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A review by eggcatsreads
Shadows of Perl by J. Elle
5.0
Love and Hatred. Alliances and Betrayals. Forgiveness and Revenge. A race against time, and a war on the horizon. The heart-pounding sequel to House of Marionne begins just as intensely as House of Marionne ended, and doesn’t let up until the last page. And just like the first book in this trilogy, it ends on such a jaw-dropping reveal that you’ll be waiting with bated breath to find out what happens next.
“The darkness can’t hurt me. Because I am the darkness.”
With the decision to bind with the dark magic that had been hounding her during her time at House Marionne, Quell is on the run and trying to learn how to harness this darkness - before it consumes her. Hiding in safe houses, avoiding anywhere she might be found by her ex-love Jordan - Quell is determined to master her magic and reunite with her mother. However, betrayal chases her at every turn, and she can never know who she can trust - or for how long.
Tracing her mother’s steps to find where she vanished, Quell is led to House Perl - where her embrace of the darkness is celebrated, rather than hated. Mastering her magic in pursuit of her mother is not all she discovers when at House of Perl, however, and soon Quell is ensnared in a war looming on the horizon surrounding the Sphere. One faction wants to destroy it, and magic forever - the other wants to destroy it to own magic forever. With heartbreak and betrayal on both sides of the coin, Quell must follow her heart and embrace her inner darkness to be able to come through this book alive.
With how House of Marionne ended, I was so excited to find out how Quell’s story goes from there - and this book absolutely delivers on that front. We follow four main POV characters throughout this book, with one character reveal being a huge unexpected twist that I didn’t see coming in the literal first chapter of this book. I tend to find it difficult to pull off multi-POV books, as at many times it seems at least one character seems unneeded - or information is repeated for each POV. However, there was never a time when I was irritated to get to a character’s POV, or where I felt that their chapter was wasted or didn’t provide new information or context to the story. I bonded to all four characters, and desperately wanted them to meet and see eye-to-eye for their journeys to be resolved together.
Also, I will be the first to admit that certain parts of House of Marionne dragged a bit for me. This isn’t an issue with the writing or the book itself, just that I wasn’t the biggest fan of the romance or the high-society training that took up a large portion of the first book. (Once again, that is a large part of the plot so me not enjoying it isn’t the fault of the author because I knew what I was getting into - just to be clear here). However, Shadows of Perl doesn’t have either of these developments within it, so for me the book felt a lot faster paced. With Quell on the run, even when she is in another house - this one House of Perl - she isn’t attending classes or attempting to blend in with high society. Instead, she is training her magic and trying to remain hidden from everyone around her hunting her down.
I loved how the romance between Jordan and Quell was handled within this book. With the reveal of Quell’s toushana and her binding it to herself, and Jordan choosing his duty over their relationship - both enter into this book feeling betrayed by one another. Hatred and betrayal taints both of their thoughts towards one another, and even when they finally meet face-to-face and are forced to work together, neither is willing to forgive the other for the hurt. All of their interactions felt grounded and real, and I loved the pace the book took and the decisions that had to happen before we ever learned if they could learn to work together without intending to betray the other at the end.
A good portion of this book focuses on Quell’s emotions and her desire for revenge for all those who have hurt and betrayed her. Quell’s emotions in this book are much darker and more focused on finding - and killing - those who have used her trust against her. Neither her, nor the reader, can ever be certain of who she can trust and when those bonds are broken we are on her side with wanting her to be able to enact her perfect revenge on them.
This was a phenomenal sequel and lays plenty of groundwork for the third book in this trilogy, and I cannot wait to find out what happens next. This book left me breathless, and the last page has such a huge cliff-hanger that when I got to it and turned the page, I audibly went “Huh?!” when I realized that was truly the end. If the politics and house loyalties and factions of the first book interested you, then the sequel will capture you as well. (However, if your favorite parts were the schooling, the dancing, and the romance then I fear this book might feel a bit lacking in that regard. I still believe you should check out this book to find out what happens with Quell after the events of House of Marionne and see for yourself, though).
A huge thank you to the author, NetGalley, and Penguin Young Readers Group for providing this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.
“The darkness can’t hurt me. Because I am the darkness.”
With the decision to bind with the dark magic that had been hounding her during her time at House Marionne, Quell is on the run and trying to learn how to harness this darkness - before it consumes her. Hiding in safe houses, avoiding anywhere she might be found by her ex-love Jordan - Quell is determined to master her magic and reunite with her mother. However, betrayal chases her at every turn, and she can never know who she can trust - or for how long.
Tracing her mother’s steps to find where she vanished, Quell is led to House Perl - where her embrace of the darkness is celebrated, rather than hated. Mastering her magic in pursuit of her mother is not all she discovers when at House of Perl, however, and soon Quell is ensnared in a war looming on the horizon surrounding the Sphere. One faction wants to destroy it, and magic forever - the other wants to destroy it to own magic forever. With heartbreak and betrayal on both sides of the coin, Quell must follow her heart and embrace her inner darkness to be able to come through this book alive.
With how House of Marionne ended, I was so excited to find out how Quell’s story goes from there - and this book absolutely delivers on that front. We follow four main POV characters throughout this book, with one character reveal being a huge unexpected twist that I didn’t see coming in the literal first chapter of this book. I tend to find it difficult to pull off multi-POV books, as at many times it seems at least one character seems unneeded - or information is repeated for each POV. However, there was never a time when I was irritated to get to a character’s POV, or where I felt that their chapter was wasted or didn’t provide new information or context to the story. I bonded to all four characters, and desperately wanted them to meet and see eye-to-eye for their journeys to be resolved together.
Also, I will be the first to admit that certain parts of House of Marionne dragged a bit for me. This isn’t an issue with the writing or the book itself, just that I wasn’t the biggest fan of the romance or the high-society training that took up a large portion of the first book. (Once again, that is a large part of the plot so me not enjoying it isn’t the fault of the author because I knew what I was getting into - just to be clear here). However, Shadows of Perl doesn’t have either of these developments within it, so for me the book felt a lot faster paced. With Quell on the run, even when she is in another house - this one House of Perl - she isn’t attending classes or attempting to blend in with high society. Instead, she is training her magic and trying to remain hidden from everyone around her hunting her down.
I loved how the romance between Jordan and Quell was handled within this book. With the reveal of Quell’s toushana and her binding it to herself, and Jordan choosing his duty over their relationship - both enter into this book feeling betrayed by one another. Hatred and betrayal taints both of their thoughts towards one another, and even when they finally meet face-to-face and are forced to work together, neither is willing to forgive the other for the hurt. All of their interactions felt grounded and real, and I loved the pace the book took and the decisions that had to happen before we ever learned if they could learn to work together without intending to betray the other at the end.
A good portion of this book focuses on Quell’s emotions and her desire for revenge for all those who have hurt and betrayed her. Quell’s emotions in this book are much darker and more focused on finding - and killing - those who have used her trust against her. Neither her, nor the reader, can ever be certain of who she can trust and when those bonds are broken we are on her side with wanting her to be able to enact her perfect revenge on them.
This was a phenomenal sequel and lays plenty of groundwork for the third book in this trilogy, and I cannot wait to find out what happens next. This book left me breathless, and the last page has such a huge cliff-hanger that when I got to it and turned the page, I audibly went “Huh?!” when I realized that was truly the end. If the politics and house loyalties and factions of the first book interested you, then the sequel will capture you as well. (However, if your favorite parts were the schooling, the dancing, and the romance then I fear this book might feel a bit lacking in that regard. I still believe you should check out this book to find out what happens with Quell after the events of House of Marionne and see for yourself, though).
A huge thank you to the author, NetGalley, and Penguin Young Readers Group for providing this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.