Where Shadows Meet

3.7 stars

I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review

She had to take control of her own destiny. She had to act now.

Where Shadows Meet is the first part of a duology where readers are introduced to a fantasy world of humans, vampires, and gods. This would be great as a primer for upper young adult readers you'd want to bridge to adult high fantasy, this had all those elements on a more toned down scale. The beginning, especially before the story actually starts with the family tree and glossary of characters could feel a little overwhelming, my advice, glance over it and then come back after you've read half and look it over again as the names and their positions will be more recognizable and stick with you more. The story follows three point-of-views, Favre, Najja, and Leyla. They each come from different backgrounds but their stories weave together and through their povs, the world building is created.

I see death. And it sees me. The dead whisper in my ears, tormenting me.

The fantasy setting land is one year into a peace treaty that has vampires mining gold in exchange for humans giving their blood. Previously, vampires and humans had been fighting for a thousand years after a god, Thana and her partner Favre, left the Heavenly Realm for the human one. Thana had killed her father, from a sword forged from Favre's ripped off wings blood, after he refused to let Thana marry Favre. This action caused Thana to become the first vampire and she was banished from the Heavenly Realm, Favre and a few other gods going with her. The humans didn't like Thana just setting herself up as queen and the war started. Favre's character brings a lot of themes about selfishness, sacrifice, and emotional abuse in romantic and familial relationships. Her povs jump from the past to show her building romance with Thana and what happened as they came to earth and then the present as Favre breaks from an imprisonment imposed on her and her bid to free Thana. You'll get most of the outer whole lay of the story from her.

“Sometimes the only way to find out the truth is to go along for the journey. Have faith. Believe. Trust in yourself.”

Najja is the second pov character we meet and her povs are all from the present. She's a yamaja, a messenger of fate, she has visions of death and can see and hear the dead. She fears her powers and doesn't like how her people have been regulated to an island after her great-great-grandmother delivered a vision to the vampire queen that she didn't like. Najja has issues of never feeling good enough and living up to the pedestal she puts her sister on, along with grief from losing her mother. When Reapers attack her home, her sister tells Najja that she had a vision that Najja must help the vampire princess, this sends Najja reluctantly running from her home to the capitol to find the princess.

“It’s not so simple as us being the bad guys and them being good. Maybe once it was like that, centuries ago, but war means atrocities have been committed on both sides. It’s now up to us, the present generation, to acknowledge our past while also healing the scars that remain.”

This leads to us meeting our final main character, the vampire princess Leyla. Leyla is the heir and as her mother has a very advanced sickness, she knows she'll be getting the crown soon, even if she feels wholly unprepared for it. Leyla's that sheltered naive but earnest character that has felt beaten down by her mother and suffers from chronic pain that also works to make her feel not good enough. When she's exploring the town with her bestfriend Danai, Reapers attack and end up taking Danai, while Najja shows up to protect Leyla. This leads to Najja and Leyla starting a small road journey at the halfway point to go and rescue Danai from the land of the dead.

“I’m glad you’re here with me. We’re here and we’re surviving and maybe, for tonight, that’s enough.”

A lot of this first duology book was getting to know our three main characters, as we spent time in their heads, some of the soliloquies did go on long enough to slow the pace down, but I didn't really feel that way until the beginning second half as I thought some of Favre's feelings were retread one too many times. This is a story, though, that I think is worth investing in the time, it's moving parts might not seem to fit together at first but I thought as it went on it was pretty smooth how the author worked to slowly bring them together. Najja's there to try and protect Leyla and not allow one of the outcomes of fate, the one Favre wants to bring on, freeing Thana. There's the destructive romance between Favre and Thana and then the building one between Najja and Leyla. I did think Najja and Leyla's emotions and romance was rushed and I wasn't a total believer in it but the second book in the series could build on those emotions.

I’m forced to watch as she rows away, toward the island where souls go at their end, to the place where shadows meet.

This obviously ends on a cliffhanger, the ending of this dances into horror, which I enjoyed, but the rush of the events happening felt a little jarring after the majority of the book's pace was more slow moving. The worldbuilding was less about the physical setting and more about the social and cultural structuring of society and how that emotionally impacts individuals. There was also a lot of working in mythology, fairytales, and folklore that I enjoyed and will have you saying, I recognize that every so often. The characters fit an upper young adult classification and if you go in expecting a high fantasy primer feel, you'll enjoy this one. The combined elements of vampires, humans, and gods, how this was structured to weave the three main characters together, young adult emotional themes working through, and at times richness to the writing, made this intriguingly enjoyable.