Jen Bliton
🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑
Wren had always been anxious, struggling with self doubt and little belief in her magical abilities. The only thing she is sure of is the love of her adopted father, Viggo, the woman who helped raise her, and her Wizard mentor and chief librarian, Bergen. Wren, in turn, loves them just as fiercely, and will do anything she can to protect them and the library which holds all the town of Gaelfall’s magical history. And it’s that history that is currently being sought by a group of bandits, linked closely to the Necromancer town of Reapfall. Old prejudices rise with the attacks, and Wren soon finds herself torn when she finds herself being drawn to a mysterious Necromancer who also shares a similar, ancient magic with her. Will she be able to encourage Viggo to swallow his pride and believe in the young man, or will the connection be the end of her world?
The Shadows of Wren is narrated by Wren and we follow her as she wrestles with her self doubt, her crippling anxiety and growing feelings of empathy and love. She’s by no means a ‘reliable narrator’, but she tries incredibly hard to keep a balance in her; seemingly understanding that too much negative emotion could cause her to descend into dark magic.
While most of the time, Bliton’s writing is delightful, there are times when the prose moves too quickly, leaving the reader feeling as though they’ve missed a vital bit of information. There’s also some style issues when it comes to Wren’s and Tyran’s ‘Shadow Speak’; their conversations are in normal text, not even highlighted by speech marks. It might be an idea, moving forward, if these passages were highlighted in italics – simply to make the reader aware when they’re actually happening. But that’s a small flaw in what is otherwise a wonderful, magical read – especially on a cold autumnal night.
S. A
Review first published on Reedsy Discovery as part of their ARC program. You can read the original here.
The Shadows of Wren is available to buy from Amazon.