Review: Shadow Kin by M.J. Scott

Shadow Kin (The Half-Light City #1) by M.J. Scott

Paperback, 324 pages.

Published: Sept. 6th, 2011 by Roc

Source: Purchased

Welcome to the Half-Light City.

Imagine a city divided. On one side, the Night World, ruled by the Blood Lords and the Beast Kind. On the other, the elusive Fae and the humans, protected by their steadfast mages. A city held together by nothing more than a treaty-and even then, just barely...

I was born of a Fae mother, but I had no place amongst her kind. They called me "soulless." An abomination. Perhaps they're right...I'm a wraith, a shadow who slips between worlds. I was given into the service of a Blood Lord who raised me to be his most feared assassin. Still, I'm nothing more than a slave to my master, and to the need that only he can fulfill...

Then he orders me to kill Simon DuCaine, a powerful sunmage. In the blaze of his magic, my own disappears. Instead of seeking revenge, Simon shows me mercy. He wants to free me. But that's one thing my master and his kind will never allow.

And even if I thought I could trust Simon, stepping from the shadow into the light isn't as simple as it sounds...

I was really excited to finally get a chance to start reading this book.  It had sat on my shelf for awhile and was just calling my name.  I love that the cover has this bad-ass looking chick and it has a steampunk vibe about it as well.  Within the pages of the book I found that this is a bad-ass chick but the steampunk is pretty much non-existent.  However that was fine with me.

This one changes the tables for us.  It seems like so often we read about the bad guy who's done lots of terrible things and feels he's undeserving of the good girl he falls in love with.  This time it was the girl who had done lots of horrible things and the good guy (though still FIERCE) who falls in love with her.  I liked it, but I felt like maybe the vibe between them could have used a bit more build up before they fell into each others arms.  That was a minor issue though.

The book started out tediously slow for me.  As it's the start of a series that's really not too surprising, but I just couldn't find the patience for it.  So I kept reading a chapter or two here and there between other books.  Then I hit the middle of the book and suddenly I couldn't put it down and I read the remainder in an evening.  I think learning about the new world and all the creatures in it was just a bit too much for me, but once I got everything figured out and was invested in the characters and their story I found I really loved it, and them.

I loved Simon's personality straight away.  But Lily had to grow on me a bit.  I felt like she kept us at arms length.  It's to be expected, she's gone through a lot.  She has to learn to trust and find her true self that she's kept hidden for so many years.

Overall this ended up being a good story, and I think that perhaps it may be the start to a great series. {I just looked and it looks like the next book is more of a companion novel, but that's fine, at least now I'm familiar with the world.} 

This is one adult book that I do recommend for adults.  It has some sex scenes as well as some serious gore in fight scenes.

  
I purchased this book myself and all opinions expressed are my own.  I was not paid or influenced in any way.