Shield of Shadow (Scepter and Crown, #0.5)

by C. F. E. Black

[ladygrey]

Mostly it’s a good story. Aly isn't nearly as insufferable as she ends up being in Blade of Ash. But there’s a decent amount of repetition through the narration and internal monologue, even just a few pages from each other. I don’t know if Black was trying to inflate the page count, thought maybe the reader forgot, or lost track herself of how many times she said the same thing again. Or maybe she was simply having fun saying it in different ways. Overall, it's a decent story that would be interesting with more depth in the character moments rather than repetition in the inner monologue.