Thursday, July 29, 2021

Review of Half Sick of Shadows by Laura Sebastian

 

Read for: Requested Review/ Netgalley/ Anticipated Release

Synopsis: "Everyone knows the legend. Of Arthur, destined to be a king. Of the beautiful Guinevere, who will betray him with his most loyal knight, Lancelot. Of the bitter sorceress, Morgana, who will turn against them all. But Elaine alone carries the burden of knowing what is to come--for Elaine of Shalott is cursed to see the future.

On the mystical isle of Avalon, Elaine runs free and learns of the ancient prophecies surrounding her and her friends--countless possibilities, almost all of them tragic.

When their future comes to claim them, Elaine, Guinevere, Lancelot, and Morgana accompany Arthur to take his throne in stifling Camelot, where magic is outlawed, the rules of society chain them, and enemies are everywhere. Yet the most dangerous threats may come from within their own circle.

As visions are fulfilled and an inevitable fate closes in, Elaine must decide how far she will go to change fate--and what she is willing to sacrifice along the way.

The Lady of Shalott reclaims her story in this bold feminist reimagining of the Arthurian myth from the New York Times bestselling author of Ash Princess."

My Review:  I am always excited for new Arthurian re-tellings, especially ones focused on the characters that are more on the side lines, because their stories can be played with a bit more. I was really excited for the premise of this story, Lady of Shalott taking control of her own destiny, more feminist driven story. Unfortunately, I struggled quite a bit with this one. I really didn't get much of a feminist voice from this one, yes we know how the story goes, but I was hoping for a bit more of a backbone from the ladies, more of a leadership role. I also really struggled with the way the timeline jumps around throughout the book with no warning or break you jump from current timeline, to a memory and into the visions of the future, it gets rather difficult to keep straight and really slows the pacing of the book down. Sebastian did throw some twists on the original stories which were intriguing but I wanted them to be taken further. Sadly, I found this one a bit unsatisfying and not really jumping for more.

My Rating: I am honestly a bit bummed about this one, I think maybe I hyped it up a bit too much in my mind after reading some really fantastic re-tellings in the past couple of years.  Maybe if I was in the mood for a slower more meandering story it would have hit me better. I give it a rating Two Paws. 

I received a complimentary copy of this book via Netgalley, the above is my honest review and opinion.

You can find out more about Laura Sebastian and her books on her Goodreads Page or Website.

Half Sick of Shadows was just released July 6th so you can obtain your own copy in print or digital format from Amazon or Barnes & Noble or request it at your local library or bookstore.

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