This book has been sitting on my NetGalley shelf for ages, collecting dust, and I've felt so guilty about it. But today, I learned of some of the violently racist things a Wednesday Books employee has been spouting and thought it was time to clean house on here.

I will be reviewing this book on Goodreads and Amazon at a later date since the author has absolutely nothing to do with this. But I will not be promoting any books from Wednesday Books, St. Martins Press, or other related Macmillan imprints.

Anyone who tolerates racism is not okay with me.

"Shadow City" is a thrilling young adult fantasy novel set in the dangerous city of Kosín, where Aina Solís, a skilled thief and assassin, must fight to protect her home and take down her enemies, including a corrupt army general seeking to regain power. With fast-paced action, well-developed characters, and intricate world-building, this gripping novel is sure to appeal to fans of the genre, particularly those who enjoy stories with strong female protagonists and complex political intrigue.

Much like the previous book, I found myself glued to the pages! It took a bit for me to get into it, and there were times it lagged behind, but it was an overall great read!

I really enjoyed the first book, Diamond City and so I could not wait for this second book to come out, especially how the first one ended. Aina was a bit frustrating at times with her lingering feelings of Kohl and her willingness to keep trusting him. But non stop action, and so much death (not surprising with all the assassins and Beautix trying to take over) had me hooked. It wasn't as strong as the first book but I still enjoyed it.

3 stars, this one lacked the pizzazz of the first book. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Diamond City was a great read; it had everything you could have wanted. Magic, Assassins, betrayal, secrets, and more. Unfortunately that magic seemed to dry up with Shadow City. The reveals weren't as shocking as they could have been and the amount of filler was excessive. The magic system is muddy and confusing and the characters aren't relatable or even likeable most of the time.

This one wasn't for me, a massive bummer as the first one was a great ride. Recommended for readers 12+ who enjoyed the first novel.

i love that this book didn't hold back! as a conclusion to a duology, there was no room to pull punches and Flores delivered. i adore the found family trope in here!

I honestly did not realize this was a sequel. But from what I read and could understand without reading book one, I enjoyed. The story kept me interested and intrigued on wanting to go back and read book 1.

I did not finish this book. I tried to read it but I won’t be finishing it. I won’t be rating this book.

Shadow City by Francesca Flores is the second book in the young adult fantasy The City of Steel and Diamond duology. As with most fantasy reads this second book picks up the story after the ending of the first so they are best enjoyed in order and not as a standalone.

The world within The City of Steel and Diamond duology is one that is ruled by tyrants and full of dark magic with plenty of action. Aina Solís was orphaned when she was young and became a servant of the man who rescued her turning Aina into one of his assassins as she grew older. Aina however has no plans to serve her boss forever and has taken to doing her own illegal trade on the side to one day free herself. When Aina’s boss gives her an opportunity to hit one big mark to buy her freedom things don’t go as planned leaving Aina in his sights next.

The City of Steel and Diamond duology is a dark and gritty fantasy. The books are action packed to keep the pages turning along the way. However, that also led to this second book being a bit lower in rating from the first in my opinion. This one drops a reader right back into the story and I’d like to have seen a bit more of a refresher being so long between books for me. Otherwise this one was a nice wrap up to the story that started in Diamond City, the first book of the duology.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

I’ll be honest, I requested this arc based on it’s description and then immediately went and downloaded Diamond City.. well, I had to force myself to finish reading the first book. And so, I didn’t have much hope for the second.
While I did enjoy it a bit more, it never gripped me and made me want to pick it up and finish it. I’m not exactly sure why, I just didn’t care much for the characters.
I hate that, because it’s such a great plot and good idea. I just couldn’t get into it unfortunately.

The wrapping up of Aina's story is an action packed, tension-filled, found family trope, with badass female characters and SO. MUCH. BLOOD.

I will say that this second book equals the first book. It picked right up where the first book left off and did not leave us lacking for anything. I loved the action and getting to actually see the characters struggle with how they viewed each other.

The world building is solid, I love the ease with which Francesca's words flowed, and the twist at the end was a surprise!

Review to cone. Thanks to St. Martins Press and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Publication Date January 26, 2021
#ShadowCity #Netgalley

Unfortunately, I was not able to get into this book and had to put it down. I will try to read it at another time though because I loved the first book.

This was a great conclusion to its duology, While there are some twists and turns, (one that really upset me) it had the ending that you wanted, (I think). It is a little confusing. what is not unclear is the importance of the relationships that were introduced to us in the first book. Some are good and healthy, others are so toxic it hurts. This book takes you to some dark places, the heroine is not a good person and does murder a lot of people. But the darkness here is well done and enticing. I want to join their criminal gang.

After the end of Diamond City, I couldn’t wait to dive into Shadow City and see how Aina’s story wrapped up. While the beginning started off strong, I struggled with the middle portion of the book.

Overall, I wasn’t a huge fan of how large of a role Kohl played in this book, even if I understood why it was important to have him in that role. I wanted to see more of Aina, Teo, Tannis, and the rest of their friends because the chemistry between them was so strong (particular Aina and Teo) and because I always love the found family trope. The glimpses that we got of them together were what kept me reading.

I also enjoyed learning more about the magic system. The magic, the found family moments, and Aina’s general assassin skills (brewing poisons, plotting, and knife skills) were the highlight of this book for me. I also did like how Flores explained the politics throughout the book and how she dealt with the political ramifications of things that happened throughout the book, that definitely contributed to how satisfying the ending was.

The City of Diamond and Steel duology is an action-packed ride with plenty of heart. I loved seeing Aina’s journey throughout the books and, even if I didn’t enjoy this one quite as much as the first, Shadow City was a great ending to this duology.

Non-stop Action!
I enjoy this book. I wish it had dug a little deeper and their had been more character and relationship development but honestly it was all about the conflicts. I'm ok with that it was different and unique. It was an easy read because it read fast with all the action. I recommend it.

Sometimes a book comes along that you just want to keep reading. The two books of this series are among that group. Filled with adventure; strong, vibrant characters; imperfect heroes and exciting action. The world building is fascinating and believable.

A group of determined fighters go against evil in the personification of a man who doesn’t even see himself in such a light. He knows how to take. He knows how to kill. He knows how to get what he wants. But he sees himself a the only one who can rule over the masses. He is in direct conflict with another of the same ilk. All were fighting for their own ideals. The question of who will rule in the end is to be found in the pages of this exciting, very readable duology.

I recommend this book to all you believers out there. Settle down for a fantasy tale worth reading.

I’ll be completely honest here, this is one of those times where I just saw ‘read now’ as an option, and I decided to give it a chance without knowing it was a part of a series and I’d be confused going in.

Without much context from the first book, it was a bit confusing, but I haven’t had the opportunity to get my hands on the first book, so from what I known of this book alone, it was a pretty interesting world and the characters seem to balance each other out, so that was really cool. There was a lot more action than I expected and it could get pretty suspenseful.

Something I really appreciated about this book tho was the amount of representation there. I appreciate a story by default just knowing that there’s lgbtq representation and the fact that there was also latinx representation pushed my appreciation even further. This book alone would make me read the first book.

This one was just has fun as the first! These characters are easy to route for and relate too! This world is so enthralling!

This book was the second in a duology and picks up soon after the first one ends. There is a lot of action and politics that add a good balance. Also the main characters have a good report but their back and forth sometimes slowed down the pacing of the book as a whole. I enjoyed this and can't wait to see what else Flores has in store.