Review--Reign of Shadows by Sophie Jordan

Seventeen years ago, an eclipse cloaked the kingdom of Relhok in perpetual darkness. In the chaos, an evil chancellor murdered the king and queen and seized their throne. Luna, Relhok’s lost princess, has been hiding in a tower ever since. Luna’s survival depends on the world believing she is dead.

But that doesn’t stop Luna from wanting more. When she meets Fowler, a mysterious archer braving the woods outside her tower, Luna is drawn to him despite the risk. When the tower is attacked, Luna and Fowler escape together. But this world of darkness is more treacherous than Luna ever realized.

With every threat stacked against them, Luna and Fowler find solace in each other. But with secrets still unspoken between them, falling in love might be their most dangerous journey yet.

I finally picked up Sophie Jordan’s Reign of Shadows and wow…it was freaking amazing!! I had heard that she wrote this fantasy that was somewhat of a blend of Rapunzel, girl grows up in a tower all her life, never seeing the outside world. Well, in this story, Sophie turns it all around and inside out. The princess indeed grows up in a tower, but it was for her protection, amid a world filled with darkness and flesh eating monsters…oh yes, this is not your average fairy tale!

Luna is a princess that grew up in a tower after her family was murdered just after her birth. The world was cast into darkness by an eclipse that never left and for the past seventeen years, there has only ever been darkness and monsters. Not only are there these larger than life bats that fly about, but there are also creatures known as dwellers, they are zombie-like monsters that basically eat you alive. This world is a dark and scary one where survival is only fit for the strongest and fastest.

Luna has lived with family servants her entire life, she’s a blind princess, so it makes the world even more dangerous for her. But she is no helpless feeble princess, in fact she’s quite fierce and while she may lack sight her other senses have sharped and she’s able to hear things coming and perceive when obstacles are in her path. She’s not a damsel in distress despite her condition, she’s strong and fierce and totally able to save herself…most of the time, naturally. She’s freaking amazing! I love this girl!

When she helps to rescue a trio of ragtag teenagers traversing the dangerous lands around her home, she brings them in when one was severely injured wanting to help, and of course being curious about newcomers. But things go terribly awry when the new king’s soldiers find her tower that has remained hidden all these years. Before her very eyes the young girl among the rescued is slaughtered, soon her guardians realize it would be best for Luna to be sent far away from her home in order to protect her. Fowler, the third and uninured party of the rescued is to guide her.

Fowler is a boy of many secrets and little words. I began to suspect who his character was to Luna not too far into the story. Plus I think a few reviews alluded to it as well, but I was never sure of my suspicions until the latter half of the story. He comes off as cold and stingy in the beginning, but the more time he spends with Luna, he begins to soften. Naturally, he has a history behind his coldness that gets revealed and things become more understood in regards to his character.

This world is dangerous to everyone, blind or not. The journey Fowler and Luna are set on will take months, but that doesn’t account for all the obstacles they will have to overcome on this journey. There are many enemies out there and not all of them are monsters.

This book was soooo good! I love a good fairy tale retelling and while this isn’t a straight up retelling of Rapunzel, the fairy tale clearly provided some inspiration for Sophie’s story here. It was remarkable and truly what I love most about fairy tale retellings or inspired by fairy tale stories! There’s just enough similarities there to make for a familiar story, yet knowing that there’s a whole load of new possibilities to come. It’s hard for me to describe precisely, obviously, but I feel like there are times where I enjoy the “inspired by” stories a little more than straight up retellings, because with the former, you truly never know where the story will go!

This story was pretty fast paced as Fowler and Luna are struggling to get past the many dangers and get to a city they are told is the “safest” place to be when in a world that is just dangerous to be in anywhere. I particularly liked how things were described when Luna was at the helm of the storytelling, as the story is divvied up between her and Fowler. It’s remarkable how much she was able to perceive without being able to see it. And Fowler grew to be more patient and kind with Luna. His describing what colors are was so heartfelt, I was swooning far earlier than anticipated!

This was just the most absolute perfect blend of fairy tales, fantasy, action, adventure, chills and thrills, romance…seriously I cannot get over how amazing this book is! If I were to have a complaint it would be that it wasn’t long enough! Lol! And omg, am I glad I waited to read this one with the second/final one because that ending…I had heard it was cliffhanger worthy but omg that was one of the worst kinds of cliffhangers. I am flashing back to the worst cliffhangers of all time because this one definitely fits the bill in that area, hence why I will not cut this review short…or somewhat short as I stare up at all those paragraphs!

Reign of Shadows was truly amazing! It’s the best kind of fantasy read one could read especially if you favor the fairy tales and a sweeping, slow-burning romance! Pure perfection! I don’t care what anyone else says! Lol!


Overall Rating 5/5 stars