Book Review: Shadow Lands by Stacey Marie Brown

 

Goodreads Summary: I no longer walked in the gray ... I had fallen into the darkness.

With Brexley on the run and Istvan rebuilding his power in the safety of Ivanenko's territory, those who have escaped the prison are dealing with the bloody aftermath and trying to regain any hold they can on Budapest. But in Markos's absence, Sonya makes a claim for the throne and takes control of the city.

When the rebel's hideout is attacked, they are forced to flee the city they call home, heading East to destroy Istvan's rise in Ukraine.

And locate Kovacs.

Warwick is not the only one after Brexley. Beasts, humans, and fae are hunting her to seize the one item that can save or destroy not just the country but the world.

Brexley's powers are growing, but she is finding even she can't control the dangerous nectar because the more she advances her own powers, so does the nectar, containing too much magic for one person to handle.

In this final installment, Brexley, Warwick, Killian, Caden, and Scorpion fight for love, freedom, life, and their country.

Fire ignites, beasts kill, death rises . . . And every life is on the line.

Between life and death, deep in the shadows, there is The Grey...
And The Wolf ready to obliterate the world for her.

Goodreads Ratings: 3.98 stars with over 6,000 ratings

Genre Listing: Fantasy, Fae, Fantasy Romance, Urban Fantasy, Dystopia, Paranormal, New Adult

Goodreads Challenge: 20/30

2023 Reading Challenge: #60 Free Space! Pick any book. (Find the entire challenge here)

Book Review:

Hello, Readers! As always, I hope everyone is doing well. Life updates, in case anyone is interested. My husband and I are celebrating our 14th wedding anniversary on Tuesday. We're not really doing anything super exciting; just going out to dinner tomorrow night. Other than that, no significant updates. 

So onward to Shadow Lands. This is the sixth and final book in the Savage Lands series. I really enjoyed the series (obviously, as I burned through all of my free space on the challenge). Even though I enjoyed the series, I'm glad to finish it. There is at least one spinoff series, but I don't know if I will read it. That may be something for future years' challenges. 

Shadow Lands was an interesting change from the rest of the series, which predominantly followed Brexley's point of view. The final book, however, alternates between most of the core characters, including Warwick, Caden, and Scorpion. This gave a lot more depth and insight into their feelings. I especially liked getting more of Scorpion's back story.

The story came full circle and ended in a way that finalized Brexley's part of the story and makes room for the spinoff series(s). For the most part, it ended well for everyone. Regarding the things that didn't end well- WHO HURT YOU, STACEY MARIE BROWN. OMG. 

My favorite characters in the series were Opie and Bitzy. They are the best versions of sassy sidekicks. Esmeralda, though not a sidekick, was also fantastic. The literary world needs more Sassy Old Ladies who are sick of everyone's shit, including the ghosts they can communicate with. 

What really made me love this series are the characters, the humor, and the adventure. The actual writing leaves a lot to be desired. I don't know if that makes sense, but the actual story is fantastic; the writing is slightly above mediocre. All of the books really needed another round of editing. There were a handful of incorrect words or typos in each book. It also really needed someone to check it with a thesaurus. As I've said, the books are pretty spicy, and I'd consider them borderline erotica. The sex scenes got very repetitive, especially in Shadow Lands. They were all described in the same way with the same words. This sixth book ultimately boiled down to a forest orgy for a decent part of the book, and all of the characters who had sex scenes were explained the same way. How they felt in their relationships was described in the same way, for the most part. It got old, especially by book six. 

I definitely recommend it to anyone who likes New Adult and Fantasy Romance. I feel like ACTOR fans would like it. That being said if you're easily put off by typoes, repetitive word usage, or gratuitous sex scenes - probably best to stay away.


I'm giving it four moons solely for how much this series entertained me. Because I really did enjoy it a lot.