This is a great YA fantasy! It was much shorter than fantasies normal are, which had me a little worried at first but after reading it I am not disappointed at all! I loved watching Adele grow and her strengths were amazing to see. This book had lots of twists and turns and I would definitely recommend it!
I am excited to see whats next for this trilogy!

I was a little skeptical at first because of how short this was. It was great. The main character was morally grey and well written contrary to basically most "morally grey" characters. The writing was straight to point but never rushed. The world building was simple but still efficient and I'm definitely picking up book 2., 4 stars

If you’re looking for a quick fantasy book to read this is it! Smaller fantasy books scare me a little because normally it feels like there’s a lot being left out, but this one was pretty dang good! The story line and the plot are huge, there’s quite a few good jaw dropping moments of revelation. I’m loving the concept of learning to love and accept yourself (dark parts and all) throughout the book without having to have a romance aspect to help guide it along.

I really, really wanted to love this book. YA dark fantasy with a morally gray archer who has the supernatural ability to drive her foes literally insane? Yes, please! But while this was well-written with solid word building, it never hooked me. I found myself losing interest, zoning out, and switching to other books. It took me a while to figure out what wasn’t working for me, but ultimately I realized I just didn’t connect with any of the characters. After three months of stopping and starting in an attempt to get into the story, I finally gave up and DNF at 61%.

Readers who connect with the characters shouldn’t have the same problem, since everything else about the book was very well done.

I received an advanced copy from the publisher and am voluntarily leaving this review

I had high hopes for "Shade of Light" by Kimberly Grymes, but unfortunately, I had to mark it as a Did Not Finish after reaching the halfway mark. The premise of the story seemed intriguing, but I found myself unable to maintain interest in the plot or connect with the characters.
The protagonist, Adele, is an eighteen-year-old with unique abilities that she believes make her a monster. While her journey to uncover her past and understand her powers should have been captivating, I found the pacing to be slow and the plot to be predictable. The world-building felt lacking, and I struggled to immerse myself in the medieval setting.
Additionally, I had difficulty connecting with Adele as a character. Despite her struggles and internal conflict, I found her development to be lacking depth. The relationships between characters also felt forced and lacking in chemistry, making it difficult for me to become emotionally invested in their fates.
Overall, "Shade of Light" was not the right fit for me. While it may appeal to readers who enjoy dark fantasy and themes of self-discovery, I found it to be lacking in originality and failed to keep my interest.
2.5/5 STARS!

I think this. book potentially is more middle grade than YA. A fairly uncomplicated plot in a small volume, this story follows Adele and Rune, two girls with mysterious magic abilities and not much memory or knowledge of their own history. The book mainly follows Adele, who has returned to her village after time spent as a torturer for the army. Her only friend is Selene, who we don't know much about but are meant to understand how she cares for her - I think it would have been stronger if the book showed some of Selene and Adele's relationship and what bonded them together rather than just telling us they care about each other. I think in general the story. could have benefited on more background.

thank you to netgalley for the advanced reading copy. I really enjoyed this and will be getting copies for my shop.

I really enjoyed this YA Dark Fantasy read! The plot and characters are clearly very well thought out and have so much depth. A young 18 year old named Adele has been prisoner for ages because of her mind reading abilities, and she begins to believe she is a monster because of the way her power is abused. After she escapes, she learns that there is so much darkness being spread throughout her realm and hometown as the Shade wreaks havoc. This book has a powerful FMC and an intriguing storyline that you won’t want to miss!

Its a book between 2 and 3 star . I wasn't able to understand and connect to the story because I didn't found the detailed background . It got confusing. I was getting interested from the first chapter but by the end of the first half , my interest was no longer there . I took some time off to read it afterwards. The second time I liked it. Its a good and quick book .
Recommended to fantasy people
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A Shade of Light somehow packs a big punch in a small package. Being a shorter fantasy novel, I was worried that lack of description would leave something to be desired, however, Kimberly Grymes does a great job detailing this world she has built!
Adele is our morally-gray heroine who kicks ass and takes no mercy. She is self-reliant and is her own weapon. However, with her unique power to infiltrate minds Adele believes she is a lost soul and as such, doesn’t allow herself to get close to others. She is self-assured in all things except when it comes to her power.

Red leather gloved handholding yellow leaf
“It wasn’t until my abilities manifested over in Fayatin that I started wearing gloves. And now I rarely take them off.”

We find Adele as she’s escaping the country of Fayatin and the general that captured her as a child and has used her abilities as a weapon of war. She wears her gloves at all times, not trusting of her own powers. With questions about her past, Adele flees to her home town to get answers leaving behind the only friend she has known the last few years.

Adele’s journey leads her on an amazing journey of self discovery. Learning that others may share her ability, but how? Enter Rune, another powerful young woman whose POV begins to alternate with Adele’s throughout this story. Rune lives in the Under Realm, a dark place void of any niceties, but somehow it’s inhabitants feel bliss. As Adele is searching to find out what the Under Realm is and how to get there, Rune is fighting her own battle to escape the brainwashing that keeps her there. The twists and turns the author weaved into this book were well done.

Skulls and bones
“She continues as if nothing’s changed, and gracefully sits upon her pile of bones. From beneath her, a long slender bone cracks at the center, releasing gray dust into the air. When I look at her, her expression remains loving and welcoming, but within her soulless eyes, I sense hunger and deception.”

One of the main aspects I enjoyed about this book is that as the story progresses we learn more and more about the main antagonist, Merigoth, There isn’t just a simple explanation of who she is and why she’s evil, no. Her story takes you on a journey of her own where we find out that she does have a valid reason for being the way she is. She was broken and because of that she decided that she would break others. I think this gives a does of realism to the book, as the saying goes – Hurt people hurt people.

The book was lacking romance, not even a slow burn – it focused solely on other relationships for the FMC which works in the context of this plot. However, there is some hinted feelings between characters that could occur in the next book in the series.

The book features:

Found Family
Magic
Paranormal Interactions
Head Strong FMC
Revenge Plot

I am very excited to see where the author takes us in the rest of the Three Shades Trilogy!

Thank you Netgalley and Publishers for this ecopy.

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel so much so that I've bought the paperback!
The writing is full of rich and lavish descriptions and the characters are created with a realistic depth to them.
The storyline had me hooked and I thoroughly enjoyed the story play out

Short fantasy books can be really good, or terribly bad due to lack of world building and character development. But the cover and the description had my interest. The characters are great, story line is interesting. And world building is good. I think this is the perfect weekend read with a cup of tea. It will hold your interest and make you want to continue the series.
I just reviewed Shade of Light by Kimberly Grymes. #ShadeofLightBook #NetGalle

This was a quick and enjoyable read! While many fantasy books are longer, this was much shorter. I do feel like it needed more but it could be me being used to huge books!

Thank you NetGalley for the read!

Eighteen-year-old Adele believes she’s a monster because of her ability to infiltrate minds. For years, she’s been kept captive at Castle Forge, living comfortably under the watchful eye of a tyrant general. But after secretly witnessing her aunt heal someone with her blood, Adele knows the only way to get answers is to escape. Even if that means leaving behind the one person who’d shown her compassion during her captivity.

She travels far to her childhood village, and while trying to uncover the mysteries of her past, she encounters the Shade. The same mysterious attackers who changed her life eight-years ago. The

Shade of Light
by Kimberly Grymes
Pub Date: 24 Oct 2023
🫶🫶🫶
Shade have been raiding Adele’s childhood village, capturing its inhabitants for their queen, the ruler of the Under Realm. It isn’t long before Adele realizes these attackers possess similar powers, drawing more questions about who she is, where she comes from, and how she’s connected to these evil beings.

After a childhood friend is captured and taken to the Under Realm, Adele must decide whether to stay and help the village or return to Castle Forge, where a dear friend might be in danger from the general’s wrath. With evil all around, Adele must choose who she wants to be and what her future holds.

This young-adult dark fantasy story promises a captivating and thrilling journey filled with action, suspense, and unexpected twists. Book one in the THREE SHADES TRILOGY explores themes of self-discovery, acceptance, and the power of choice as Adele navigates a dangerous medieval world to find her place in it.

First off, how epic is the cover?? It's so stunning!!
The plot line of this book is pretty amazing and it's quite fast paced and short, which I think is great! You usually don't have a lot of fantasy books like that.
I loved the self-love/acceptance journey the FMC went through because everyone should have that.
There were quite a few moments that left me with my jaw to the floor as well! Can't recommend it enough.

This book was fantastic YA! I love how the story built. I wish a bit more time had been taken at the end to unveil everything, but overall I adored it.

I am excited to see where the second book takes this story, it was a bit slow to start however i enjoyed the ending so much. I mostly want to touch on how heavily it reminded me of some of my favorite ya fantasy books. Can’t wait to read more from this author

This was a fun book! Shade of light by Kimberly Grymes was a gritty, dark book full of bang! I have nothing but good things to say!

Wow, what a spectacular series opening! Shade of Light is book one in Kimberly Grymes's new trilogy, Three Shades. This is my first time reading Grymes's work, and I absolutely can't wait to read more!

Thank you to the author, NetGalley, and Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op for providing with me an eARC in exchange for my honest and unbiased review!

What I loved:
- Adele is such a strong FMC! I knew I liked her from the first chapter. She knows she is strong, but that she also has weaknesses, and I found her thoughtfulness quite compelling. This feels like a breath of fresh air in a sea of I-am-all-powerful FMCs. She cares so much for her family and friends, and I really appreciated that she does not have a love interest in this book. She stands on her own, and that is such a powerful narrative - especially in YA.
- This take on angels and demons was so captivating! Rune's interactions with Merigoth, Marcellus, Evander, and more were so interesting to read. The compelling and lure magic was a unique kind of magic and fun to experience as the reader.
- I loved that this was dual POV between Adele and Rune! I find that many of the multi POV books I read are between love interests, so seeing the progression of this story through these two characters felt fresh and engaging.

This is where I would suggest improvements, but I don't have any for this title. ☺

Tropes and inclusions:
- Hidden identities and secret powers
- Powerful found family
- Strong romance-free relationships
- Angels, demons, and everything in between
- Navigating abuse and captivity
- Reuniting with those you love
- Overthrowing corrupt power structures

Overall, I am incredibly pleased with Shade of Light and have already pre-ordered my paperback copy to support the author.

Shade of Light- 2⭐️ .5🌶️

Three Shades Trilogy Book 1

Teen/Young Adult Fantasy
Multi POV
Coming of age story
Morally Grey
Redemption
Vengeance
Friendships

The prologue definitely caught my attention, but I found myself trying so hard to be invested in the characters, but there wasn’t enough back story revealed to let me form any connection with them.

The magic system was really interesting as it was revealed, but once we knew everything, the story was done and tied up with a bow. It wasn’t a high stakes cliffhanger, which makes me not invested in the next 2 books.

The pacing was decent and kept me reading, but I just wish there was MORE. More background on characters, more politics and magic, more depth.

This is definitely a book that I would say is great for teen/ very young adults… but the cover reminds me of Throne of Glass, so I assumed it was young/new adult writing. I’m sure others who are new to fantasy, or younger readers may be a better audience for this story.

Thank you NetGalley and Victory Editing NetGalley Co-Op for an Advanced eReader Copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.