Siege of Shadows

Sailor Moon meets Pacific Rim, YES PLEASE! The concept and the world with all its dangerous monsters was super fascinating. I enjoyed the scifi and superhero vibe. Not to mention how the mysterious plot drove me to keep reading so I could uncover where the deadly phantoms come from and what the antagonists ultimate goals were. I thought Saul made an intriguing antagonist and I loved how I never knew who to trust. I thought the action was fantastic and made for a gripping pace. I also really liked the diversity and how the story takes us all over the world.

Sadly, I didnt connect with the main character Maia as much as I would have liked. Her personality and flaws might be more appealing to other readers, but I tend to enjoy characters who are more confident and cunning. The characters in this series are one extreme or the other. Some of the other girls are really headstrong while Maia is quiet and naive. I was hoping the friendship would have gotten stronger in this sequel, but the girls are still not that nice to each other. Not that the actual Sailor Moon group got along all the time.

Lake, the more balanced of the bunch, was my favorite. She cares about the other girls, but she also stands up for herself. Belle on the other hand was cold and bossy. She doesnt seem to care about anyone and she expects everything to go her way. I felt like Chae Rin was abrasive and a bit of a bully. I didnt like how she was always picking on the other girls, but at least she seemed a bit more supportive than Belle. Despite not loving all the characters, I still felt like they were well developped with distinct personalities. I did end up liking Rhys and his troubled past.

I feel like the writing still needs a bit of work. I found a lot more typos than usual, but those will probably be fixed in the finished copy. Some of the lines were so cheesy they were funny. Right from the beginning, the first line had me chuckling. Overall, I really enjoyed the world and the plot. With all the action I was entertained from start to finish. The ending totally shocked me and Im still not sure how I feel about it. Id recommend this if you ever liked Sailor Moon or if you like the idea of girls with superhero powers fighting monsters. I also love supporting Canadian writers and diverse authors.

SIEGE OF SHADOWS by Sarah Raughley is the sequel to last year's fantastic debut, Fate of Flames. For centuries, four girls are bestowed elemental powers to fight off the monster like phantoms and protect the world from destruction. They are called the Effigies. In the present day, new Effigy Maia and her oddball team of girls must face a new threat, Saul and his plans to destroy or save (however you look at it) world. They must learn to work together to get to the bottom of this global disaster and save the world from possible annihilation.

Picking up a couple weeks or months after the end of Fate of Flames, the girls are starting to work better together. I thought SIEGE OF SHADOWS was an amazing sequel. It has more action, more girls kicking ass with their cool powers, more character developments, and a closer look at the world and mythology.

Raughley steps up her writing game and produced a well-written story. Her world building became more extensive, her character writing became more refined and the story just grips you from beginning to end. There are so many secrets, lies, and other conspiracies that get brought to light! Let's not forget that ending. I want to talk about it so much but it's a major spoiler. It takes guts as a writer to take it as far as Raughley did, and I think it was well worth it! I'm so interested to see what happens next.

Although I am still not feeling the main character Maia, the other three girls still remain a highlight for me. Belle is going through some dark times in the sequel, Chae Rin is dealing with problems at home, and Lake is still trying to find some semblance of a normal life in this crazy world they live in. With the events that happen at the end of the book, I'm interested to see how this is going to affect the characters and the group as a whole.

Saul/Alice/Nick, on the other hand, are so devilishly captivating. Definitely one of the biggest highlights of SIEGE OF SHADOWS for me. I love how dark and evil they are, even if they see what they're doing as good. We need more interactions with them with the other characters though.

Overall, SIEGE OF SHADOWS is an explosive sequel and I highly recommend getting into this series. You will love the Sailor Moon, Buffy, Pacific Rim influences!!

Warning: This book contains a huge cliffhanger ending!

Saul has escaped, and its up to Maya and the other Effigies to find him and capture him. The only problem is that he has gone off the grid for over two months, with no leads. The other problem is, that Sect employees let Saul out, meaning that the Sect can no longer be trusted. So when a mysterious dying man in the desert tells the Effigies that there are Effigie-like soldiers coming for them, the Effigies don't know who to trust, or how to get out of this mess.

I absolutely loved the first book, so I was really excited to get my hands on this book and start reading it. Everything lived up to my expectations, except I was absolutely devastated at the cliffhanger ending. It was so good, but now I really want to read the next book! Why must the wait be so long.

Maya had fantastic character development in the first book, and even more character development in this one. While in the first book it was more physical development, this book contained a lot of emotional and mental development from Maya as she tries to control Natalya in her head, and deals with everything that Natalya has shown her in the past. She really needs to trust her own judgement in this book, and she does a wonderful job doing it.

The other Effigies are basically all the same. Chae Rin is as funny as ever, you can always count on her to lighten the mood by saying something witty. Lake is just gaining more confidence and growing as an Effigie right beside Maya, and it was so lovely to watch her development as well. And Belle, well she's just Belle. She is mysterious, brooding and sometimes even scary. All of these girls are so different from one another, but they make a wonderful team.

The world building in this story was fantastic as well, the places the girls went to were described so well that I could picture myself in the scene. Although I would have enjoyed the book more if the girls got to travel to other parts of the world.

Overall, this book is absolutely wonderful and if you loved the first one definitely pick up a copy of this book. If you like cliffhanger endings then read it right away, but if you're not a huge fan (like me) then wait till the next book is closer to publication before starting this one.

It was so awesome to read these books! I loved the characters, they were so interesting but with flaws! The world was fascinating, dark, and you'd think things would be over, but no, look, life is going on like it always does elsewhere. It's a weird feeling, in books and in movies!

Maia was a fan of the Effigies. But when she became one, she didn't immediately shout it out to the world. Especially since she's the new Fire Effigy-and her family, including her twin sister, died in a house fire. Which would make anyone hesitant to be around it again!

Being an Effigy isn't what it seemed, though. And since she came in at a time of turmoil with Saul and his powers and story, made things even more chaotic. I didn't like the Sect, or how it was organized. To have a council that seemed to pass down power in families, with no checks and balances of power...I was really distrustful of it!

That ending of Siege of Shadows was just epically evil! Such a cliffhanger, almost literally, because she went off one! That hurt, after everything that had happened, and it was pretty unexpected! So glad that it can't end there!

I enjoyed these books so much, and I can't wait for the 3rd and final book of this trilogy!