ARC Review: Shadowfell by Juliet Marillier

Title: Shadowfell (Shadowfell, #1) 

Author: Juliet Marillier 

Rating: 3.5 Stars 

Release Date: September 11th, 2012 

Shadowfell is, I am ashamed to admit, my first Juliet Marillier novel. While I doubt it is her best, I can already see why she has such a huge fan following. Not only is her writing simply beautiful, but her world-building also manages to be exceedingly unique as her story grabs you in, even from the start. Furthermore, each and every one of Marillier’s characters is wonderfully developed, containing an immense amount of depth. While Shadowfell’s main fault seems to lie with its protagonist, it is still a thrilling tale that will engage readers and perfectly sets us up for an epic trilogy in the making.

It is a dangerous time in Alban, especially for Neryn. King Keldec has nearly wiped out all the magic in the kingdom, but his deadly Enforcers still search for Neryn, a girl rumored to have unique powers. Thus, when Neryn is given off to an enigmatic traveler, Flint, and loses her remaining family, she decides to travel to Shadowfell, a mysterious safe-haven for those with abilities like her who can see the Good Folk. Neryn will soon learn, however, that her journey to Shadowfell may not be as easy as she once thought. You see, Neryn possesses a unique gift – one that has not been seen in Alban for years and has the potential to overthrow Keldec. Yet, to use her gift, Neryn must pass through a series of tasks, all unknown to her, during her travels. Neryn’s journey will not only test her strength and morals, but they will test her bonds of loyalty, friendship, and perhaps even…love.

Shadowfell, despite being a novel that I simply loved, mostly because of its genre, was one in which the heroine unfortunately fell flat. When this novel begins, we don’t know much about Neryn and are rather confused by her innate goodness, kindness to the Good Folk, and respect for ancient lore. Yet, as the novel progresses, we slowly begin to understand Neryn a bit more and are able to see the events in her past which have made her the way she is. Still, throughout the novel, Neryn is a very naïve character. In a world filled with desperation, evil, and tragedy, I found it hard to believe that Neryn managed to remain so pure and trusting without having the faults of the world she lived in damage her personality. Furthermore, Neryn constantly fails to learn from her mistakes and there is very little character growth in this installment. Neryn does begin to change during the end of this novel, so I am hopeful that we will be seeing a different Neryn in the sequel, but the Neryn in Shadowfell was quite a disappointment. I admired her resilience, her strength, her kindness, and her hopeful nature, so I definitely did like her and I even understood how so much of her past had made her the way she was, but I was still hoping for something more from her overall which I, unfortunately, did not get to see.

Neryn aside, Shadowfell was a remarkable novel. I loved the world-building straight off the bat as it was a unique blend of fey lore and Celtic mythology, combining together to create the Good Folk. Furthermore, the story of Alban was not only extremely interesting, as were the politics of the nation, but it was also something you felt. While originally seeming to be similar to Throne of Glass in the sense that both novels were set in fantasy realms with kings who despite magic, Marillier, unlike Maas, enables us to see and truly witness the misfortune that befalls this nation and Alban itself became a character of its own. Even the Good Folk, who are mysterious creatures, were wonderful to read about and I was thoroughly immersed in the many tales they told, their history, the slow uncovering of their importance to the story, and the many gifts they possessed.

Yet, what really made me love Shadowfell was Flint. From the surface, it seems as if Flint is your typical tortured male protagonist. As the story unfolds, however, it is evident that Flint, while remaining to be a tormented character, is also one with an immense amount of courage, strength, and heart. Furthermore, Flint’s pain stems from the fact that he carries a heavy burden – one no one should have to bear – but that only makes him all the more likable, admirable, and ultimately inspirational for it. In other words, there is simply so much more to Flint than what first meets the eye and I fell hard for the budding romance between him and Neryn. It was written with a beautiful subtlety and was incorporated into the story in such a breath-taking manner that I was completely invested in it. I honestly can’t remember being so taken by a romance in a long time, so it was extremely refreshing. Furthermore, Flint really drove this novel forward as the scenes with him in it were much more fast-paced, contained a lot more action, and simply seemed to have more of everything. In other words, it is Flint and not Neryn who controls much of this story and while I found this to be a strange balance of power, I still loved it.

Overall, Shadowfell is a great start to a new series. It has all the right ingredients to become a remarkable trilogy and I love the fact that everything is set up so perfectly for us. It is evident that Marillier has a set plan for this series and her lore, ideas, and plans are all very well thought-out and executed. It rarely happens, but I do believe that the sequel to Shadowfell will be a much stronger novel overall. While Neryn did bring the quality of this story down a bit, I still enjoyed it a lot, so if you’re looking out for a new fantasy novel, you should seriously consider picking this one up this month. It may not be Marillier’s best work, but it is a remarkable piece of fiction regardless.

I read Shadowfell with a good friend and fellow blogger of mine, Heidi from Bunbury in the Stacks. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book with her and her review is absolutely breath-taking, so do check it out for another opinion of this novel! :D