The description of the story was really interesting! I don't know if it's explicitly stated anywhere (couldn't find in the description I was provided) but it is a rapunzel retelling, with some fresh twists! The writing style itself is easy to follow

Despite my excitement, I did DNF at 44%, unfortunately the characters felt really flat. There was very little personality to them and the POV's were added when I didn't feel like I had connected to the characters already introduced. The plot itself seems interesting, but I would've liked to see the characters and world fleshed out a bit more. This may be a good book for those just getting into fantasy though, as again it's a familiar story with a nice flow

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
🌶️🌶️

I loved reading this book and devoured it in a few sittings. Wren lives in the forest with Elodie, a hedge witch who plays the role of town healer and midwife. But Wren is different, the shadows talk to her. ‘A Touch of Shadows’ Is a journey of self discovery for Wren as she negotiates what she thinks she knew about herself and unlocks secrets that have been kept from her for 20years.

- Shadow wielding FMC
- Family secrets
- Unique magic system
- Cliffhanger ending

Releasing 5th September 2024

Thank you to NetGalley and Jessica Thorne for the eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. I’m definitely very keen for the next book!

The plot really drew me in but this ended up being pretty unremarkable. The characters felt very underdeveloped, which is disappointing because there was a lot of potential here. It just fell short for me. Thank you Netgalley for the ARC.

I received an ARC Copy from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

A Touch of Shadows (The Lost Queen book #1), by author Jessica Thorne was an enjoyable read. This book involved a fairly simple magic system, including witches, fates and other aspects in which I always enjoy in a fantasy book. I enjoyed the writing style and will for sure be picking up the next book in hopes of seeing the story develop further.

⭐️ 3/5

This book follows Wren (Our FMC), who’s grown up in a remote village aiding where she can as a ward to Elodie, the hedge witch. Wren has the ability to wield shadow magic, which ultimately poses the highest risk to her if there wrong people were to know. A bit further along, when Finn (Our MMC) finds himself in a life threatening position does he meet Wren, in which she finds herself saving Finn from the one place all is known to avoid, The Darkwoods. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this face-paced read, I am hoping we get to see more of Elodie’s past and discover more about her and Roland as characters.

I believe the world building and possibly the characters could be further explored, that way we’d have a better understanding of them as I will say I struggled a bit in some aspects. I believe this would be a wonderful read for anyone looking to explore the fantasy genre as it was not overwhelming in the world building and character introduction aspects.

Definitely recommend reading if you enjoy the following:
✨ Witches
✨ Hunter x Hunted
✨ Multi-POV
✨ Shadow Magic
✨ Love at first sight

Thank you Netgallery and the publishers for this advanced reading copy.

This was a really enjoyable read for me. It's perfect for those who are wanting to start venturing more into the fantasy world as it isn't really heavy on the world building or character building. I do hope in the next instalment it will build up abit more as I did feel it was lacking something.

That being said I did really enjoy the story and I look forward to reading the next one after that cliffhanger!

3.5 stars but rounded up to 4

Thank you Netgalley for giving me this opportunity on reading the ARC of the book.
I am a big fantasy lover, and while I enjoy slow world building and a heartburn romantic trope, I felt that this book was lacking on certain things. The story started of great and I loved the equation of mother daughter bond. I could visualise them running and hiding. But after that, when the shadow kin and Knox were introduced, I was not very clear on visualising the story. I stopped relating to the character, and the time jumps were not making sense. I lost the grip in the story when the brother came into picture, and it was a very slow read after that. I wish the world building was more extensive. Although, it was a great read and will be very good for romantasy book starters.
Thank you again for giving me this opportunity.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the early access of this book!

I will start out by saying that this Romantasy was fairly easy to read. I enjoyed it and would 100% recommend this to someone who is just starting their fantasy journey. It’s not overwhelming.

As an avid fantasy reader though - I do find some elements weren’t complete. The world building and the magic system weren’t explored as much as I would’ve liked.

It’s a really short book - about 260 pages, so it reads like a breeze.

The romance was a love at first sight and it didn’t fully develop? I felt like the romance was lacking in the romance department.

But overall, I enjoyed this quick read and recommend it!

Romance, fantasy, action, magic and an interesting worldbuilding...
Esay and well written, even if it was a little confusing.

I loved this book. I really really did. The world building is fantastic and the characters captured me right form their first appearance. An epic battle of good against evil, lies and fractured loyalties.. and two compelling love stories. I am counting the days until the next book in the series. Highly recommended.

"Magic had a way of making its own will known, dark or light."
The village talks of the healer and her bastard child who have lived in a tower in the dark forest for 20 years. Elodie and Wren; who serve as a healer and apprentice. Little more is known but Elodie is a gifted witch and Wren is tempted by the shadows. Elodie does all she can to keep Wren from temptation until a tall, dark stranger comes to the village...

This book has a little of it all; war, world politics, witches and hunters, knights, magic, romance, hidden identity, and a sprinkling of spice, all wrapped up within a gothic fantasy romance.

A Touch of Shadows is written using a split-person narrative, allowing the reader to experience the story from the different viewpoints of each character. This works well towards the story's conclusion, especially during the spicier bits and the final showdown.

I enjoyed the pace and found the prose easy and enjoyable to read. Thorne creates rich imagery without making the sentences difficult to digest. The plot is a familiar story of witches living in the woods but the politics, magic system and revelations within the story keep it fresh.
The biggest issue I had within this story was Wren's naivety and general lack of interest in her origins; she's not even bothered to ask if Elodie is her mother. Regardless, I look forward to more books in the series and would love a prequel.

I really enjoyed this book. It features witches, shadow beings, love at first sight and forbidden powers which could cause a catastrophe if unleashed. I was entertained throughout and found the world building to be really descriptive. Also any author that provides a glossary and pronunciation guide at the front of the book has a place in my heart. The spice level is low but the adventure is plentiful. I personally enjoy more of a build up with romance rather than love at first sight but this didn’t affect my enjoyment of the book too much

I enjoyed this book but it also kind of felt like something that I had read before. If you are just entering your Romantasy Era definitely try picking this one up. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. 2.75 rounded up.

I was given the opportunity to read through NetGalley. This is the first title I have read through this author and I was enamored from the start. Secret identity, a strong sassy FMC a golden retriever MMC. A second tragic love story. This had everything romantasy readers like me will love. Banter, tension, magic, war. While the reveals seem transparent there is alway an extra layer of twist that makes them feel so exciting and knocks the reader off balance. It ends in a cliff hanger and I fully intend to buy a physical copy for my shelf. I was fully invested in this the entire book.

Liked ✅
- World building
- Multiple POV's
- Finn & Wren

Thoughts 💭
Similar to any well thought out romantasy novel/series the world building and magic mechanics are a huge part of setting up this book.

A Touch of Shadows is written in multiple POV’s giving readers the opportunity to experience the past from different perspectives, and to get a better understanding of what makes each of them tick. I loved the complexity of the characters, each of them had something different to give to the overall story.

I am excited to dive deeper into Finn and Wren’s love story, as well as Roland and Elodie. I am left with so many questions and can't wait to have a bigger picture as the story progresses further into the series.

I want to start by saying that I enjoyed this book.

It was pretty good, but it wasn't groundbreaking. It was a comfortable romantasy read with likeable characters, but it seemed to me that it suffered from a fairly startling "love at first sight" problem that never saw any further relationship development. Make no mistake, I was rooting for the couple in the story, but I wish there would have been more time spent on developing a more organic attraction between them rather than them just experiencing this supernatural pull to each other from the moment they meet. It led them to make MANY poor decisions based on desperation that I had a hard time rationalizing even taking this desperate attraction and Wren's lack of worldliness into account.

I also felt that our main villain was a caricature-like rather than fleshed out in any meaningful capacity. He was given some motivation, but a lot of it boiled down to him being sadistic and evil for the sake of being sadistic and evil.

Overall, while I know a lot of what I've written here is more negative, I loved the ideas here and think this could be a truly amazing story if more time was taken to flesh out characters and their motivations. It had the makings of an engaging plot, but didn't take enough time to fully realize it's relationships and elements of suspense.

I would recommend this book if you're looking for a quick, low-stakes read. It would also be a solid novel for someone looking to get into fantasy but without the desire for a huge cast of characters or a complex magic system.

Thank you to NetGalley, Jessica Thorne, and the publishing groups for providing me with this ARC and the chance to read this fantasy adventure.

This book is a fantasy involving witches, magic, and secret histories and fates. While the concepts and overall theme of the book was interesting, I thought it needed more world building, plot details, and was missing progressive action that helps lead the reader to believe the storylines and relationships. If you are new to fantasy, this might be a good place to start as the length and amount of world building is on the lighter/easier side.

Since this is only my first book by Jessica Thorne, I think her style is fun and will be reading more of her work going forward!

A few areas I felt needed more detail within the novel:
⚫️ Shadowkin - what do these look like? How do they fight/attack? Are they only in the dark woods?
⚫️ The Knox - is this a sentient being? A god? A person? Just a force? How was it broken? (Though that may come in a later book)
⚫️ When traveling, the MMC and FMC seem to travel for all of a day but later it is said to be days to weeks of bonding. We missed a lot of the relationship progression potential without those days of travel and detail.
⚫️ Elodie - I felt like we don’t know much about her personality or magic, or enough to understand the insights Gwen talked about throughout the novel.
⚫️ Pol - didn’t have enough background to make you feel a particular way about him or the opening scenes.

Overall tropes and themes:
✔️ Love at first sight
✔️ Touch her and 💀
✔️ Betrayal
✔️ Lost and found family
❔Low level of world building
🌶️ Spice: low

The book started off interesting, and the characters/ magic was unique. I do think if you are new to fantasy then this may be a good place to start, however for myself I enjoy more world building. I felt some of the plot points felt to abrupt and I had a hard time connecting with the characters and getting into the book.

I really enjoyed this book. I couldn't put it down. Just wanting to know what happened next only to be left still not knowing completely. I can't wait until the second book comes out.

This book was jam packed with adventure and fast paced! would recommend this book to anyone starting out in fantasy. Easy to read and kept me engaged the whole way through. It is about a girl Wren who has special powers that are revealed slowly more and more through out the book of how special they really are. Her mother and her ran away when wren was a baby and are hiding from something or someone. Wren’s village is soon burned down and she is on the run to find her mother Elodie with a handsome boy named Finn. This book was only 4 stars because I think we could have gotten a better character depth for Finn. He fell a little flat in the connection I felt as a reader. There relationship felt a little like “insta love” which is fine if that’s what the author was going for. But none-the-less this book has an amazing magic system and I loved the plot of the story! I wanted to know who wren really was the whole time and I love a fast paced book that has me turning the page for more.

Thank you for the opportunity to read and rate this book. I found this book an easy read but it felt a bit rushed at the end to me and also a little predictable at times. I think this book is a perfect read for people who are just starting to get into romantasy books