Review copy was received from Publisher. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
House of Shadows by KA Linde Narrator: Amy McFadden
Series: Royal Houses #2
Published by Tantor Audio on October 19, 2021
Genres: Fantasy Romance, Young Adult
Length: 17 hours, 2 minutes
Format: Audiobook
Source: Publisher
Goodreads
Amazon, Audible, Libro.fm, Barnes & Noble, Apple
Kerrigan Argon, a half-human, half-Fae, has joined the Dragon Society against almost everyone’s wishes.
A year of training is required with her dragon.
But first she must travel with the dark Fae prince, Fordham Ollivier, back to his home in the House of Shadows. Nothing but slavery and death has ever awaited a half-Fae in their halls.
Yet something is wrong within their wicked world. A thousand year old spell is weakening. Cracks forming in the foundation. And Kerrigan may just be their ruin or their salvation.
I am really enjoying this Royal Houses series. House of Dragons was first and very exciting and unexpected. I loved the dragons and all the magic aspects in the world building, along with Royal Houses. The Society is sort of a law enforcement organization made up of fae with dragons providing extra abilities to help with protecting the different lands. Kerrigan becomes a trainee even though she is half fae.
There is so much happening in House of Shadows giving a long complex story. Kerrigan is the first to visit in pretty much a thousand years. She connects with the half fae and humans there, who are mostly enslaved by the fae. Kerrigan has dealt with the slurs for nearly all her life. But now she becomes more of advocate since she is now joining the Society as a half fae. The House of Shadows has been hidden from the rest of the world for a thousand years with no one able to leave until Fordham was cast out. Kerrigan can sense the wall and it is tied in with her own magic somehow.
After the visit, the training begins for the new candidates for the Society. It is grueling. Kerrigan faces many challenges, and prejudice. Even in the Society, whose purpose is to provide protection, there is corruption and bias. Kerrigan also has to learn more about her own magic.
The RFA – Rights For All is a protest group trying to support better treatment for half fae and humans. Kerrigan believes in their cause and attends some rallies and supports them. Dozan and Clover are also participants. The Red Masks want to eliminate all half fae and humans and the groups clash at a protest.
Kerrigan is also pursued by three men. Dozan casually pursues her, it seems more for her skills he might utilize. Marsh wants to claim her as a fiance to secure his own title of King and take over her lands. Fordham is the one she loves and he is afraid to give in to loving her as he is cursed. It sometimes feels a bit reverse haram except Kerrigan is only interested in Ford.
Kerrigan works so hard, loves so deeply, has such compassion for all the people. She really is on a tightrope throughout the events. There are some shocking twists along the way and a couple big ones at the end. I enjoyed this so much and look forward to seeing how Kerrigan faces her new challenges.
Narration:
I was glad to have the same narrator continue with the series. I enjoyed the performance and rather different voices for males and females. We get Kerrigan’s point of view and she became Kerrigan for me. I was able to listen at my usual 1.5x speed.
Listen to a clip: HERE
About KA Linde
K.A. Linde is the USA Today bestselling author of the Avoiding Series, Wrights, and more than thirty other novels. She has a Masters degree in political science from the University of Georgia, was the head campaign worker for the 2012 presidential campaign at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and served as the head coach of the Duke University dance team. She loves reading fantasy novels, binge-watching Supernatural, traveling, and dancing in her spare time.
She currently lives in Lubbock, Texas, with her husband and two super-adorable puppies.
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I read all types of books but my favorites are urban fantasy and romantic suspense.I like some romance and some action / adventure / mystery in everything.I like sex in my books but please, only between TWO people.Intimate conversation is equally important to the sex in a book.It lets me see the characters.The other thing I enjoy is humor.
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Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
- C21-Fall
I love the sound of this! And the fact that this is only book two means I have a chance to catch up😁
It’s tortured romantic fantasy. There are complex magic and political states and the romance is in the background.
Even though this isn’t a genre I typically read/listen to, your review is tantalizing, Anne💜 I’m also a sucker for all things dragon😏 Glad you’re enjoying!
It’s a little bit YA NA but overall it’s good. The romance is not the primary focus and I like the complex magic. And the dragons.
It sounds good especially that the organization does policing and she has to fight the slurs of being half-fae.
All the rest of the Society are Fae. She is the only half Fae.
K.A. Linde writes in a lot of different genres! I didn’t know she wrote fantasy. I haven’t tried one of her books yet. Someday…
It’s different than the darker fantasy I read. It has dark but it’s definitely got romantic elements in the background too. And dragons!
I love the sound of this one. I sure do love some good twists in a book. I might need to check this one out 😉
I’m really enjoying it.