Member Reviews
When Thea was taken under the wing of Gunner a tall stranger after burning down the only place she knew as home and killing the only friend she had Thea embarks on a journey of discovery about powers that she never knew she possessed. Powers that she was not able to control. Thea made friends with brothers Lin and Leit who would become very important in her life during her time with Gunner and beyond.
In another world Death Warrior Kai was hiding the powers he never wanted from all that knew him. But there was a link between Thea and Kai that they did not understand and although they had never met they were on a path towards each other.
I found this story very confusing initially and at times through out the book and I really wished that the glossary was at the beginning of the book rather than at the end as it made it difficult to understand some of the language that was used. In saying that I still really enjoyed this story. Both Kai and Thea were interesting although Thea was sometimes frustrating with her naivety and the fallout from her actions. The side characters like Gunnar, the brothers and Ungar also added depth to the storyline. I look forward to reading the next in the series to find out what is in store for all the characters.
3.5 stars
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this eARC in exchange for an honest review
I’ve requested “From Fire and Shadows” because I was hooked by the plot.
After reading it, I still believe that the concept was quiet unique and also the world building was well done, but the division of this book wasn’t a good choice in my opinion.
The first part is narrated by the protagonist at 6 years old, but I think it was written in a too mature way and left me confused sometimes.
But as a first book it is not bad.
2.6
I tried liking this book, I really did.
The Pros:
Intriguing plot. Had huge potential.
The Cons:
That writing style. I'm sorry, but from the very first page I knew that that this writing style was just not for me. I wish it flowed a little more.
From Fire and Shadows follows Theodora and Kai in a magical world of six power lineages. The first part of the book is from Theodora at the age of six. It is odd to read from the perspective of a six year-old for a good chunk of a YA novel, in my opinion. I felt so lost for the majority of this part of the book and had a hard time getting into the book for this reason. However, I read on. In another territory we meet Kai who is a half-blood and an assassin. Kai is questioning his loyalty and Theodora struggles to control her newfound powers and that's the basic gist of the book.
While I thought the concepts of magic were interesting, I felt they could have been developed more. I found it difficult to follow the author's thinking at times and I just needed an overall stronger execution.
I really enjoyed this debut novel from J.F. Baptista. Following Thea through her life a child up until her seventeenth year, we are privy of all the important instances in her life that shape her into the woman that she is becoming. Then in contract following Kai's journey, and learning the he really has no real past, and we aren't really sure how he became the entity that he is. Those two story lines paired with the realization that both of thier stories are headed towards a head on collision with the other, make for a very unique and interesting story. This world of power and magic is intertwined with Scottish Gaelic terms (the Glossary can help with these if you get sidetracked by these like I did) and histories of the different lineages of magic buried throughout. I am very interested to see how these stories play out in the books to come in this series. Overall a must read, if you enjoy dark, magical, fantasy, tales.
This review will be posted on my blog 8/14/20 :)
From Fire and Shadows is a dual-narrative that spans over the course of a decade through the perspectives of a young girl named Theodora learning to use her newfound power and an assassin, Kai, who hides a dark secret. As they each learn to cope with changing times, they discover that they were meant to stop a global war.
From Fire and Shadows followed an intricately woven storyline that took me on many adventures. I loved the concept, but the execution needed some improvement, and I was left confused by some elements.
One major thing I disliked was the jumps in time. The book starts off with 6-year old Theodora until about halfway through, and then jumps 6 years ahead. I didn’t really understand why there was a 6-year gap, where we don’t have a clue of what happened during that time. There were also other unexplained time jumps, which left me so confused that I had to go back and reread chapters.
Next, I felt that 6-year old Theodora’s thoughts sounded too complex for her age, and she felt older than 6. Twelve year-old Thea’s voice had the same amount of maturity as her 6-year self. Baptista should have made 6-year old Theodora sound less mature to make her more realistic.
Finally, I think the writing style was just not for me. Baptista used up much of the book laying down the storyline that there ended up being little action. The world-building was average, and the magic system was underdeveloped. There were times when it felt too wordy, but I enjoyed the descriptive language.
Overall, the plot had a lot of potential, but it never let the readers revel in its storyline. The characters felt one-dimensional at times, which made it more unrealistic. From Fire and Shadows just didn’t hook me enough to get me excited for the next book.
Amazing world building. Each culture was well thought out and the magic system was developed. The story was interesting. The problem was the structure was wobbly. I know I’m really picky about structure but it felt as if it destroyed tension and suspense here and was just generally dislocating. I enjoyed this book but it left me vaguely dissatisfied at the same time.
Another beautiful cover that I wished I would have fallen for. The world building was great and beautiful. The issue I had with this one was the story and how it was told. The time jumps just didn't work for me at all. I wished that the author would have better formed. Because it felt sloppy. And I just really felt like it was two different characters.
From Fire and Shadows is an interesting start to this series that really just isn't for me. Regardless, the world-building is good and the characters are considerably charming. The story has a dreamy and whimsical aspect to it that would like to see in more fantasy novels.
I'm sad to admit that this book just wasn't for me. The writing was lacking and while I enjoy character-driven stories, it felt as though the author took to long to introduce the point of the story. By the time is had done so I was quite far along in the book and the initial allure of the characters and world were beginning to wear off.
There are six power lineages in the story, Aite (power over time-extinct), Bas (power over death and the dead), Beatha (power over life), Inntinn (power over the mind), Nadarra (power over natural things, and Uine (power over space -extinct).
There are two storylines in this novel. One of Theodora’s and the other, of Kai’s.
The first three chapters tell us about Theodora who grew up at the House. It is the home for girls without power. She had no memories of her life before the House. When she turned six years old, a comforting melody appears in her dreams or nightmares almost every other night. This melody was asking her to do something she doesn’t understand. When she decided to follow the melody, she went out of the House and to the forest. She stopped at a forest pool that glowed an electric blue. Out of curiosity, she dips her finger into the pool. Never did she realized that this will be the cause of the death of the 17 innocent people living in the House.
Due to the fire incident that burned the House, Theodora was taken to the village and was kept at the attic of a dark green house. On the fourth day, she met Gunnar, who took her out of the village house to her new home.
In another territory called Bas, we follow the story Kai, a half-blood like Theodora and a Death Arm’s warrior. Kai is an occasional assassin following the orders of Gothar, cinn (leader) of Ann Eadar.
It might take several chapters before the two main characters will meet. But the in-between events will capture your interest and imagination.
The rest of the story will take us into different magical places and interesting supporting characters. There is an interesting revelation near the end that will surely capture your attention up until the last page.
Good thing I’ve been patient enough to finish it. It has taken several chapters to get to know the backstories of the main characters. Several Scottish Gaelic words were used in the story that it would have been better if the glossary was placed at the beginning of the novel. I’ve only come to know that there was a glossary when I finished the last chapter. 😀
I enjoyed reading this novel. It's a magical world, has interesting characters and the concept of the story is unique. I would like to know what happens to Theodora and Kai in the next book! If you're a fan of fantasy, adventure, and magic, I recommend this book to you!
I’m grateful to the publisher and to Netgalley for allowing me to read and review the eARC of this novel.
Absolutely loved this book!! I’m reading all things fantasy at the moment and this just ticked all the boxes! The author has written Theodoras story well and definitely gave me some Geralt vibes with Gunnar....
It was fast paced but also very descriptive and explored character personalities very well.
I’d recommend this to anyone who is fans of all books fantasy and magical.
(Can’t review on Amazon just yet)
From Fire and Shadows is a really interesting YA book about a girl Thea and how she comes into her powers. There is another story that runs parallel about a man named Kai and his powers. I had a problem with the two stories running side by side since they did not really intersect until near the end. At least I don’t think they did, but maybe they did and I just did not figure it out. It is easy to get confused. Anyway, Thea’s story was very interesting and I really enjoyed that part. I really loved her character as well as Gunnar and the other old man who helps her out. The Kai storyline was confusing for me. I just could not get into it. There are so many characters to keep track of on his side that I gave up trying. I think that if you like YA fantasy and you can juggle multiple characters and plot points this book will be a pleasant surprise.
Title: From Fire and Shadows
Author: J. F. Baptista
Pub. Date: August 15, 2020
Rating: 2 (DNF at 19%)
This will be a mini, spoiler free review. Thank you to NetGalley for providing a free copy of this book, in exchange for an honest review.
When I requested and downloaded this book, I figured it was going to be an underrated, new fantasy that I would love. Based on the synopsis, I was excited. Unfortunately, I just couldn’t get invested. I hate DNFing books before at least 25%, but sometimes you have to.
Ultimately, I was bored.
I can’t explain it. Especially since I thought the writing was pretty good, the world came to life and it seemed interesting in the beginning.
I will say that it’s hard to get behind a 6-year-old MC - Theodora. Now, I did read some reviews – I was trying to figure out if I should power through – and she does apparently age up. But this doesn’t happen until like, the halfway mark.
Now, if she’d been 6 y/o for a few chapters to set the stage, that’s fine. I’m good with that. But besides her being 6 y/o she didn’t feel 6y/o. She comes across really mature, and I started questioning myself if she was actually 6y/o or if I’d just imagined reading that.
I also was a bit confused with what the world was. Yes, the writing, the descriptions brought the world to life (in my opinion) but I didn’t understand the rules of the world. I didn’t get the politics. Granted, I didn’t finish the book, so many this is an unfair assessment, but if I’m still confused about your world at almost a quarter of my way through your book, then what can I say? I think it has so much promise, and I really did find it interesting, and was kind of looking forward to seeing what was going to happen.
Then there were the chapters with Kai, the other POV in this book. They were just confusing. Again, this deals with not understanding the world, it’s mechanics, the politics. Any other fantasy, and I would’ve pegged him as the love interest, or the antagonist, or antagonist love interest (enemies to lovers??) but Theodora is SIX YEARS OLD, and Kai is at least 19 (I think?) and the magical beings in this book can live for hundreds of years…
Basically, I wanted things explained and not hid behind relatively pretty words and descriptions.
Tying all my issues together, I just ended up bored with legit no desire to keep reading. It took me like, three hours to read 10% of this book, because I just wasn’t invested. I wish I had been. It sounded like something I would really like.
This book comes out August 15, so if you think it might be something you might like, feel free to check it out! Maybe one day in the future, I’ll give it another chance.
I liked the writing a bit more than the story. The world and general conflicts were easy to believe in, but I didn't connect to it very much. I also think Theodora was more interesting than Kai, but still a bit unmoored. Maybe this story would've worked better as a duology, combining the world building and the character arc through a beginning and then to the central conflict.
I read this thanks to NetGalley.
I enjoyed it - and I want to read the sequel - but, even though it's a long book, it could perhaps have been longer. There's a fascinating world there, and it's obviously been thought about and created in detail, but at times it was really hard to keep up. I suspect that as the series develops lots of thing will become clearer, and we are in the company of Thea, who doesn't really understand much at the start, so maybe it's appropriate that we don't know much, either.
It's definitely the start of a series, not a stand-alone book - partly because it ends on a bit of a "dot dot dot" and partly because of the above. I definitely want to find out what happens next.
I received a copy of this book to review from Netgalley. Thank you for the opportunity.
This book is a good book with detailed and interesting world building that really gave the reader a concrete image of being there. The writing is excellent with appropriate pace. The story is interesting and I think we'll suited to its audience readers of YA.
I found it confusing why the author spent so long describing the MC's childhood. I felt the same knowledge could have been achieved without this, for example using flashbacks or something similiar. I think more could have been done to develop the characters within the book as at times they seemed flat and one dimensional.
Overall, a good read.
I received an early e-arc of From Fire and Shadow by J. F. Baptista from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
I DNFed this book at 15%. While reading the synopsis I was intrigued, but I was bored with how slow the pacing was and nothing was really grabbing my attention in the first part of this title. Although I only read a few chapters of the story, I was confused as to why the main character was still six years old, even five chapters into the novel if this is classified as 'Young Adult," I was expecting there to be a prologue where she is six years old and comes into her powers then the story begins ten years later.
While From Fire and Shadows wasn't for me, others who enjoy slow pacing and lots of traveling fantasy worlds would probably like this title. In the first few chapters, I was getting vibes from The Witcher-- though these stories aren't very similar.
One thing that I truly admired about this novel was the world-building. From the first few pages, Baptista began to create a setting of a world that is intriguing and had room to grow and expand as the plot progressed. This was also benefited by the continuous moving of characters and dual points of view.
I struggled at the beginning to feel invested in the characters or the plot. It wasn't until chapter 10 that I began to understand the plot and the motivations behind different characters.
For the first 2/3 of the book, I would say that I would have given From Fire and Shadows 2 stars. However, the last third redeemed it and brought my rating up to 3 out of 5.
For the characters, I enjoyed the two different points of view so that the reader could see the different power groupings and territories. The contrast between Thea and Kai was jarring in a good way as you switch between a child/teen's naivety to a hardened warrior who has dealt with death his whole life. I did find that there were many secondary characters and I kept losing track of them all. I also wish that there was more interaction with them, such as Ikar and Gene, instead of the long descriptive sections of the settings.
Overall it wasn't a bad read, and I did stay up late to finish it.
*I received an eARC through NetGalley*
Thank you for providing me a copy of this ARC! I was hooked in from the first chapter! You are introduced to the main character who has no memory of their youth years and it grasp the readers attention on wanting more! Pacing is slow while all the worldbuilding is being introduced but I didn’t mind! I can’t wait for the future books as theres a lot left unsaid!
I chose From Fire and Shadows truly believing it would be something I would thoroughly enjoy.
However, despite some excellent world-building I was left.. disappointed.
The story starts with Theodora being six years of age, but it doesn't read like a child’s thinking or observation at the world. Of course, there is nearly always an element of maturity added when the focal point is from a child’s perspective but this was too mature. I was often left utterly confused as to what was going on when we would switch from Theodora to Kai’s part of the tale it was sudden and jarring - I even found myself re-reading chapters in a hope of making sense of what was happening.
I was left still very confused. Despite the visualisation of differing areas of the world that J.F Baptista has created, I couldn't fully comprehend just where the characters where - were they near one another? Where they miles apart? It wasn't made clear.
With Theodora being given a map near the beginning of the book by a character, perhaps it would have been a good idea to include a clearer one for the reader? I know I certainly would have welcomed it as the one included was small and not very easy to read due to its size. Personally, I find it not only a beautiful addition to any fantasy novel - but a trusted aid when the chapters send you all over the lands that the other has created.
I have to add at this point, I got to 57% (beginning of Chapter 23) and stopped reading. Despite really wanting to read this story there were too many problems with it that left me disconnected and reluctant to go on which was a great disappointment to me.
I found the six-year switch in Theodora’s age even more jarring especially as she talks and acts very much as she did in the majority of the book I had read where she was still six. It needed a couple of chapters talking about her learning and adapting to going from not being born with powers to being able to do many things that unsettle those around her.
I wanted so much more from this book and it wasn't there.