Plot summary: Awakening Shadows

In the land of Navarre, an ancient evil stirs. The peoples’ best hope, not that they know it, is sheltered princess Joseline and the ancient order sworn to protect her. After an attack on Joseline’s eighteenth birthday throws her world into chaos, she has to quickly come to terms with her role in the coming conflict. All the while trying to understand the power that has lain dormant inside her… until now.

Content warnings

• Violence
• Kidnapping

My thoughts on Awakening Shadows

Awakening Shadows is the debut novel by Sydney Hawthorn, a high fantasy adventure full of magic and menace. The story unfolds through several perspectives.

We have Joseline herself, the princess, who is occasionally possessed by the Goddess. Quinn, a warrior of the Order of Kynire, sworn to protect the princess so that she in turn can prevent the rise of the demon king. Julia, Joseline’s sister, left behind in the city after Joseline is taken by the Order. And Evalyn, a captive fae forced to work herself to the bone, along with numerous other slaves, for a mysterious purpose.

The multiple perspectives had its pros and cons while reading. On the one hand, the characters themselves were clearly thoughtfully developed, and each perspective had something interesting going on.

On the other hand, the different perspectives didn’t feel like they were adding much to my understanding of the story. Other than Joseline and Quinn, that is. The blurb seems to indicate that Joseline is the primary protagonist, and I think most of the story supported that. But we seemed to spend an equal amount of time with Evalyn. All without getting a clear sense of how her storyline was going to intersect with what I found myself thinking of as the ‘main’ plot.

With multiple perspectives and storylines, readers will always have favourites

Joseline’s chapters were probably my favourite to come back to. And I enjoyed the dynamic that developed between her and the members of the Order that she travelled with. I’m also a sucker for a training storyline, so I enjoyed watching that part of her plotline play out! Quinn’s chapters were also interesting, giving us another view on the progress the princess was making.

I actually really loved Julia’s chapters, maybe because I have a soft spot for a sibling left behind? But I wasn’t sure what they added to the story as a whole. The ones I had the most trouble with were probably Evalyn’s, but not because I didn’t like her personally. Or her plot.

I felt like Evalyn’s chapters highlighted something that I felt about a few of the storylines. Namely, that there were a lot of characters and relationships with some really complex dynamics to them. And I kept waiting for those dynamics to be more critically examined, and they never were.

I don’t want to give away spoilers, and I’m sure it’s a matter of personal preference anyway. But as we got further through the book, I was disappointed to see some pretty troubling actions and dynamics accepted without issue.

The worldbuilding and characters in Awakening Shadows obviously had a lot of thought put into them

It’s obvious that the world has been carefully thought out. I enjoyed the communication of the worldbuilding within the story as well. It never felt heavy-handed, which it often does in high fantasy.

For advice on worldbuilding, check out this post!

And the characters were undeniably interesting, even when their plots took directions that I felt weird about. If anything, I just wanted to spend more time getting to know the protagonists! And I’m definitely interested to see how they’ll continue to develop as the series goes on.

The romance side of things didn’t totally grab me, I have to say. I was more invested in the characters as individuals than I was in any relationship that seemed to be building. Barring the friendship between Quinn and Jenson, which I thoroughly enjoyed!

If you’re a particular fan of the romance tropes at play in Awakening Shadows, you might enjoy this side of the story more than me. As it was, it didn’t put me off the story, I just didn’t feel that convinced by the budding relationship.

In conclusion…

Packed with worldbuilding and intrigue, Awakening Shadows is a fun fantasy adventure. It’s dark in parts, but not gratuitously so, and the characters feel carefully considered. Interested in picking up a new fantasy series? You can check out Awakening Shadows here:

Waterstones UK
Amazon UK/US