Shadowless
(Shadowless #1)
By Alison Robinson
Young Adult Fantasy
Hardcover, Paperback & eBook, 302 Pages
February 20, 2025 by Village Editorial
Summary
In a kingdom where souls are bound to magical animals called Shadows, Rowena’s Shadow is a ghost—silent, powerless, and a death sentence if anyone finds out.
The citizens of Wyre share a soul with their Shadow, a supernatural animal companion that gives them the ability to perform magic. But Rowena was born with a ghost for a Shadow, incapable of magic and marking her as a dangerous anomaly. Her superstitious neighbors would say she must be reported to the king (and executed for good measure!). And they would if they knew she existed—but they don’t.
Hidden from the world with only her father and ghost for company, Rowena’s made the best of her secret life. She fills her days tinkering, inventing, and longing for the magic everyone else has.
When Penalynn Graft, a disgraced Scholastic who refuses to use her own Shadow’s magic, is banished to Rowena’s city, rumors swirl about her rebellion.
Both Rowena and Penalynn are one hidden, one exiled. Both are cut off from one by birth, the other by choice.
Together, they could unearth the truth about the bond linking humans to Shadows, which, until now, has been lost under a veil of ancient mythology.
But in a world where souls are split in two, the truth might shatter everything.
With the stakes of The Golden Compass, the thrilling action of The Wingfeather Saga, and the heart and spiritual depth of the Chronicles of Narnia, Shadowless is a gripping fantasy tale that will captivate fans of epic adventures and magical worlds.
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My Review
SHADOWLESS pulls the reader into a fantasy world where everyone has magic except for the heroine of the story. It's set in a small town with traditional and superstitious villagers, with both blood and found family and a plot with a few twists and turns. It's an entertaining start to this series and one YA fantasy readers should enjoy.
The start of this book was slow for me. It also felt like a middle grade to young YA book. That lasted for about the first third of the book. After that, things definitely picked up and I found that I couldn't put this one down until the very end. I liked the characters and especially liked the dynamic between Rowena and Penalynn, Rowena and Titus, and Penalynn and Bran. There were a lot of different ways things could have gone and relationships to explore. I appreciated that there weren't any love triangles or insta-love, but instead there are relationships that grow over years and through familiarity and shared experiences. The fantasy parts and the world I thought were well developed and intriguing, especially with the concept of everyone having magic and then one girl being born without it. I'm curious to see what will develop in the next book.
There were some places where more development was needed. There were also some parts where things didn't make sense. These are my only complaints though.
In the end, was it what I wished for? This was definitely worth the read! Both entertaining and intriguing with likable characters. Recommended to YA fantasy readers!
Content: Some innuendo and suggestive parts, but clean.
Source: I received a complimentary copy through JustRead Publicity Tours, which did not require a positive review. All opinions are my own.
What's the last fantasy book you read? Have you read anything like this before?
