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A review by winter_is_reading
A Life of Shadows by Kristen Banet
4.0
Great series for fans of RH, urban fantasy, and strong assassin FMCs. I read this to get over my Age of The Andinna book hangover, and while I prefer AOTA over this it’s still intense and hard to put down. I have some mixed feelings over it though.
What I like:
- Strong FMC
I’m a fan of FMCs that don’t whine or wait on other men to solve their problems, so I loved this stoic assassin. Her story is heart wrenching, and she’s incredible.
- Neat magic
The idea that every Magi can have up to 5 abilities with varying levels of rarity is pretty cool!
What I didn’t like:
- Native American representation
I know that Quinn’s “savage” side comes from his white mother, but having the half-Native character be constantly described as “feral” “savage” “primitive” etc is a bad move. It perpetuates some harmful stereotypes about Native characters.
- MM could go harder
The MM in the book is more a convenience thing rather than a “two men dedicated and in love with each other” thing. I know a lot of authors do this so that the woman is still the focal point in a RH relationship, but honestly I don’t care for that. I love polyamorous books where the MM is as deep and meaningful as the MF relationships. Loving one person shouldn’t detract from loving another.
- Class RH “is it ok if I’m dating all of you?”
I get annoyed when a good chunk of romance dialogue is the FMC waiting for the MMCs to get jealous of each other. Also if the MMCs are jealous, I don’t blame them, because each of them seem to only get laid once every two weeks. After coming from AOTA, this jealousy RH plot point felt tiring.
- My “ship” didn’t happen
I fully thought there would be a Magi/non-Magi romance at the last book (kinda like the Andinna/Elf romance in AOTA) and I was sorely mistaken. So I am sad. #LiamandSawyer4ever
Spice: 2-3 out of 5. Banet’s sex scenes are rather quick and few and far between (compared to other authors). Honestly I think she could go bigger with them, what with all of the buildup each relationship has.
CW: off-page rape, child abuse, grooming, domestic violence
What I like:
- Strong FMC
I’m a fan of FMCs that don’t whine or wait on other men to solve their problems, so I loved this stoic assassin. Her story is heart wrenching, and she’s incredible.
- Neat magic
The idea that every Magi can have up to 5 abilities with varying levels of rarity is pretty cool!
What I didn’t like:
- Native American representation
I know that Quinn’s “savage” side comes from his white mother, but having the half-Native character be constantly described as “feral” “savage” “primitive” etc is a bad move. It perpetuates some harmful stereotypes about Native characters.
- MM could go harder
The MM in the book is more a convenience thing rather than a “two men dedicated and in love with each other” thing. I know a lot of authors do this so that the woman is still the focal point in a RH relationship, but honestly I don’t care for that. I love polyamorous books where the MM is as deep and meaningful as the MF relationships. Loving one person shouldn’t detract from loving another.
- Class RH “is it ok if I’m dating all of you?”
I get annoyed when a good chunk of romance dialogue is the FMC waiting for the MMCs to get jealous of each other. Also if the MMCs are jealous, I don’t blame them, because each of them seem to only get laid once every two weeks. After coming from AOTA, this jealousy RH plot point felt tiring.
- My “ship” didn’t happen
I fully thought there would be a Magi/non-Magi romance at the last book (kinda like the Andinna/Elf romance in AOTA) and I was sorely mistaken. So I am sad. #LiamandSawyer4ever
Spice: 2-3 out of 5. Banet’s sex scenes are rather quick and few and far between (compared to other authors). Honestly I think she could go bigger with them, what with all of the buildup each relationship has.
CW: off-page rape, child abuse, grooming, domestic violence