I’d like to preface this review with the fact that I desperately wanted to like this book a whole lot more than I did. I was so excited to read it. I’d seen Of Silver and Shadow compared to Throne of Glass with a magic system partly reminiscent of Avatar: The Last Airbender, among other comparison titles that made it seem like this was going to be the book for me. Unfortunately, it fell rather flat, and so this review will likely be rather short.

Gruenke’s engaging writing style, well-choreographed action scenes, detailed worldbuilding and original magic system unfortunately could not save the many pitfalls of Of Silver and Shadow – while certainly excellent ingredients, if I’m running with this metaphor, they do not comprise the ‘full meal’ I was expecting going into this book. I’m usually a fan of ensemble casts and having multiple points of view, but in this case, I feel they held this particular story – and its pacing – back, slowing it down at several points throughout. Said plot doesn’t truly ‘get going’ until a decent way through the book, and if Gruenke’s aforementioned writing style was any less entertaining, it’s likely I’d have put it down. Couple that with the little to no character development from any of the many point of view characters in Of Silver and Shadow (I lost count at 4 – there might have been more, or that might have just been it) and lack of romantic chemistry between either of the two ‘main’ pairings besides some backstory and a heaping spoonful of banter, it was safe to say this book was a severe letdown for me. The romance between the book’s main couple, Ren and Darek, was clearly a slow-burn, but by the time it reached its pinnacle, I couldn’t find it in me to care, or at least to the extent I normally like to do (considering I’m a romance-orientated reader; a ship is often my favourite aspect of a book!).

The magic system has a little development towards the end of the book, that helped make way for some pleasantly surprising plot twists but apart from my enjoyment of Ren as a protagonist (albeit, not as much as I would’ve liked) and a somewhat satisfactory, sort of open, sort of closed ending, it wasn’t enough to save this book for me or allow me to rate it any higher.

That being said, I would be willing to pick up any future books Jennifer Gruenke decides to publish. But, unfortunately, as much as I wished it was, Of Silver and Shadow was not the book for me.

This review will be posted to my blog, Princess of Ink (https://princessofink.wordpress.com), on Friday 5th February 2021 at 10am GMT (UK time).

This was a good start to what seems to be a new series, though the fights were somewhat childish at times and the character development could have been a little more thorough.

Ren has lived a hard life, literally fighting for survival because she carries a dark secret that if discovered would mean her death. The only survivor of the assassination of her family, Ren blames her carelessness for her family's deaths, because she has the power to wield silver. King Mathias is a vicious tyrant whose legacy is a reign of fear that killed anyone who could wield Silver, created an army of soldiers trained since childhood to be deadly and remorseless, and an heir that isn't much different. When Ren is suddenly recruited to a secret rebellion by two noble brothers Darek and Markus, she risks her life and everyone she knows for the chance at a better future and unimaginable wealth.
This book has a lot going on. It is told through four points of view, luckily they are all very different with very distinct storylines, but it was a lot. While Ren and Darek seem to be the driving force behind this story, the addition of Adley, a member of the king's personal army known as King's Child, and Kellen, the second-born prince with interesting secrets of his own, you get a lot of information and charisma. I don't usually like books with more than two POVs but this one worked. I was never confused about who was narrating, but it did take some time to get to know everyone and their connections. It was full of interesting connections that were interesting to watch unfold.
The Kingdom of Erdis is a complicated place. There is some discontent with neighboring kingdoms, it is vastly divided amongst itself and there is a large celebration going on. Some of that seemed a little much at times. The magic was my biggest problem. I won't go into too much detail because I don't want to spoil any of it, but there was just this one connection that seems to come out of nowhere, that explains so much, but was a completely new concept, that this character just happened to know. It felt rushed, incomplete and unsatisfying.
I did enjoy Ren and her growth as a character. It was fun to watch her banter with other characters, her sass was strong and her temper was fast, but it was nice to see her grow and open up. Darek was a tough sell for me, I didn't much like him for most of the book and didn't know how I felt about his relationship with Ren. Kellen was a blessed treat, dripping with charisma. Adley was a wildcard for me, I loved her background and story, and it was, in my personal opinion, the most emotional one. I felt the deepest emotional connection to her. The villains were fantastic, I loathed them with all my being.
This book had its share of problems but in the end, I enjoyed watching Ren and her band of misfits lead a rebellion and be the total badasses that they are. I think this book could do well with a series, if not just a few short stories about the main characters or world lore.

I enjoyed this action packed novel. There was never a dull moment in the book which made it fly by when I read it. The world building was very well done and you definitely felt like you were there with the main characters throughout the book. The only thing that bothered me was the romance aspect as it didn't really work for me because it wasn't super realistic. I might be alone in this so don't let it deter you but Ren's rudeness was a little much at times.

Loved the rich atmosphere of this YA fantasy! So easy to sink into and live in the world created with such lush details. I liked the heroine, which is unusual for me. I did feel kept at arm's length the entire story in order to keep certain aspects a mystery, which made connecting with the characters a little harder. I would have rather known the secrets earlier on so I could be on the pov character's side to know what they were stressing over and feel that with them, rather than feeling kept in the dark.

This book was absolutely amazing.

There was unique magic system, an unapologetic heroine, a built weapon for the king, a confident prince, a rough-around-the edges rebel and some marshmallow side characters. The setting is this : a king killed everyone with magic so he could be the only one with magic. He is trying to take over other countries, but they are resisting. The kick is that he didn't kill someone who he thought he did.. and she doesn't have a care in the WORLD about anything political. She just wants to pick pockets, live her life, fight in the pits and play some cards. So when the rebels approach her with a proposition to try to over throw the king.. she doesn't care, LOL. I just loved how she was like "I could care less who is on the throne, leave me alone" and was so unapologetic.

The only thing I have to complain about is how abrupt the ending was. I feel like there could have been a whole other book for the last few chapters. This is apparently a standalone and that made me sad! I loved the characters in this book tho. There is a lot of development between characters and a lot of twists I never saw coming.

Pick this book up!

I definitely finished this book in one sitting. What a fantastic ride that was... I adored Frey and Ren’s friendship. They were such opposites but they just had this bond that was heartwarming.

I loved the storyline and the characters (most of them)

My ONE hangup was how they just include two certain people (no spoilers) at the end... even though everything they had done (and also enjoyed it).

Other than that I really enjoyed this book

Disclaimer: I received this e-arc from the publisher. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Book: Of Silver and Shadows

Author: Jennifer Gruenke

Book Series: Standalone?

Rating: 3.5/5

Recommended For...: ya, fantasy, heist books

Publication Date: February 26, 2021

Publisher: Flux

Pages: 480

Recommended Age: 15+ (violence, gore, romance, assassination, slight language)

Synopsis:Ren Kolins is a silver wielder—a dangerous thing to be in the kingdom of Erdis, where magic has been outlawed for a century. Ren is just trying to survive, sticking to a life of petty thievery, card games, and pit fighting to get by. But when a wealthy rebel leader discovers her secret, he offers her a fortune to join his revolution. The caveat: she won’t see a single coin until they overthrow the King.

Behind the castle walls, a brutal group of warriors known as the King’s Children is engaged in a competition: the first to find the rebel leader will be made King’s Fang, the right hand of the King of Erdis. And Adley Farre is hunting down the rebels one by one, torturing her way to Ren and the rebel leader, and the coveted King’s Fang title.

But time is running out for all of them, including the youngest Prince of Erdis, who finds himself pulled into the rebellion. Political tensions have reached a boiling point, and Ren and the rebels must take the throne before war breaks out.

Review: For the most part this was a good book. I liked the story and the plot was intriguing. It kept me hooked on the book until the end. The characters were also very well developed.

However, the beginning is really hard for the reader to get into. It's wrote in a bit of a wonky way and the pacing is really slow in the beginning. The book also didn't have a lot of world building.

Verdict: It was a good book.

I really loved this read. This book combined so many of my favorite story elements like found family, unlikely friendships, and such a fun magic system. I am unsure if this book will turn into a series but this book can be read as a standalone, but if more books come out I will def check them out. I am stastifed with the ending. I loved that we got we got so many different characters point of view and they all grew on me and such a fun read. I also really loved the magic system and it reminds of Avatar the last air bender and the characters of this book were def a standout!!

This was such a great fantasy. Pulled me right in from the get go and didn’t let me go until the end.

A century before Of Silver and Shadow takes place, all the silver wielders in Edris (gifted people with the ability, passed on genetically, to manipulate the silver in their blood almost like magic), save for the royal family, were executed during the Silver Purge by order of the King.

Of Silver and Shadow is told from the perspectives of four different characters. Ren, an orphaned silver wielder in hiding who makes a living by stealing, gambling, and fighting in the pits; Darek, the handsome yet annoying head of the rebellion who recruits Ren (using financial incentives) to join the fight to overthrow the evil and powerful King of Edris; Kellen, the youngest Prince of Edris and the black sheep of the family who could care less about his title and is living secret a double life; and Adley, a ruthless warrior working for the King (called a King’s Child) tasked with destroying the rebellion in order to earn the coveted title of King’s Fang while attempting to hide her prohibited relationship with Lesa.

When I read the description for this book, I thought that it would be okay, but it ended up drastically exceeding my expectations! This is Jennifer Gruenke’s debut novel and I am now a big fan of her work. Due to similarities in the plot and setting, this book would be ideal for fans of YA fantasy novels such as Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard, Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas, and Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo.

I thought that this book was very engaging, action-packed, and fast-paced; I loved how Gruenke incorporated lots of unexpected surprises and twists into the plot. I also thought that the concept of the silver wielders was very cool and unique; the powerful descriptions of the silver wielders presented in the novel make it very clear why the rebellion wanted to kick the powerful King off the throne and why the King took such drastic measures to ensure that the royals were the only silver wielders in Edris. Without giving anything away, I really enjoyed reading about Ren’s romantic relationship that develops throughout Of Silver and Shadow; I wish that more of this romantic plot line was included in the novel (perhaps we will get to hear more about Ren’s relationship if/ when the sequel is released).

Even though I thought that this book was well-written, I felt like things were often repeated and some information was lost because the story was told from multiple different perspectives. Another downside for me was the violent and detailed descriptions of the punishments that the King (and the King’s Children) dished out and the fights that took place in the pits; I would have preferred if these violent events were either less descriptive or less frequent.

Since this book ended in a bit of a cliffhanger (not everything was nicely wrapped up), I am really hoping that Gruenke will be writing a sequel soon! If there is a sequel, it will definitely be on my TBR list. Overall, I really liked this book and would recommend it to fellow readers.

This book started out very strong! I was captivated and loved the characters. But, the further I read the more I lost interest. There was so much world building the pacing slowed. I think the world was interesting and this was a good book. The pacing just felt slow for me at times (possibly because it jumped POVs)

A genetic ya fantasy with a bland magic system that which wouldn’t be a problem if the characters were more interesting unfortunately. Overall it’s fine just didn’t catch my eye like other fantasies did

I was given a eBook copy of the book for my honest review.

Of Silver and Shadow Started Running, as soon as you started reading it you were immersed in the world the author had built. it was fun of action and magic from beginning to end.

I thoroughly enjoyed the fight from the rebels, The world Building was Excellent and the character descriptions were amazing without taking away from the story. I liked how the author was able to describe the world and everything inside without starting to bore the reader.

The author had multiple POV's Which can be difficult for most to manage, but the author succeeded and had great transitions for all of them to merge together.

Over all I will be giving the book 4/5*

Synopsis: Ren Kolins is a silver wielder—a dangerous thing to be in the kingdom of Erdis, where magic has been outlawed for a century. Ren is just trying to survive, sticking to a life of petty thievery, card games, and pit fighting to get by. But when a wealthy rebel leader discovers her secret, he offers her a fortune to join his revolution. The caveat: she won’t see a single coin until they overthrow the King.

Behind the castle walls, a brutal group of warriors known as the King’s Children is engaged in a competition: the first to find the rebel leader will be made King’s Fang, the right hand of the King of Erdis. And Adley Farre is hunting down the rebels one by one, torturing her way to Ren and the rebel leader, and the coveted King’s Fang title.

But time is running out for all of them, including the youngest Prince of Erdis, who finds himself pulled into the rebellion. Political tensions have reached a boiling point, and Ren and the rebels must take the throne before war breaks out.

The concept behind Of Silver and Shadow was so intriguing! I love weird magic concepts, and who can turn away from a royal competition?

But maybe it was the pandemic, maybe it was me, but I just couldn’t get into this one.

I kept finding myself rereading paragraphs constantly. I couldn’t get past chapter one, even though the prose was good. It had to be pandemic brain that kept me from truly enjoying this book.

The cover is beautiful, and I LOVE the trend of having the title look like the thing it describes–the “Of Silver” looks like its made of silver and the “and Shadow” looks like shadows. It’s so pretty.

I recommend this one on concept alone; I find it unfair for me to rate this one due to the situation. I wasn’t able to read a single book between March and November.

Originally slated for a May 2020 release, Of Silver and Shadow releases February 16, 2021. Maybe I’ll give this one a second chance this year when the physical copy hits shelves.

This was quite a ride living through the rebellion with Ren and her companions. OF SILVER AND SHADOW is a fast-paced thrill of an uprising packed with mystery, edgy characters, and surprises around every corner.

The story follows Ren, a brass and quick-fingered theif who is just out to live her life. With hopes of paying off a seamlessly endless debt, she turns to the pits where she is practically unbeatable but quickly catches the eyes of curious onlookers who are in search of a rumored "silver" weaver. Knowing all with magic had been wiped out, the rare gift of silver magic is only kept for the royal family, the rebellion is hoping to use the final weaver to help bring down the king and get back their rightful ways, but will Ren agree to help others when she has only ever helped herself, or will the uprising have to fight for themselves?

There are a lot of characters and relationships to follow in this book. Between the royal family, the King's Children, the rebellion leaders, the rebellion friends, and everyone else who seems to pop in and out, it would seem difficult at times to track what the heck is going on...however...I found it quite easy to piece them together (except for a few times when i confused the brothers up because...there are a lot of people). Everyone had a very unique personality that allowed them their own place in the plot and I definitely found myself picking sides and companions along the way.

The story is well written and the characters are well developed, but at times I did find a few conversations to feel unrealistic or odd, but really it didn't pull away from the storyline at all. The ending jumps between character views fairly fast, like every 2 pages we were switching, so that was kind of head-spinning for me trying to keep track of where we were but overall, this was a really captivating read.

This book was very well paced and had excellent world building! The ending of the story left me wanting more and I think there is easily room to build within this world, either a sequel or a companion novel would be great. The characters are well written with a only a couple of things that stood out )like the chemistry between the main characters) and this includes the supporting roles.

From the summary alone, I was wholly interested in Of Silver and Shadow. However, after reading the book, I was left wanting. I think YA is known for its quick pace and bypass of sometimes realistic relationship building. In some cases, the writer can wield this genre and mend it into an engaging adventure. But, in the case of Of Silver and Shadow, the fast-paced narrative devolved into unbelievability (even in the fantasy setting whereby the author has ample right to make the unbelievable, well, believable) and destroyed character arcs with rushed and easy resolutions. The plot sells itself on its grittiness, but the characters’ struggles don’t seem fully realized and are jarringly cut short -- dues ex machina, perhaps.

I also love enemies to lovers tropes, but this one felt, as the rest, rushed. The lovers’ development didn’t feel like a natural occurrence or realistic within the story’s confines. Also, the redundancies of the commentary regarding Ren was too much.

Overall, I think the story had potential that never actualized. The foundation was creative, perhaps, but the execution was lacking. I’m sure some people will immensely enjoy this book, but it is not me.

This action packed story will keep you reading until the very last page! The magic is unlike anything I have seen and the characters were just amazing! The world building was spot on and so dazzling that I just want to see it! I need more of this world!

Of Silver and Shadow by Jennifer Gruenke is a courageous story that doesn't hold back; its myriad of rough characters pulls you in as they reveal their insecurities as the plot unfolds. The themes of forbidden love and violence with poetic justice really give this story a punch but it is the flowing writing style of the author that makes this novel so easy to enjoy. There is so much going on that this review is very subpar when it deserves to much more. Very well done and can't wait to read more from the author. I loved this book!