Ich weiß ehrlich gesagt nicht, wie ich dieses Buch bewerten soll, da ich es aufgrund relativ kurzer Ausleihdauer (ohne Verlängerung) nicht lesen konnte.

A super entertaining read. I really loved the set up for this one, the world building was super fun and I loved following it along to see how the world developed. I loved the romance in this one and I had a really fun time reading this one. This was such an interesting story to read.

Flame and Shadow is an urban fantasy that follows Envy, a partially fae, specifically dae, girl who has been majorly screwed over by both her parents. She was dragged along behind her Vegas Showgirl mother until her sugar daddy kicked her out when he realized Envy wasn’t his and was in fact fae, and then her fame seeking mother joined a religious cult that now seeks to girl her in a livestream. Well, it’s a bit more complicated. All humans upon reaching their majority either fade into their element and cease to exist or they can give up their element and without fail, k-word themselves later due to the loss. There’s another option however, they can become. As in, become full fae. Except those in the human world aren’t aware of this and most aren’t offered the option. When Envy is kidnapped by a Dae less than a month from her fading out, her whole world is flipped upside down.

The book is written in a style where Envy is literally talking to the reader. It’s a bit of an adjustment but it was also sort of fun. Envy is very glib and used to awful things happening to her. She’s expecting to die soon, so she finds a lot of life threatening things hilarious. When Brennan, the Dae who kidnaps her, comes into the picture, she’s very quickly uncaring about being kidnapped. He’s very hot, and she’s a succubus apparently. She not only feeds on energy, but she’s very sexual. And she wants Brennan. She’s determined not to die a virgin. Which, understandable, right?

Brennan is a super interesting character. He comes off very formal at first, and it’s clear he’s been contracted for a job and can’t say much. He tries to resist Envy literally throwing herself at him, but as it’s mentioned several times, she’s insanely gorgeous. Like Snow White with pale skin and dark hair and a perfect body. So, he has a bit of a rough time of it. As they get to know each other though, I really enjoyed their interactions. Even more so later, when the circumstances change and they’re in the fae realm. We find out much more about his character there. He’s in a really awful situation and once things change for him, we see a big change IN him. I loved him in the beginning, but even more so after that.

Envy has to deal with so many people vying to use her for one thing or another throughout this. Some treating her better than others. But she has to deal with terrible thing after terrible thing. And she has to try to piece together what is actually happening through all the fae double speak and contracts. Her life and her freedom literally depend on it. Though, she has to decide if she even wants to become, or if she still wants to fade. And as the truth of her situation comes out, I think she realizes the best option for everyone.

The world itself is fun, with the four fae split by element. Fire is the dae, air is the sylphs, earth is the gnomes, and water the undine. There are different clans within each group of fae, all vying for power. But then there are the fights within the different groups as well. And they take trying to kill each other as sport. The ways in which they compete against each other makes for fun action and keeps things moving along though. A lot of the plot comes from this giant overall competition to find these little things called the anathema. It’s tied into Envy’s plot in a certain way that caused her to be moved around.

There’s also the mystery component to the story. We don’t know what’s really going on, and along with Envy, are trying to figure out what’s happening, why, and who’s involved in what. There are pretty blatant hints about some of it. But other parts I didn’t see coming at all. It was fun to try to figure it out though. The story itself definitely doesn’t take itself too seriously. Even though there are some messed up, dark things happening, they happen with the kind of irreverence of the subject that you can tell Envy is a bit numb to most of it. Even when she breaks down, she’s back to laughing it off a moment later. All in all, I did enjoy it even if it took me a moment to get into the style. It’s left open for the next book with changed circumstances for Envy, and I’ll definitely be reading it!

DNF at 50%

It has a unique story telling.
I think many will like the modern feel of it.
It just wasn’t something I am super fond of.

I felt a bit confused on the world.
The mom being a star but living as a nun was really off to me.

The halfling predicament was interesting. That part of the story I loved.


Over all just wasn’t for me. I will not review publicly since I DNF.

The way this book is described, you would think that we're dealing with fae characters in a fae setting, but we really aren't, not in the traditional sense. In this book there are four races of fae: daemons (demons), sylphs, gnomes, and undines. Each has a corresponding element.

We have the typical 'fae come to town and bang humans to create half human/half fae children due to infertility' yada yada. Halflings only live so long before they die, for reasons I've already forgotten, and so we read about Envy, half daemon, consummate alcoholic, and fairly stereotypical snarky FMC, and her accounts up to and including her predicted day of death.

Envy lives in some kind of cult situation with her former Broadway star super gorgeous mom (don't worry, Envy is prettier, as we will read many times) and a bunch of nuns. Bla bla she goes to the club one day, gets attacked, and then gets spirited away by our brooding asshole love interest.

The rest is a bunch of politics, over the top bad guys (think like rape threats and evil for the sake of it), and sexual inuendo/references but no actual smut. I found the world quite confusing. It's trying for a modern traditional fae vibe (courts, queens, bargains, etc.) but it more fits in with a paranormal demon romance situation. I found it a bit of a shoehorn, and I think it could have been better written.

I didn't hate it. I finished it. Though I honestly didn't remember finishing it (yesterday). I opened up the book and found it said "read," so I guess I read it. Upon flipping to the last few pages, I do remember reading them and being underwhelmed. All told, I didn't really enjoy it. I didn't really like any of the characters aside from the imps, and I had absolutely no investment in the romance. So, I have no interest in reading the next one.

I was intrigued by this blurb, so I requested this book. I started it, and I must admit that at first, I wasn’t going to like it because of the little bit unusual way the author wrote the first-person narrative. Don’t get me wrong, it was not terrible or really unusual, but a little bit different. It didn’t take me long, though, to get invested in the plot and the action. Envy is a very interesting character, and I found her at times a little immature, but that was understandable once I got to know who she was. There were times when I was a little lost about some events in the past or how things happened or were happening, but it was easy to overlook them to enjoy the plot. This is an enjoyable read, and it is sure to please those that are into paranormal romance. Recommend. I was provided a complimentary copy which I voluntarily reviewed.

A big thank you to NetGalley and Wild Rose Press for the eARC. I am voluntarily reviewing this book. This is the first in a series. I feel like there was some information missing-like the world building. The author tried to include it as the story progressed-but it was alot. This is a very complicated world, but an interesting story. I liked the main characters Envy and Brennan. Their parents not so much. No one was what they seemed-so it was confusing. I did enjoy the story and would read the 2nd book. I think a lot of fantasy readers would enjoy. 3.5 stars