Shadowfell (Shadowfell, #1)

by Juliet Marillier

Sixteen-year-old Neryn is alone in the land of Alban, where the oppressive king has ordered anyone with magical strengths captured and brought before him. Eager to hide her own canny skill--a uniquely powerful ability to communicate with the fairy-like Good Folk--Neryn sets out for the legendary Shadowfell, a home and training ground for a secret rebel group determined to overthrow the evil King Keldec.

During her dangerous journey, she receives aid from the Good Folk, who tell her she must pass a series of tests in order to recognize her full potential. She also finds help from a handsome young man, Flint, who rescues her from certain death--but whose motives in doing so remain unclear. Neryn struggles to trust her only allies. They both hint that she alone may be the key to Alban's release from Keldec's rule. Homeless, unsure of who to trust, and trapped in an empire determined to crush her, Neryn must make it to Shadowfell not only to save herself, but to save Alban.

• ISBN10: 0375871969
• ISBN13: 9780375871962
• Publish Date: 9 July 2013 (first published 1 January 2012)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Ember
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 416
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780375871962

Reviews

[KitsuneBae]

So Shadowfell is my first Juliet Marillier book and I am so glad that it didn't disappoint. Though the premise is not that mindblowing, the execution was definitely remarkable. In addition, I love Shadowfell's classic fairy tale feel.

Review at Miss Book Reviews.

I am a huge fan of Juliet Marillier’s writing and I love nearly all of her books. I think because of this I loved Shadowfell, like absolutely loved it. I’m used to her style of writing and as for the plot this reminded me of her Sevenwaters books and I love that series. So I do have to say that this book felt typical of her. The travelling, the good folk, the element of suspense of wanting to know why Neryn is running from the Enforcers, why she can’t ask for anyone’s help etc. It did feel like I had read this book because of all of those elements. This is Marillier’s style.

Shadowfell is a high fantasy book about Neryn, a fifteen year old girl, travelling to find a safe haven after her father is killed. She has a canny gift, a gift that is against the law and if she were turned over to the Enforcers; the kings men, she would be turned into a loyal follower against her will.

At first I was a little disappointed to see that this book was mainly about Neryn travelling, but then as I read on I grew more excited to see what troubles Neryn faced. I grew to like Neryn although I wished she would just open up to someone and at times she really annoyed me because of it. The good folk were very interesting and diverse. I loved this world and the magic that it held.

Another thing that I love about Juliet Marillier’s books are the romances. They are always deep and never shallow. You would never find insta-love in Marillier’s books. The romance in this book slowly grows, Neryn has to overcome her fear, doubt and hesitancy towards Flint. Watching them slowly fall for each other is exciting.

For me Shadowfell was one of those books that I absolutely adored. I was simply enchanted by the world and by Marillier’s writing that I needed to read more and more, and when I had finally finished I felt sad. This book left a lasting impression and had me thinking about it way after I had finished reading.

Miss J
xx

[ladygrey]

I'm kind of torn because in a lot of ways I really liked this book. The world is fascinating and very well drawn. It's a fantasy deep with meaning and history and ritual. I initially thought it had a strong Celtic flavor but learning that [author:Juliet Marillier] is Australian it might be linguistically closer to those legends, I'm not sure. The characters are interesting and complicated and they're easy to become invested in. I even really liked Neryn, including when she was making bad choices.

But it's kind of hard to read because there's a lot of traveling alone. Which only accommodated description and internal monologue. And pages and pages and pages of that after a while are hard. They're not exactly boring because, again the world and story and character are all interesting. But dialog is so nice. And interactions between characters so much more interesting. And relationships between characters more fascinating than any character on their own. It just gets old after 300 pages and I didn't care if Neryn got to where she was going if only she'd encounter someone to talk to along the way. Particularly, Flint. He was an amazingly complex and wonderful character and every time he showed up the story was better and Neryn was more interesting.

And I do have to give Marillier credit, because she kept me interested when I was dying for some character interaction. And it is a great world and an interesting story even if it is a little hard to read.