Thursday, September 6, 2012

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

25 comments:

  1. Though the lacking character deterred me for a moment, Shadowfell does sound like a really interesting book with great world-building and writing from the author! Lovely review, I should go pick this up soon!

    I'm now a proud new follower of your blog, do drop by mine @ Book a World too!

    -Alicia
    bookaworld.wordpress.com

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    1. Thanks Alicia!(: Shadowfell really is an interesting novel, so I hope you'll give it a try when it releases! It's definitely something to look out for in the fantasy genre, despite its flaws.

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  2. "Furthermore, Neryn constantly fails to learn from her mistakes and there is very little character growth in this installment."

    Not at all excited about that! It always bothers me when a heroine repeats the same mistakes again and again, it makes me just want to reach in and be like OPEN YOUR EYES AND LEARN! That aside though, everything else sounds amazing, especially Flint. I'm drawn to damaged and tormented characters, so he's enough to make me want to pick this book up immediately even knowing Neryn will frustrate me. Fantastic review Keertana!

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    1. Thanks Jenny! It always bothers me then too and I feel like shaking them and knocking some sense into them when that happens. Unfortunately, there are TWO instances where I wanted to do that to Neryn, the second being the worst, but everything else about this book was great. YES! You should pick up this book just for Flint! He. Is. Amazing. *swooons* ;)

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  3. Ahh, naive characters are not my favourite kind. It's a shame about Neryn, but I'm glad this book makes up for that in other ways. This will most likely be my first Juliet Marillier book too! I'm definitely looking forward to it. Another beautiful review, Keertana! :)

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    1. Thanks Sam! Yay! I can't wait to see what you make of Juliet Marillier! I think you'll enjoy her, although I've heard that so many other books of hers are much better, so I want to give those a try very soon! I'll be looking out for your status updates/thoughts/review of this one when it releases! :D

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  4. Beautiful review Keertana, I really like the sound of this book, of how it blends fey lore and Celtic mythology, also you said it's a bit similar to Throne of Glass? that's totally got me intrigued! :)

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    1. I really hope you enjoy this one, Jasprit! I loved the Celtic Mythology in this and the similarities to Throne of Glass in terms of world-building are definitely there, so I think you'll like this one! :D

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  5. For me, no matter how awesome the writing of the author is or how good the world building is, it's always negated by unlikable protagonists. This book sounds really good and I would probably pick this up without second thoughts had I not read about Neryn. But I'll probably just take comfort in the fact that she has more character development to go through in the next books. And fortunately, Flint seems interesting. I think I even melted a bit when I read about him. ;)

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    1. Chel, I'm totally with you about the protagonist. I don't think I could have gotten through this one without Flint, who really does play a prominent role in this novel, so I'm sure you'll adore him as he is THE redeemable quality about this book. I loved him and melted practically every time his name appeared on the page! ;)

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  6. Even with the unremarkable Neryn, this sounds good. Flint seems like someone I love and the fact that he's prominently featured might balance the lackluster Neryn. Great review Keertana. I may have to pick this up eventually. :)

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    1. Yay! I hope you do read this one, Rachel, since I think you'll adore Flint. He definitely does balance out Neryn's more...unlikable qualities, so I can't wait for the sequel, just so I can see more Flint! ;)

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  7. Hmm, I seem to fall into the general consensus- although Neryn is often frusturating because she doesn't grow and mature as a character, this book sounds lovely (not that I except any less of Marillier, ha!) and the writing lush and gorgeous. :) However, I've heard many reviewers say they prefer her other YA novel, Wildwood Dancing much more. I think I'll read that one and skip Shadowfell for now. :)

    Fabulous review, my dear. :)

    P.S. Go read Heart's Blood!!

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    1. Yes! I'm going to read Heart's Blood, the moment I actually find time to read in the midst of all my schoolwork! :) I really hope you come back to Shadowfell soon as I still enjoyed it, but you should definitely read more of Marillier's work since I've read SO many good things about it! Plus, I just know the sequel for this one will be better, so I can't wait! :D

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  8. This book sounds really promising! I haven't read anything by this author yet but the name does look familiar. Neryn sounds incredibly frustrating but I'm glad the rest of the novel made up for it. Fantastic review, K!

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    1. Thanks Elena! You should definitely give Marillier a shot since you seem to like fantasy, judging by your reviews of Cashore's novels, so I think you'll like this one. I hope you enjoy it if you do decide to pick it up! :)

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  9. I am still yet to read anything by Marillier, I only heard of her earlier this year but I do plan on reading something by her.

    It's a shame that Neryn didn't come off as very believebale but overall this sounds pretty good!

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    1. Phew, I'm not the only one who hasn't read too much Marillier! I feel as if most people have, but I only heard of her after joining GoodReads, so I really want to pick up more of her novels. I hope you decide to give this one a try, Mandee, so you'll enjoy it, I hope! :D

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  10. It seems unfortunate that your first experience with Marillier was this book. I understand your complaints about Neryn's character but I'm glad you were able to appreciate other aspects that make Marillier a fantastic fantasy writer. I'd definitely recommend you check out Daughter of the Forest (I'm sure you heard that many times already). Protagonist Sorcha undergoes amazing character development in that book. That is the first Marillier book I read and it remains my favorite. Although Shadowfell had some issues, I am still excited to read it when it finally releases.

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    1. I've been told to read Daughter of the Forest by countless people, so I am really excited to finally start it soon! It seems to be such an amazing novel since so many fantasy fans have liked it, so I'm sure I'll love it! I think you'll still enjoy Shadowfell when it releases, Amanda, as it's a read that Marillier fans are sure to appreciate! I'd love to hear your thoughts on it when you do read it, so I'll be looking out for that review for sure! :D

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  11. While naive characters tend to get on my nerves, I did receive a copy of this and will read it since I have heard good things about the author..it will be my first read by her too. Lovely review

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    1. Thanks! :) I hope you enjoy it, especially since it's your first read by Marillier! I've heard so many good things about her books, so I hope that even if you don't enjoy this one, you'll give her other books a shot. It's apparently a must for all fantasy fans! :D

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  12. I loved your final review, Keertana! I read it on Goodreads when you posted, but am just now getting around here to tell you again. :P

    I loved doing the readalong for this one, particularly as we seemed to fall in pretty much the same place at the end as far as our opinions. I am all about the Flint love, and agree that the next novel will likely be stronger than this one--hopefully because Neryn will be stronger as well!

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    1. Thanks Heidi!(: I loved this readalong as well, especially because I was able to learn so much more from you and the discussions we had were so interesting and relevant, just making this novel all the more interesting. I can't wait for the sequel now either! FLINT!<3 ;)

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