Beautiful and enchanting loved this read! Amazing story, wonderful writing style kept me up long after my bed time

Moonshadow is a Kingdom that needs protection of the demonic kind. Riminira has a complicated history and start. Telars are living in swamps, forcefully and in poverty.

At first, while reading the jumps in time through Riana’s eyes, I was confused. We get to see multiple timelines of her life. We also get the viewpoint of another character of significance in the plot. Although I had to keep track of so many details, when the story starts coming together, I couldn’t stop reading until the end.

Every jump in history in this world, every twist and turn gave so much richness to the plot and made the story more complex and enjoyable. I would say that if you struggle with different time and plot jumps that can confuse, maybe skip this one. But if you can handle this aspect, keep at it – it will make sense eventually.

The writing style is engaging, even in the slower moments I was still urged to keep reading. I have found some grammatical errors, but not enough to deter me from the plot.

There is definitely much more to this story and this world that must be explored. I would certainly be one to read more of Riana’s adventures in this magical world.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the review of the book.

I wanted to love but that was not the case. I really had to push my way. I don't think it was bad. It just wasn't for me. I should have know since there were dragons. I don't normally do well with dragon books but I tried.

I am only rating based on my love/hate with it. Others may love it if they love dragons.

You can find this review and all of my others over at www.readbookrepeat.wordpress.com

Actual rating of 3.5

Riana has been in the demon realm for so long now, she's lost count. Destined to live out the same pain and torture over and over again, with no chance of the sweet relief of death. Not only that, but she is still tormented by past memories, memories that cause so much pain and anguish, that they are their own kind of torture. Loki appears before her and offers her a reprieve from her torture, she must go to Moonshadow and fix a problem. No, not Magdalene's curse, that's old news and mostly dealt with now, there's a new problem. The Queen and the royal heir are infected with a plague, they are running out of time. She must find the culprit, end the plague, put Moonshadow back together again, then and only then, will she be free. The pain of going back to Moonshadow after so many centuries is palpable, but if it means she will be free finally to live her own life wherever she deems fit, then maybe it's worth it. Armed with a sword gifted from Loki, a dragon named Rolf and her pain, Riana sets out to try and end the plague, but will she do it in time?

This ended up turning into an enjoyable story, though I found that it did drag a bit in places. There was no info dumping, it was drip fed as the story progressed which was good, it meant that I was able to take in a lot more details than I would have otherwise.

Riana (aka Naomi at the start of the story) is a character steeped in sorrow. She carries so much guilt for past mistakes or oversights that she constantly has a black cloud of despair hanging over her. She has nightmares almost every night, reliving things that she cannot change. This is about the only depth that we get to her though. For over half of the story, I felt like I couldn't connect with her barely at all, and she was severely lacking any depth. Yes she's a tortured soul (literally) and she's so full of guilt and sadness, but I just couldn't get a feel for her character at all. She was very two dimensional, up until I was about a quarter from the end, then it felt like I was starting to 'get' her, it felt like she was gaining a little more depth here, I just wish it had have happened a lot earlier in the story. It's hard to connect to a character and become enthralled in the story telling if there's no depth to the protagonist.

The story itself was an interesting one. It jumped between the POV of Riana - in present and past, and Khari. We get to see the beginning of this war from alternating perspectives and I thought that was brilliant.

I felt like all of the characters bar Riana had depth. Wow, I just keep saying that word don't I haha. Unfortunately there's no other way to describe it. All other characters that we encountered I could connect to, I could feel a love/hate or indifference to their existence. Riana just felt like there was a wall there that I couldn't get past. Was this intentional? If so, a stroke of genius in a way, but I feel like it wasn't.

Rolf. Oh my dear heart, Rolf. What an absolutely FANTASTIC character he was. We didn't see him all the time, just here and there but he was such a pure, beautiful, innocent soul which is so awesome and different for a dragon character in my opinion. I absolutely LOVED him. I'm going to try and talk about this next part without giving away any SPOILERS so if you don't want to risk it, maybe skip ahead to the next paragraph. Near the end, after the final battle, a thing happens, and I felt like it should have hit me emotionally, but I just felt nothing and it was all kind of rushed over and there was no emotion put into it at all. This kind of annoyed me. Actually the whole ending of the book felt like this to be honest. Though I did feel a spark of happiness when Loki agreed to Riana's terms. I felt like she deserved a break by this stage and we all know how Jacob VIII's reign is going to end up. I would have loved to have seen an epilogue where we get the slight glimpse of a reunion between Riana and those of you who have read the book will know who I'm talking about. I just really wish there was that spark of hopefulness added to the end, yes we have a tiny one, but I really wanted this other one to be included too. If just would have really rounded out the story for me I feel. Though I'm wondering if it would have because as I said, some of the most pivotal scenes seemed to rushed over and had no emotion injected into them at all, which was a severe shame. I'm not sure if it was done intentionally, or if it was one of those "I'm so close to the end I need to finish" things.

I would love to read more about Riana and what's going to happen from now on. I just hope that she has a little more depth and that reunion I was talking about happens at some stage :)

This is a very complicated book to review.

To briefly explain. Riana is a demon. She has been alive for centuries. She wasnt born a demon however, she was born to a human mother who didnt want her to be a demon but took her to a special temple to see if her powers would kick in and she would change forms. In the process of this she killed her mother and then her father took her to hell i can assume although its never specified.

Riana is assigned by Loki the mischief God, to protect a young princess called Eternia, but things happen and Eternia dies and Riana is tortured for over 300 years. Then she gets a 2nd chance and Loki assigns her to a King called Jacob 8th who wants her to find out who has caused a plague that is not only killing his people, but his only son.

Now i have niggles. All the Jacobs confsed me, there was no need to name all the kings the same name, i was shaking my head at times going what, who, when did that happen and had to go back to clarify things. Also Rolf. Really? Not amused. And i dont see how her and Andre ended up together so quickly. It was bizarre and almost put there as an afterthought just to allow her to have some reason to live but there was no connection between them that i had read, i didnt see a romance coming because it was never there so that could have been written better.

I would however read book 2 but only to see Rolf come back.

Thank you to NetGalley, BooksGoSocial and Dianna Gunn for a free copy. This an honest review.

Moonshadow's Guardian is about a girl named Riana and her quest to be free. Riana sees some old friends, makes some new, gets a pet dragon and must destroys another's culture to gain her freedom.

While the world was cool and interesting I did struggle with this book. I felt like I was missing information and at times I was just bored. Loved the dragon though. I felt like the use of Loki was weird because really any god could have been used or the author could have created her own god system and it would have benefited the story more. The use of Loki kind of ruined the story for me from the beginning.

2 stars for me because I don't recommend this book and did not like it. I wanted to and the world was interesting but I just did not connect with this book.

I wasn't sure what to expect from this but I was pleasantly surprised a light fun read, however needed some more world building and I found the heroine reminiscent of a few other leading mc's from popular series. The pacing could be a bit stilted at times but a promising start and hope to see more in the future.

Not a bad story but the similar names and constant pov changes pulled me away from the story too many times.

Overall an enjoyable read. I feel like this would have been a favorite book of mine when I was younger. I really enjoyed the characters and the fantastical elements included as well as even some mythology. The fact that Loki was included along with a dragon...how can you go wrong?

My only complaint would be at times the story just felt like it dragged a tad. Small complaint though for me. Would recommend for lovers of fun middle grade sort of reads.

Thank you so much to Netgalley and publishers for allowing me to review an arc of this book!

All Riana has ever wanted is freedom. Unfortunately, that’s the one thing her kind cannot have. Bound by the curse in her demonic blood for millennia, Riana has tried several times to bend the rules and live out her life in the mortal realm. Now her consistent rule breaking has drawn the attention of Loki, God of mischief, the man tormentor of Riana’s kind. But instead of punishing her, he offers her the escape she has always desired. All she has to do is save the kingdom of Moonshadow from a mysterious magical plague. Armed only with inherit power of her own blood and Loki’s pet dragon, Riana is determined to fight to create her own destiny. Moonshadow’s Guardian is a tale about the meaning of belonging, and the struggle to create a future not defined by your past.

Favourite Quote: “Maybe he was right. Maybe I didn’t want to die. Maybe all I wanted was freedom.”

Synopsis

Riana, or rather Naomi as she was known back then, was 14 years old when she went through her demon transition. The beast that erupted from her skin blasted her mother to pieces before her very eyes, right before the demon God of Mischief, Loki, took her to the demon realm to live out her immortal life.
Riana has felt torture a thousand times over in her lifetime, but even after hundreds of years, the pain of losing her mother still hurts the most. A demon with a conscience is rare to come by, and all she wants is freedom to live in the mortal world.
Over the centuries, Riana has been contracted to carry out missions within the mortal realm that allows her some peace within her tortured demon soul. A chance to feel the grass beneath her feet, feel the wind in her hair, watch the sunrise, a small sense of what it could be like to be free. The contracts never last, human life is so short and fleeting for an immortal being which always bring her back down to the torment in hell.

When Riana refuses to join the demons to take part in the moral war, the penalty should have been death or at least a century of imprisonment in the demon realm, so when Loki offers her the chance to become a Guardian-class demon for a high mortal family in the one place she felt at home; Moonshadow, she can’t help but get suspicious. Especially when he offers her freedom if she succeeds. Why was Loki, the demon God of Mischief who spent centuries being her main tormentor, offering her everything she’s ever wanted? Why was he providing her with a powerful weapon and a fierce companion to help carry out the task? It didn’t matter, everything was worth the freedom. Loki wouldn’t allow her to refuse anyway, even if she wanted too.

‘I glared at Loki. “Why are you helping me?” I had never been given a weapon before my other summonings, let alone something so powerful.
A dark expression flickered across his face, too quickly for me to identify. “Perhaps it is you who are helping me. Now go.”
I didn’t like that answer at all.’

My Thoughts

I wasn’t sure what to expect when I requested a copy of Moonshadow’s Guardian from the author. I’ve read countless books in the perspective of vampires, werewolves, witches and other things demonic, but never from an immortal demon. I was definitely intrigued and straight away the story pulled me in. It was a bit confusing at first to read about the Vonstones and all of the different family members, I had to read it twice to get my head around so much sudden information from Riana’s past life experiences with Jacob III and her new current mission for the family with Jacob VIII.

I really liked how the author built up Riana’s character from the various flashbacks of her life as a demon, whether it’s fighting in the arena or simply remembering a memory within the mortal world. You really get a sense of what kind of temperament she has through her experiences even as a demon. She feels guilt, loneliness, pain, grief, love and compassion, which isn’t exactly common in the demon realm. Her passion for doing the right thing, such as not joining the war in the mortal realm and fighting for the people of Moon Spire rather than just the royal family is impressive for one so powerful yet caged. Riana’s guilt lasts forever, it’s been hundreds of years since her mother died and yet she still feels the pain of it even now. I liked how she kept parts of her humanity which keep her grounded like the simple gesture of braiding her hair which reminds her of her life before her demon transformation. She would do absolutely anything to be free in the mortal realm, which is still incomprehensible to me over the time scale in the book and all of her demon experiences.

‘I thought I had protected her.
“Stop it, damn it.” I pressed my hands against the sides of my skull, as if to somehow compress my memories back behind the mental walls I had built. As if those walls weren’t still crumbling.
A sob erupted from my chest, then another, and another. I curled up into a ball and let the tears come.’

The story has repeated flashbacks with different perspectives, depending on the importance of the subject at the time. I quite liked this aspect as you were able to follow Riana’s memories in different emotional recollections. We also get the perspective of our mysterious plague perpetrator, a powerful telar who could be anywhere within the Kingdom who is threatening the royal family as well as the people. The pace was actually really well done for such a large timescale, I never felt like the story was rushed in any way. The flash backs and different perspectives really brought it together nicely.

The characters were brilliantly written. Andre Vonstone with his dark past who doesn’t care much for politics, is a vampire looking for a challenge and a worthy cause. His mysterious behaviour and desire to be away from the castle to help Riana makes us cautious but intrigued, especially when he beings to innocently flirt with her. As dangerously enigmatic as he is, Andre also has another caring side with added charm and charisma which pulls you in.
Rolf was a lovely aspect of the story, a dragon created by a demon God to be tame and friendly isn’t what Riana expected but she can’t help but feel drawn to his innocent childlike mind. Rolf is sweet and caring who is fascinated with the mortal world along with magic and demonic powers. A companion worthy of friendship that will make you smile as you hear his thoughts connecting to her.
My favourite character definitely had to be Loki, the demon God of Mischief. He doesn’t make alot of appearances but when he does, he brings a fantastic smug appeal which was brilliant. I wish we could have had more of Loki!

‘Stone ground against stone with a terrible sound as it swung open, revealing Loki. He pulled a ridiculously tall hat off his head and bowed dramatically. He always did like to make a show of things, especially when they concerned life and death.’

Overall I really enjoyed the story, the characters were great, the scenes were fantastic, the pace was well planned and the story felt satisfying. For a demon’s perspective, it had the right about of gruesome scenes that kept up with the horrors of war, plague, zombies, vampires as well as flashes into the demon realm.

I found that this story dragged. For me I got confused with the constant change of narrators. Sorry, didn't enjoy it.

I really enjoyed this book. Characters include a demon haunted by her past, a royal family of vampires, mages with a bone to pick, and a loveable dragon, which is basically the recipe for a great read. This is fantasy with a slight political element, and a world that the author only touches the surface of in terms of its rich history and fascinating ruling families.
The story is interesting and switches between two character perspectives, using past events through our main character’s nightmares to provide more context to what is happening. Our main character’s demonic profession was something I thought was intriguing, and I wish we could’ve spent more time learning about her time below when she wasn’t being summoned to serve in the mortal world.
I wish the author would’ve done a bit more world building in this first book, something that I think is important when setting the stage for current events being caused by the layering of bad choices historical figures made and the devastating effects on the countries and populations. These elements seemed mostly on the surface for me when they could’ve gone a lot deeper and been more detailed for even richer context. I want more on the history of the royal beings whose names send shivers up the spines of those uttering them, and what all makes them so worthy of our fear. I want to travel back in time to the kingdoms mentioned, in their glory days before destruction ruined their nation. More on the telars and their everyday life as a god's chosen people before, during, and after Magdalene turned her back on them. I really wanted to examine more of this world the author has created. The imagination and creativity behind the overall story is wonderful and can give the reader so much more if pushed a little deeper.
Overall, I still enjoyed the journey the book took me on, and I will definitely be continuing with the series when the next book releases.

Moonshadow’s Guardian by Dianna Gunn is a unique fantasy story. I wasn’t sure what to expect at first. But I kept reading and after the first few chapters I just couldn't put it down.

What caught my attention was a specific name in the description, Loki. I love Loki. I read everything that has his character in it. So this was a must read for me. He doesn’t have that many lines but when he does appear he is amazing.

The story is set in a fictional place called Moonshadow. A plague ravages the country so its king summons Riana to help them. As she goes through a whole lot of difficulties she changes, evolves. Some things get revelead from her past in the form of her nightmares. I really liked this because it was more interesting this way.

Riana was human once with a different name. What’s more important is that she is a demon now. A demon with a conscience. She always gets into trouble but we are given only a little information about that. I really liked Riana, her attitude towards her being a demon. Her attitude towards people. Not the usual way demons behave.

Rolf, the dragon. He is such a sweet thing, definitely one of my favourite character. He is given to Riana by Loki. What is the most the interesting about him is that despite of being Loki’s creature, he is nothing like him.

Andre Vonstone...what to say about him. I fell in love with him along with Riana.

Thank you NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for this copy.

Moonshadow's Guardian was an... interesting read.
Writing a book is difficult, so I'll try and focus on the good points of this novel.
The main character is a demon who at times possesses the soul of a mortal. You enjoy seeing the story unfold through her eyes, even though she's lived for thousands of years and her memories can confuse you at times. Her father is the God Loki, and their interactions, though few, are quite satisfying.
She's been sent on a quest which will grant her freedom and along the way she meets some characters that touch her heart.
Here it becomes tricky. There are quite a lot of characters (with similar names) that you get introduced to, but you don't in a sense actually get to 'know' well. It hints that these characters have secrets and immortal pasts yet none of that is explained. I sometimes felt that I missed a prologue about the setting and needed some background information about the Vondstones and Moodshadow to help with the world building. Maybe that's just me. It became clearer as the story went on, however those unanswered questions still lingered. The plot ended somewhat satisfyingly and I suppose if I was younger I would be happy that some of my queries were left unresolved.