Review of Empire of Shadows by Jacquelyn Benson, ARC received through NetGalley.

Tropes:
🌿 Treasure map to lost city
🌿 Awkward first meeting
🌿 Step brother’s best friend
🌿 MMC teasingly calls FMC “princess”
🌿 Forced proximity
🌿 Slow burn

I absolutely loved this book! I’ve been on the hunt for more historical and academic themed fantasy books, and this perfectly fit what I was searching for. The history and languages used in the book were very well researched. It’s not super heavy on the fantasy element in the beginning half, but it increased through the end half of the book, and it seems like there will be more in future books.

Ellie is such a great character! I love female main characters that are smart and resourceful. I also loved Adam’s character - I enjoy reading books where the male main character has layers to him that aren’t visible on the surface. I also love how protective he is towards Ellie, and how he believes in her abilities.

As someone who majored in anthropology, I really enjoyed the anthropology and archaeology references in this book. One of my favorite parts of the book was when Ellie and Adam had a discussion about museums, and how artifacts often end up on the other side of the world from where they originated. I appreciated how passionate Adam was about ethics in archaeology and museums.

The romance aspect of this book was very realistic, and I enjoyed the tropes that were used. I liked reading how Ellie and Adam went from dislike or not really understanding each other, to learning more about each other and building up trust and love for each other throughout their adventure.

I’m so excited for more books following Ellie and Adam! (And for more of Ellie, check out the free prequel novella that is currently out on Kindle, The Stolen Apocalypse!)

I would recommend this book to anyone who loved Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries.

Empire of Shadows is fabulous! I loved every second of it. This is book one in the Raiders of the Arcana series. There is also a novella in the series called The Stolen Apocalypse which is a prequel. I can't wait for book two!

Thank you to NetGalley for the digital ARC . I'll be adding this one to my shelf for sure.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me an eArc in exchange for an honest review.

4.25 stars ⭐

I thoroughly enjoyed this and have a feeling this might become one of my new favourite series! Full review to come soon.

𝓔𝓶𝓹𝓲𝓻𝓮 𝓸𝓯 𝓢𝓱𝓪𝓭𝓸𝔀𝓼 𝓫𝔂 𝓙𝓪𝓬𝓺𝓾𝓮𝓵𝔂𝓷 𝓑𝓮𝓷𝓼𝓸𝓷

3.5

When I saw fans of The Mummy would enjoy this book I immediately requested this arc because I’m so obsessed with that movie and I must say there were a lot of similarities.

<b><u>Tropes & What to Expect</b></u>
🌿mythical cities and legends
🌿historical fiction/romance
🌿FMC and MMC late 20s
🌿FMC is an archeologist
🌿maps 🗺️
🌿Mayan and Aztec history
🌿Dual POV
🌿BANTER

<b>< u>The Characters</b></u>

Ellie the FMC works in archives and one day while working she stumbles upon this map of a hidden ancient city. She leaves home to embark on an adventure and goes disguised as widow so no one questions her traveling alone. Ellie was such a gem. She’s strong, educated and independent which for this time period is unlike many of the women. She doesn’t want to get married or conform to society standards.

Bates comes from a well established family but he is disowned because he wants to follow his own passions. He takes Ellie on the expedition to find the ancient city. He let Ellie call a lot of the shots and I loved he wasn’t like the typical man from this era. He was considerate, strong, caring and trustworthy.

I really liked them both together. They were similar in many ways and both loved adventure. The banter was BANTERING…these two had me cackling.

<b><u>Spice Rating</b></u>
.5/5 🌶️
They kiss and grind a little at 76 percent mark.

My only issue with the book is the romance started off real strong and then it just disappeared. The characters are in their late 20s but were written young not due to immaturity just their conversations didn’t seem to match their age. I think this would have been better if featured as NA not adult,

Overall thoughts: this was a fun book with adventure and a tiny smidge of romance. I did enjoy reading this book but I’m not 100 % sure if I would read the next book but maybe overall time it will goes more on me and I will miss the characters.

I read the original version of this story a few years ago, so I was extremely excited to see that it was being revitalized and continued. Every second of this treasure hunt through the jungle is full of fun and romance. If you are a fan of Indiana Jones or The Mummy, this book is for you.

I loved this adventurous and romantic story! Empire of Shadows is a richly imagined tale that I find hard to classify - it is a sweet historical romance, with a touch of fantasy and plenty of feminism and anti-colonialism, wrapped up an archaeological adventure. If you enjoy The Mummy, Uncharted, or Indiana Jones, you will love this book. It was an absolute delight!

This story follows Ellie Mallory, a spunky and intelligent young woman who is stifled under the patriarchal society of late 19th century England. She is a scholar of ancient history, but her gender relegates her to specific roles in society, preventing her from reaching her full potential. As a suffragette, she is arrested and subsequently fired from her job, But before she leaves, she spies a mysterious map and artifact on her bosses desk. Swiping the items, she narrowly escapes a villainous figure who is also searching for the map. Travelling to British Honduras, she teams up with roguish American surveyor Adam Bates to travel into the Cayo, the “unexplored” interior in search of a lost Mesoamerican city. There is plenty of adventure and a bit of romance while the pair navigate the wilderness in search of the lost city, all while avoiding the villain Jacobs and Professor Dawson, who has trailed Ellie from London, also seeking the lost city with seemingly unlimited resources at their disposal.

While the adventure and romance elements of the story were excellent, what I really enjoyed was how this book handled issues of feminism and anti-colonialism. The time period of the late 19th century was rife with those fighting for women’s rights, as well as those in the British colonies fighting for independence. Additionally, the author touches on the "virgin land” issue, while also acknowledging that there were in fact native settlements in areas where Europeans had not yet explored. Tied into these issues is the how at that time archaeology as a science and discipline was seen as glorified treasure hunting, and while there were archaeologists who really wanted to protect artifacts and cultural heritage, that often meant shipping artifacts back to museums in Europe, rather than keeping them in their home countries. I think this book handled these issues rather well, both by expressing these notions that would be appropriate for people in the time period, while also expressing the sentiments that would be seen somewhat in conflict, like women as scholars, anti-colonialism, and protecting cultural heritage by leaving it in the hands of the descendents rather than supposing European superiority.

I really enjoyed Empire of Shadows, and I look forward to more adventures with Adam and Ellie in future books!
Thank you to NetGalley and Crimson Fox Publishing for the advanced copy of this book!

The story initially stumbles a bit in its early chapters, which can be attributed to its roots as a reimagining of a previous tale. I struggled to engage with it at first, particularly in the opening chapter. I'm immensely glad I kept going! The Indiana Jones/Mummy-esque elements of fantastical archaeology and pursuit of a Lost City are executed with remarkable precision, keeping the reader thoroughly engrossed. Moreover, the protagonists' responses to the escalating tension are both delightful and entirely believable.

While "Empire of Shadows" doesn't reinvent the wheel of its genre, it doesn't need to. It delivers precisely what fans of such adventure stories seek, presenting a compelling and entertaining narrative with characters you can't help but root for. What sets it apart, though, is its subtle exploration of feminist struggles and its thoughtful examination of colonialism, cultural appropriation, and the clash between academic ambition and the imperative of cultural preservation. It's a reminder that power should be earned, not simply seized.

I love how seamlessly the fantasy elements intertwine with the characters' personal journeys. Often, fantasy writers excel in either plot or character development, but here, the author demonstrates skill in both aspects, crafting a narrative that is as rich in its world-building as it is in its character exploration.

Thank to NetGally for another amazing read!

A wildly underrated book that deserves all the hype. The characters and story are breathtaking and fast paced. The only thing holding this book back is that cover.

Perfect for fans of The Mummy, Tomb Raider or Indiana Jones.

4.5 ⭐️

What to expect:

⛏️The Mummy vibes
⛏️Feminist characters
⛏️Adventure
⛏️History and mythology
⛏️Ancient lost cities
⛏️Slow burn
⛏️Banter and sarcasm

What a truly amazing and diverse book. The story telling, the cultural references, the history, the mythology and fantasy were perfectly woven with adventure and a side of romance. Ellie and Adam reminded me so much of Rick and Evie in The Mummy series, lots of sarcasm and banter, even in the most dangerous situation. I found myself loving their dynamic and laughing out loud at their dialogue. And the slowwwww burn was so worth it.

The book was well researched and respectful of Belize. She also included the suffragettes and the fight for the vote back in Ellies native London during the Victorian era where this book is set.

Overall a great light hearted historical fiction read with lots of adventure and a touch of fantasy.

My reason for not putting this as 5 stars is the amount of academic content within the book and the long chapters felt like the book dragged a bit throughout. But nothing to put me off, just a warning for others going in to read it.

Thank you Netgalley, Empire publishing and Crimson Fox Publishing for a copy of this book to review. I'll definitely be picking up the next in the series!

Will share to my Bookstagram @blonde.reads.fiction soon!

https://www.instagram.com/p/C4kWTcigFqf/?igsh=dDRpaWFhdXgycjdl

A link to my review is above!

╰► 2/5 ⭐️ 0/5🌶️

I want to thank Netgalley for giving me an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Also, fair warning, this review will have spoilers.

I won't lie, this took me a lot longer to read than I usually would take. The prose is great, but it slows the reading down to the point I have to reread the sentences to make sure I am not missing anything. You can tell Jacquelyn has a lot of knowledge about museums and archaeology because the way she described the museum was perfect. It would draw me right in and made it so easy to follow along with the story. Again, there is no doubt she is a good writer. I do enjoy a well written book and it is why I gave this novel the stars I did.

However, as a Christian, I don't enjoy when my religion is used as a parody in a story, or as a joke in the main characters mindset. It just kept throwing me out of the story when Ellie would make a throw away comment, especially as I was in her head. While I pushed through the novel to ensure I was giving an accurate review, this isn't necessarily a book I'd pick up again.

Ellie was a bit of an annoying main character. She was always so angry, and without reason, hated men. She was a man hater, but some of the reasons she hated men weren't valid. She assumed things about them, and if it weren't in every few pages, I could have overlooked it. The feeling I kept keeping from her was she thought she knew it all, but that she actually did know it all. She was logical, but that doesn't make her wise. Which is a good character flaw, but I don't believe it was intended to be written that way.

I feel like people who enjoy a feminist book, where women are written smarter and better than men, they'll enjoy this. I personally prefer when men and women come together and use their personal strengths to balance one another out, but I just felt like Adam didn't have a chance to show his own strengths along the journey. It was all about how Ellie was the smart and right one, always. It really does give The Mummy vibes, but not in the way you may think. I wasn’t feeling Evie and Rick vibes, but more adventure vibes.

I feel like the over-the-top feminism ruined it for me. I don't hate men, so I don't like to read about how much men suck in every other paragraph. I wish I was joking. Unfortunately, I am not likely to continue the series.

My rating system:

⭐️: Not my vibe at all.
⭐️⭐️: I finished it, but I didn't have a good time.
⭐️⭐️⭐️: Yeah, that was fun. I enjoyed myself. I probably won't reread it, but it was fun.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️: I loved it and want to read more from this author.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️: Perfect, amazing, everything I love in a novel!

Empire of Shadows took me on a wild ride. It’s been a long time since I’ve read a book filled with so much adventure. And y’all, it didn’t disappoint!

What I loved about it:
〰️ Historical adventure fantasy
〰️ Victorian/Archeological Theme
〰️ Slow burn romance
〰️ Witty banter that actually made me giggle

I’m a history nerd so I really enjoy books that give authentic background and are packed full of interesting history and finds. It shows that the author put passion into the story, and Benson did a truly wonderful job.

The FMC Ellie Mallory is a force to be reckoned with - especially to the MMC Adam Bates. Their sassy banter was adorable and no lie, it had me giggling out loud at times. Benson did a great job of making their connection and chemistry so real that you could feel it through the pages.

Overall, Empire of Shadows is extremely well written. It can be challenging to read an action/adventure novel if the writing and pacing isn’t perfect, but this isn’t the case with this one. Benson kept the writing flowing gracefully while keeping a fast-paced tempo that left me on the edge of my seat at times.

Empire of Shadows is the first book in Jacquelyn Benson’s smart, swashbuckling Raiders of the Arcana series. It will debut on April 2, 2024, but you can pre-order now! Go on, add it to your TBR - I promise you won’t regret it!

I want to give a huge thank you to NetGalley, Crimson Fox Publishing and Jaquelyn Benson for allowing me to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Romancing the Stone meets The Mummy in this delightful novel about a suffragette swept into an adventure to Belize to look for the fabled White City where she meets a roguish hero determined to help her. The chemistry between Adam and Ellie was instant and addicting!!! This was a very well written novel and while it can be read as a stand alone, there were definitely hints near the end that there could be another adventure in their future. I would love to read a sequel!

𝐄𝐦𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐬 by 𝐉𝐚𝐜𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐥𝐲𝐧 𝐁𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐧
Raiders of the Arcana series ℬℴℴ𝓀 𝒪𝓃ℯ
3.75 ★

Empire of Shadows is such a fun start to what I imagine will be an adventurous, historical fiction fantasy series! We kick it off strong with our FMC, Ellie, fighting for women’s rights and we love a strong feminist woman! Unfortunately, she gets fired from her job shortly after her boss finds out that her protest led to her (one little) arrest. Ellie leaves her job, but not without first stumbling upon a map that could send her on an adventure of a lifetime! Sure, she may have stolen this piece of history from her boss but she has good intentions! She just wants to protect and preserve what she might find from other more dangerous characters with less favorable intentions.

I loved the way this story began! It felt very much like The Jungle Cruise and Indiana Jones with promise of exciting adventure and fun-quippy banter. We have a strong willed FMC, Ellie, who is not scared to speak her mind and a physically strong/protective MMC, Adam, who allows our FMC to be herself.

The excitement and snarkiness continued for me up until the actual adventure into the jungle began. After that it somewhat fell flat for me and the quippy banter somewhat disappeared for me. I’m not saying it disappeared completely, it just didn’t hit for me like the first part of the book. The antics Ellie and Adam got themselves into were definitely dangerous and exciting; I just felt like I was missing the comic relief that the earlier parts of the book gave me. I think the only way I can really explain it was that it was a lot of descriptions of what was going on and not a lot of fun dialogue to go along with it. I felt like I was just watching things happen to the characters rather than experiencing it with them. But, truly, aside from that, I did enjoy this book and its adventure. I look forward to the other books in the series and I can’t wait to see what Ellie and Adam get up to next!

Thank you to @netgalley and @crimsonfoxpub for this ARC! You can also find my review on GoodReads and Instagram linked below.

You can start your Raiders of the Arcana adventure beginning April 2nd!

✨"I know a thing or two about having dreams
the rest of the world thinks are madness"✨

If you love "Indiana Jones" and "the Mummy" this is the book for you!

✨Ellie lives in London , she is part of the Suffragette movement and her dream is to become an archaeologist . She has the education and all the qualifications to follow her dream ..if only women were considered equal to mens. So when she comes into possession of an old map and a magical artefate she decides to set off for the Hounduras and find out what new discovery the map will lead her to. From here will emerge Ellie's stubborn and ambitious character who turns out to be an intelligent, stubborn, independent ,courageous and unabashed woman while still remaining fine and elegant!

🤠 Adam, on the other hand, complements Ellie perfectly:
He is the heir of a wealthy American family who’s decided to leave everything behind to go and explore the unknown territories of the English colonies... and he will become Ellie's guide.I loved his optimism and cheerfulness even in the most desperate situations, as I loved his being able to stand up to Eliie but still consider her his equal. Eliie and Adam have crazy chemistry and reminded me a lot of Richard and Evelyn from " The Mummy" so I am sure you will love them!

✨I loved @'s ability to place the element of the supernatural within an accurate historical context while reducing it to make it seem completely natural! Plus Empire of Shadows has such vivid writing that you will easily find yourself exploring ancient Mayan civilizations with Eliie and Adam facing adventures and dangers with them!

4 1/2 stars

When I heard this story was a mix of Indiana Jones, The Mummy and What the River knows, I knew I had to read it. This is my first book by the author and it was such a fun ride.

This story is full of adventure, mystery, history and the banter between the main characters Ellie and Adam was utterly delightful. it was a real sloooow burn but it was worth the wait. I can anticipate that the next book will amp up the romance.

I really enjoyed the historical aspect of the book and the archeology has always been an interest to me so it was fascinating to learn facts along the way and made me want to research more about the culture.

Ellie was a strong protagonist that was completely capable of saving herself, however, Adam had skills that work collaboratively with Ellie and made them a fantastic team. Ellie is a feminist and suffragist, whilst I enjoyed it, it was repeated often. Adam balanced her out well.

Overall the book was so enjoyable and I look forward to the sequel. Thank you to Netgalley and the Author for the ARC.

I absolutely LOVED this book. Holy moly. It’s giving the mummy but with more fun details. The adventure was amazing, the setting, the romance!! I just ate it all up! It was perfect. I can’t wait to buy this one!!

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an arc of this book!

Before i get into the review i would like to say that i hit roughly 25% before i had to dnf, that being said what i did read i did really enjoy there were just a few things that stopped me from going any further!
I think people who enjoy a very slow paced action/adventure story would really enjoy this the most as it has an Indiana Jones, The Mummy, even Sherlock Holmes feel to it.

The writing style took me by surprise the most i think, but in a good way. It felt very authentic to the period that the book is set in, and was the perfect amount of descriptive and lyrical.
The one thing that i struggled with the most was the actual layout of the pages. It all felt incredibly long and tiring, and mixed with the writing style it felt like it was taking a very long time to actual make progress through the book. I think it would have benefited greatly from more paragraph breaks to help indicate when things were changing, and to just make it a much easier read on the eyes as seeing that much text at once can be very overwhelming.

The storyline was very intriguing and if it wasn't for the formatting and incredibly slow pace i do think that i would have enjoyed the book a lot more, and would have likely carried on reading it. I liked the character Ellie and felt like i could have connected to her more if she didn't seem so transparent. It was very obvious what she was going to say, was thinking, or what actions she might take next which made everything feel quite pradictable, but not necessarily in a bad way. I didn't get to the romance aspect of this book, but i feel like i would have enjoyed it the most, and also feel like the romantic lead would have probably taken on a comedic role, or a role to try and bring Ellie out of her shell and make her feel like "the main character"

overall (from what i read) was very enjoyable, the characters i did meet i enjoyed, it was just a struggle to follow the pages and read it because of the formatting and very long chapters.

2.5 stars, rounded down.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my review copy.

It took me a good 30 - 35 percent to decide if I wanted to stick with this book. The writing style took me by surprise as it felt very "Tell" rather than "Show". It also took me a while to get used to having Ellie as our narrator as I found her pretentious to begin with, and the pretentiousness of the voice, I'll admit, does fit in with the 1890 aesthetic of the book, but I am not sure if it is for me when the book is over 500 pages long.

Ellie mentions a lot about being a woman and the hardships she faces and it did tend to feel that this was her only character trait.

Overall, I dislike the nature of the relationship between Adam and Ellie. It feels very stereotypical to me and the sort of relationship where you know how it is going to end. I think most of my disliking towards it was to do with how shallow the relationship felt and I could tell there was going to be a makeout scene and when it happened, it cememted that I disliked the relationship.

The plot was very easy to guess - it followed a typical adventure plot and it was only in the last 15 percent that we got more development of the "Arcana" within the world. I would've liked more of this from the start. I know that this is the first book in a series and that the other books may have more of the magic aspect in them, but I won't be continuing with this series.

Despite the length of the book, it simultaneously felt like it was a long book (due to how wordy the chapters are), but also not that long (due to how quickly I read it and how much of a light read I found it) but a lot of the plot felt very surface level and it didn't have much depth.

I know that there will be people who enjoy this book more than I do and that a big section of the book (the relationship between Ellie and Adam) wasn't for me, but it will be for someone.

4.25/5

The adventure-seeking protagonist and the feminist message behind her character, the banter she shares with a great love interest, all in with this fabulous setting? I am sold! Read this in no time as it gripped me and I felt like I was running with them!

This was such fun to sink into with almost an Enola Holmes type heroine wanting to be Indiana Jones and yet somehow she's caught up in a situation straight out of King Solomon's Mines with a hint of The Mummy ! Our intrepid protagonist Ellie has a brain to rival any other scholar and yet due to ignorance and the misogyny of her time she's stifled and overlooked. Well that all changes when she undertakes a daring hunt to locate what could be the surprise of the century. Trouble is she herself is hunted and the jungle is no place for an inexperienced traveller so its lucky that a certain American gentleman finds himself at a loose end and very intrigued by the female who quite literally drops into his lap !
I loved Ellie and she showed such gumption even though at times she's painfully out of her depth. Adam was the perfect foil to her bookish manner and I very much enjoyed his teasing ways. This was a fabulous adventure with a truly odious villain but perhaps best of all are the sumptuous descriptions of a fantastical world full of history and still to this day mystique. I very much look forward to reading more by this author.
This voluntary take is of a copy I requested from Netgalley and my thoughts and comments are honest and I believe fair