Oops, I judged a book by its cover again, and it didn’t end well! I lost count of how many times I rolled my eyes. I couldn’t connect with the characters, and the plot, prose, and pacing fell quite short. The world-building was weak, with too much infodumping!

A Shift in Shadows by Maddox Grey is a perfect stew of all the best elements of fantasy. It has yummy, moody, badass vampires, shapeshifters both wolf AND feline, witches, warlocks, sorcerers–the best part is it didn’t feel haphazardly thrown together.

Nemain is a feline shapeshifter who has powers she has long since kept shoved down and “chained” away. Her psycho ex, Sebastian, an ancient sorcerer wants to bind her to him but in order to bind her, she has to want it. He keeps her locked in a cage and tortures her for almost a year in an attempt to get her to agree.

Magos (mega-badass vampire) busts Nemain out of Sebastian’s cage and frees her. He owed Nemain a life debt that was redeemed when he freed her but he sticks around as her roommate and best friend. Nemain is now hiding from Sebastian while also learning about herself, her powers, trying to help those around her, and dealing with her tortured past.

Somehow this book got buried in my kindle but finding it and reading it felt like finding something valuable you lost. The witty banter between feline Nemain and her werewolf boyfriend Andrei sent me; I admired the way she refused to play any dominance games. Nemain has so much heart but she is brutal as hell. It was an incredible read and I can’t wait for the next book! Perfect read for fans of SJM and Jennifer L Armentrout.

This book is excellently written and described but I just couldn't get into it when reading. I normally like this genre however it is not my favourite. For someone who loves this genre, you would love this book without a doubt.

This is what I get for judging a book by its cover.

For some reason I thought this was a fantasy book not urban fantasy/paranormal romance. Turns out I'm not the target audience.

Purring ✓
Growling ✓
Possessive male characters ✓
Attempts at witty banter ✓

This was a huge mess. I have no idea what I was thrown into. Everything happened so fast with random info dumps of sometimes unnecessary information. Every magical creature you could possibly imagine was probably in here.This book tried too hard to be dark and badass. All of the characters were snarky and annoying, and the main character, although over 300 years old, acted like an immature teenager. (She also said that the Greek gods are the lamest 🤨).

Adding a plus for including queer characters.

Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher/author for providing me with an e-copy in exchange for my honest review.

This book was exactly what I wanted it to be! I loved it. I will make sure to check out other books by this author. When I requested this I was just intrigued by the concept of it and I loved how it turned out. This story had a great plot and if you have read this and enjoyed it, This was so much. It was such a great story. I would say give this one a try. I will continue to follow this author. Way to go to this author for not letting me down.

I didnt connect with this book as much as i had hoped too. It was.. Boring in my opinion, nothing to the author i just couldnt connect to the book.

Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book

I was excited to read this book..... its cover, its story, its plotline...

but unfortunately, I had to DNF it at 45%. The story was too complex to follow... I believe there should have been more time taken to build the world and characters rather than jumping head first into things.

Considering my initial attraction to the book though, I will try and pick this up sometime in the future again.

I really struggled to into A SHIFT IN SHADOWS but this was down to me. There were a lot of characters in the beginning and I struggled to keep them all separate, I felt this is what kept me stopping and starting.
Once I got back into the rhythm it was fast paced so it grabbed my attention.
While I'm on the fence for this novel as I didn’t love it but I didn't dislike it either, I would still recommend it if you like fantasy/paranormal.

ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

** I received this ARC curtesy of NetGalley - all thoughts an opinions are my own**

Nehmain is a shapeshifter who struggles with an array of personal issues/conflict (PTSD, Betrayal, abandonment etc) set in an urban fantasy setting; the prose is enjoyable and this is a quick read. This novel is front heavy in regards to world building and has a focus on paranormal. Once the world has been established the story is enjoyable and I liked the side characters.

This is a fun paranormal fantasy/magical realism tale centered around Nemain, a shape-shifting wizard who has to navigate the politics of the warlocks who covet her power, a crazy ex-lover whose obsession has turned deadly and her own mysterious powers.

It's an interesting world and Nemain is mysterious enough to warrant attention but sometimes her decisions were a bit strange, more so for the plot than her character.

Unfortunately, I had to DNF this book. I could not get into it even though I wanted to love it. When I first started reading, it felt like I skipped a book or two, all the action seemed to have happened before the book and nothing was explained. I checked twice to see if this was a second book in a series. There was too much alluding to what happened previously, but no explanation. Also, the characters were not believable and it honestly reminded me way too much of the Mercy Thompson books. I'm sad this one didn't work for me.

A Shift in Shadows
Lost Legacies - Book One
by Maddox Grey
A Review, by Jamilla, @ LandsAwayBooks on Wordpress.

I did enjoy reading this, even though from the very beginning I feel just a little adrift, as if I had walked in on a conversation in progress and expected to just jump in.

However, this is an interesting world with a full host of familiar and strange new beasts! Shifters, warlocks, daemons, fae, grimalkins, etc.

A compelling heroine, battling against her inner demons and external forces who would manipulate her to their own ends or see her dead for her mysterious power.

I loved her fierceness and how protective she was of those she holds dear!

ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

Liked - the cover, the idea of the story, the characters, the action.

Didn't like - too much action! right from the start I felt like I was one step behind, so much info too little time to take it in, the flow of the book, sometimes really fast, sometimes slow 'info dumps'

On the whole, while I wanted to like this book, it just didn't work for me.

A Shift in Shadows tells the story of Nemain—a feline shapeshifter, as she navigates through the daemon-run Emerald Bay, deals with her trauma and tries to escape those who want to exploit her abilities.
I have to say I was quite disappointed by this book and ended up giving it a 1.5 stars rating rounded down to 1. There were so many elements that seemed appealing to me: an urban fantasy that features creatures and magic users of all sorts—I always enjoy a rich fantasy world, so I was excited to read this; however, for the majority of the book I felt like it was missing something. A lot of things, actually. Of course, it had some entertaining moments, and I enjoyed some of the characters' interactions, especially between Sebastian and Nemain, but this book didn’t satisfy me at all.
The characters are definitely the strongest part of the narrative—they were somewhat fleshed out and had very distinct voices and personalities. Though most felt relatively one-note, I was still able to be entertained. The relationship that I enjoyed the most was that between Nemain and Sebastian—I liked the tension and how their past together entwined them.
However, in terms of its other components—plot, prose, pacing—this book falls quite short. I couldn't really get attached to the characters, beyond the typical intrigue I was largely bored and simply wanted to move on. Something that bothered me a lot was how certain characters would go on long info-dumpy tangents that were obviously meant for the reader to understand what was going on in Emerald Bay. And even then, a lot of the politics of the daemon-run town didn’t make much sense. It boiled down to simple “I want to be powerful”, which is tiring at this point.
Though I appreciate the fast pace of the book, it often felt like the most important parts of the story were simply glossed over and substituted with relationship drama that didn’t feel as grand or worth getting invested in. Because of that, there were a lot of times when the book was way too ‘tell-y’; the reader gets a lot of explanations as to how or why something happens, but we’re never exactly shown anything that would help us to get invested and care about this world.
The prose bothered me as it was really explaining things, rather than letting the reader live through them. The introduction to the book feels really all over the place and gets a bit confusing, though that aspect definitely improves throughout the book, though the quality of the prose and dialogue specifically doesn’t really improve. Because of this, all the emotional scenes fell flat. I’m not one to be too bothered by typos and grammatical errors, but I know that bothers some readers, and in this book I noticed several.
Overall, this book, due to its undeveloped world, unimaginative writing and uncompelling characters, simply was not for me.
Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an advanced reader's copy of A Shift in Shadows.

Unfortunately, I had to DNF this book. I couldn't be immersed in it enough to be able to continue my reading.

This is an intense, fast paced, paranormal fantasy read set in a contemporary setting.

The set up in the beginning was really confusing and all in all it was too gruesome for my liking. It has interesting concepts but they overrall fall flat. While it is faced-paced that was it's downfall as well, it was too fast.

Paranormal readers should try this read especially if you like dark fantasy. The cover is gorgeous and is what initially pulled me in. The story however, was too much for me.

Thank you to Netgally and Independent Book Publishers Association for this eARC in exchange for an honest review

When I received this ARC, I was excited to dive in! The cover is absolutely beautiful and really drew me to the book. Overall, I think it was an exciting, ambitious read, and readers will definitely enjoy the the industrial-fantasy setting and the excitement of the concept.

However, while I loved the premise, the story itself doesn’t quite live up its own ambition. The pacing moves at a breakneck speed and I never felt like I had a chance to connect with any of the characters. The world never feels fully established either, which makes the story feel flimsy and ungrounded at times.

Overall, while I enjoyed elements of the world-building and setting, I think the book loses its own power at times with cliches, lack of polish, and the stampede-like pacing.

So this is a complex book, with all the fun magical type creatures! Shifters, Warlocks, Witches, Vampires, Deamons, and the like. We are following a Feline shifter named Nemain, who is being hunted by her ex. You follow twists and turns as Nemain discovers her powers and opens herself up to love again. It ended on an absolute Cliffhanger, but I can't wait for book 2..

Nemain is a feline shapeshifter who is struggling with PTSD, trauma and betrayal after being saved from captivity from her ex-boyfriend Sebastian, a warlock, and a slew of vampires. After gaining some sense of normalcy back, Nemain realizes that Sebastian's search for her has intensified. Believing the reason to be about her strange magical abilities, Nemain and her allies, including Magos, the vampire who rescued her from captivity (and torture), venture to stop him and his plans.

The first in a new series, this urban fantasy romance has the protagonist, a feline shapeshifter, struggling with PTSD, trauma and betrayal as she continues her hunt for vengeance and safety (for herself and for those she cares about). While the plot and the character development won't be anything new to fans of this genre, the world-building is what stands out the most in this book. And, while the conflict wraps up at the end of this book, the cliffhanger at the end lets readers know more is to come. Fans of Amelia Hutchins, Heather Killough-Walden, Laurell K. Hamilton, Ilona Andrews, and Seanan McGuire will enjoy this book.

It was ok. The writing wasn't that bad, and the 'world' that was created expanded quite well. I got a good sense. It's part of a series, so the larger story is not finished. The main character narrating the story is quite violent or even very violent. I don't think that's a spoiler. I found it too bloodthirsty. The character kept giving excuses for her actions, saying it is just the world she lived in, and I didn't like that. But the story did move along smoothly enough..