Shadowed Flame by R.J. Blain
Link to book here.
Link to full plot summary here.
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Note: I’m changing the score section, instead of individual scores for each category, I will do only the serious and personal score, hopefully my scoring will be less inflated. I will still comment on each aspect.
Serious Score: 65/100 - An above average, if flawed, book. If you are invested in Witch and Wolf or have access to it for free, give it a go, otherwise you can take it or leave it.
Story - It’s not bad, it’s just not great. The story overall makes sense and is cohesive, I just wasn’t terribly impressed.
“Plot” - Good pacing, good scenes, and a well connected narrative, could still be better when it comes to the some plot threads.
Characters - Ugh, the main character is good, but I feel like she is just too good, at everything. The side characters are interesting and the villain is good, however, the leading man is kinda meh and most of what he is as a character was defined by what others said about him instead of stuff he did or said himself.
Consistency - As a standalone novel, it feels good, but in the context of the series I feel like some of the continuity is played too fast and loose, at points feeling like it should be in an alternate version of the universe it’s supposed to be set in.
Personal Enjoyment (Trash) Score: - Coming from Blood Diamond, this kinda felt like a step back for Blain. I’m not sure which of the two came out first, but Shadowed Flame is definitely the inferior book. Still, better than a lot of what I read and fits Blain’s general quality level. 70 exploding airports /100.
Teaser Summary:
Matia Evans is pretty satisfied with her lot in life- rich, beautiful, and intelligent- aside from her colorblindness she lacks for little as the young second-in-command of Pallodia Industries, a multi-billion dollar corporation. Unfortunately, she soon finds that the world is a bit less mundane than she had thought, and if Matia wants to keep her perfect life intact, she’ll need to become something more than human.
My thoughts:
I’m pretty conflicted when it comes to reviewing this book, it was the first I read from Blain, and it has a special status because of it. However, upon rereading all of the books, it just doesn’t hold up to my expectations. It’s not bad, I certainly enjoy it, it’s well above the average schlock you pull of the shelves, but I just can’t recommend it if you are not totally okay with some of it’s downsides. For one, the protagonist – the book asks a lot of your suspension of disbelief in her establishment. Matia Evans is, from what I can tell, in the age range of 18 to 20 years old; she is also second only to her father as one of the largest shareholders and employees of a multi-billion dollar corporation. So to book asks you to believe that a maybe 20 year-old woman without a college education was somehow allowed to become one of the most important executives of a huge company, and that she has been involved in doing so since she was 15; not likely, especially when the book is upfront with the fact that nobody in the office has heard her say more than a few sentences in the years she’s worked there – it even says that a lot of people think that she’s mute. It’s a ridiculous setup. Second on the list of problems is that the love interest is super boring, he has a well developed voice and you can recognize when it’s him that’s speaking but if you asked me to describe who he is as a character I could not for the life of me answer. Next, you need to be ready for some terribly convenient coincidences, and a villain who, despite being interesting, is just plain evil, also the book takes great pains to let you know he smells bad. Also, this may be a nitpick since we’re pretty far into her work, but where are all my multi-ethnic and queer characters at? It’s been this long I still haven’t seen one gay wolf, or witch, or anyone. The best we’ve gotten is some half-native American wolves in Blood Diamond and we only got them for one scene. I am disappointed. Overall it is enjoyable if you like Blain’s writing, but if you’re not sold on her work then maybe pick it up as cheap as you can find it.
