably end up being some form of antagonist. The cover also made me think that it would be darker read, but all the questions about Novel are answered within the first third of the book, which does essentially lower the curtain of mystique surrounding the Theatre Imaginique. When Lily is spending a huge amount of time there, training, it’s hard to maintain any mystery.

However, the plot that does emerge is still entertaining. We get to know the various performers really well, and the world-building surrounding shades and their magic, as well as why shadehunters exist, is all tightly plotted and woven through the narrative.

My favourite thing about this book, though, was the relationships between the characters. Particularly the fact that Lily had more than one love interest without it ever straying into love triangle territory. Sure, one of them is a bit of a dick when things don’t work out with her, but he’s a dick because he’s hurt, not because he’s an entitled prat (I would go as far as saying Lily leads him on a bit). I would have preferred that the main romance was a bit more slow-burn, but it wasn’t written badly so I was happy for it to happen the way it did. The other characters are also really well-written, from Lily’s roomie and best friend, Jazzy, to the other members of the Theatre.

There were some formatting issues; I’m not sure whether that’s due to the file I was sent, my Kindle being silly, or errors in the original formatting. Each chapter is preceded by a Playbill for the upcoming performance at the Theatre Imaginque. These were chopped in half every time when I was reading, so I had to flick back and forth between two pages to read it fully. There were also some cases of choppy sentences where one part of the sentence may have been rephrased but the rest wasn’t altered to suit it, things like that.

The next book gives us two shorter stories that provide back story for some of the major characters and then the third follows on with Lily’s story. I’m definitely going to grab these as well; I’m keen to see how this series pans out.

This a fantastic start to a new series for older teens. It contains magic and the occult along with non humans with some unlikely powers.   Set in an English college, Lily and Jazzy are freshman roommates and have a strong bond when they meet.  Book 2 promises to be just as exciting as this one. Lots of great characters and some very unusual powers to further explore.

This was a great book! I can't wait for more to come from these characters!!

I enjoyed this book and look forward to reading the next installment.

This story is about Lily Coltrane and her new life as a college student, who moves far away from home as possible. Living with her mother was always a painful experience, and she still couldn’t understand why her mother kept her at arm’s length. Due to this, Lily was more than ready to start the next chapter of her life far away from her! Not long after stepping foot on campus she meets her new roommate/best friend, and Michael, a hot guy who unwittingly puts her on the path to changing her life and everything she knows completely. Michael invites the girls to join a book club who regularly go to the Theatre Imaginique at the edge of town, where they see unbelievable feats. The performer who really catches her attention though is the mysterious magician Novel, with the unnaturally pale face, and black makeup around the mouth and eyes. 

     Eventually, Lily realizes that the performers at the Theatre Imaginique were really people with supernatural abilities, some not even human. Lily also realizes that the reason she was drawn to Novel is because he is just like her, only he is completely aware of what he is. A centuries old Shade with powers over certain elements. This is a dangerous time for Lily though, to be exposed to this world. Something is out there killing Shades, the last being Novel’s close friend. Can Lily and her new friends survive this upcoming attack? Everyone seems to think Lily is someone special with power that can help. If only she believed it.

The Book of Shade is a great step in fantasy magic, with a beautiful plot that I found myself drawn into. The novel mirrors the same tone as another one I've read recently, The Night Circus, but The Book of Shade holds it's own. With beautiful world building, K.C. Finn creates magic in beautiful descriptions with even more likeable characters. 

One of the main characters, Lilly, was one I was very fond of. She was well written with a personality that held. Finn's other characters were all well thought out, intricate and very different from one another. No two blended, creating a unique group of people in a magic-show like setting. The novel itself is well written and developed, there are no major plot holes or jumping lines which makes following the plot almost effortless. I very much enjoyed Finn's style of writing and hope to read the next Shadeborn novels to continue on in the world Finn has created. 

The novel was engaging and beautiful, I would definitely recommend to anyone looking for something new and fresh in fantasy.

I received a copy of this story from Net Galley. Yay books!

Spoilers possible ahead...

This story was so much better than I was expecting! Seriously. When I started reading, I kind of wanted to give up on it. I just wasn't feeling it, ya know? But I forced myself to continue reading...and I'm glad I did. 

I was expecting it to be weird, and not being able to understand some of the lingo. What I wasn't expecting was a paranormal romance. 

Boy, am I a sucker for those...

I also wasn't expecting a betrayal to that extent. Doesn't family mean anything to anyone anymore? 

Anything I say, I'm not sure could justify the book. It's worth reading!

I found The Book of Shade, while browsing NetGalley.   Both, the cover and description intrigued me. 

First this...  

[i]In the little English town of Piketon this seems more than achievable, so much so that Lily even joins The Illustrious Minds Literary Society, an extra-curricular club that promises a truly unique social experience. What Lily doesn’t bank on are the society’s monthly visits to the mysterious Theatre Imaginique at the edge of town, a dark venue that houses the most obscure cavalcade of carnival performers she has ever laid eyes on.[/i]

Then add this...    

[i]Stranger still is the emergence of the theatre’s enigmatic proprietor Lemarick Novel, a stupendous showman with a frosty wit who never seems to smile[/i]

And I was hooked!

Lily Coltrane was enjoyable character from the moment she was introduced.
As was her roommate, Jazzy.   Despite being labeled as shy, she seemed, quite, the chatterbox!   Even though, her parents were wealthy, she didn't flaunt her good fortune.  Which, I thought, was a nice touch.  

Reading about their experiences at university was a treat.   Especially, liked how it wasn't filled with the usual (excessive drinking, sex, drama). 

From the moment, The Illustrious Minds Literary Society entered the Theatre Imaginique I knew things were about to get interesting!  And they did,  with the introduction of each performer and their stage act.   This was, quite, the collection of people!
Do find myself wondering how they all came together/met.   By the end, they seemed a close knit family.

Loved the Playbills at the start of each chapter!

We learned a little more about the characters as the story progressed.
What it meant to be Shadeborn and how it related to Lily.  I felt she handled everything very well.  How she read, studied and practiced her skills.  It wasn't, suddenly, there... and perfect.
She worked at it!  

Naturally, there were obstacles to be faced.
Good vs. Evil.  While the outcome wasn't perfect, it was believable.   And, hopefully, more will unfold in another book!

Will admit, I had a few moments where I re-read words or sentences to make sure I understood the English terminology.  But it didn't have any negative effect on the story, for sure!   

There were a few minor characters I felt meh about.   But, I have a feeling they weren't supposed to be lovable.  Even the baddies, were interesting.   Had to wonder what makes someone turn out that way?  

What to say about the illusionist?
Novel was, definitely, one of the most interesting characters I've read.
Simply everything about him... delightful. 
(perhaps my fascination with Houdini? Elemental magic? Non traditional looks? Old fashioned style?)  He was a unique hero, to say the least. (I'll quit now)

Overall, I really enjoyed this story!
Would I read any following books?  Yes!   Would I recommend?  Yes!  

[i] I received this electronic book from NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.   Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this opportunity![/i]

Throughly enjoyed the book. I I was not sure to start with as another teenager discovers unlimited power and how she must save the world...nope this was different. As yet she just has to save herself but the characters are engaging and interesting. Loved the theatre and characters and they supernatural shades found I was more drawn in than I thought as constantly wanting to know what happened next. Not overly keen on the americanised university, and why not use a real northern town, Preston and Lancaster would have been a good place to stage the story especially Lancaster with it long history and remarkable old theatre already there. I will certainly buy the rest of the series and see how this develops. As usual I do not write the story in my review as I think it detracts from the experience of reading the story. I received this ARC from net gallery in exchange for an honest review.

I started this book and thought ahhh it isn't my thing,  I'll give it a few more chapters and i'm really glad I did,  once they started going to the theatre imaginique it got really interesting!  I love the supernatural aspect to this,  how it's being connected to the elements that make you strong. It was a really interesting read. The only issue I has was there were a few sentences that didn't make sense,  they had somehow become gobbledygook.
Other than that it was a really good book and definitely recommend it!

This started slowly, but by the end I was fully engaged with the very interesting magical concept and the likeable characters.  The characters took some time to grow on me, particularly Lily, who, at first, seemed younger than her supposedly university age and somewhat unformed.  But she developed as the book did, and I liked the way the central relationship was unforced and a little unpredictable.  I also liked Lily's friend Jazzy and the other denizens of the Theatre Imaginique.  There is a somewhat unfinished feel to this - lots of unanswered questions, and intriguing dead-ends, but certainly enough to fuel my interest in the next book in the series.

After a bit of a slow start, I was drawn into the world of Shades and all things Novel. Despite this not quite being the type of book I normally read, I was hooked and intrigued from the moment Novel and Lily meet.
I will definitely be looking out for the next books in the series, although I just really want to read #3 and see how Lily develops, how Lily and Novel's romance progresses, and what the 'book' has in store for Jazzy. Hopefully I won't have too long to wait.

I got what I came for. Thrill. Complex, enigmatic characters and the suspence kept me flipping through the pages till the early hours of the morning.

A great book that had me on the edge of my seat. I loved every second of this book from the absolutely stunning cover to the equally fascinating characters. A beautiful insight into these delicate subjects that was a real joy to read,

A superb mixture of fantasy, action, mystery with the sophistication of a PBS special.  A must read for any and all fans of fantasy and great literature.

A lovely find in my auto-approval titles. This is a superb read for anyone who likes urban fantasy and well-written characters. See my full review on my blog (link below).