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Dianne Sylvan

Autor(a) de Queen of Shadows

18+ Works 1,236 Membros 63 Críticas 7 Favorited

Séries

Obras por Dianne Sylvan

Queen of Shadows (2010) 350 exemplares
Shadowflame (2011) 176 exemplares
The Body Sacred (2005) 136 exemplares
Shadow's Fall (2012) 90 exemplares
Of Shadow Born (2013) 73 exemplares
Shadowbound (2014) 43 exemplares
Shadowstorm (2016) 14 exemplares
The Agency, Volume V (2014) 7 exemplares
The Agency, Volume II (2013) 5 exemplares
The Agency, Volume I (2013) 5 exemplares
The Agency, Volume III (2013) 4 exemplares
The Agency, Volume IV (2013) 3 exemplares

Associated Works

The Mammoth Book of Southern Gothic Romance (2014) — Contribuidor — 29 exemplares

Etiquetado

Conhecimento Comum

Sexo
female
Locais de residência
Austin, Texas, USA

Membros

Críticas

Its not hard for me to pinpoint why Queen of Shadows works so well for me. There's three reasons actually. One, Miranda doesn't just suddenly overcome her fears. Two, David is honest about who he is, what he has done and doesn't expect anything more from Miranda than a safe recovery. And three, the soul mate/destined for one and other principle works here in a believable way.

Let me back up. Miranda in the beginning is a desperately miserable young woman, barely surviving and staying sane. Things don't go so well for Miranda fifty pages or so. A horrific incident occurs (a warning would be advised here) and her world is suddenly inside out.

Sylvan takes her time in building the connection between David and Miranda. There is definite tension between them, but the two of them are both cautious (for separate reasons) and instead build a solid trust with each other. Its not easy, Miranda doesn't miraculously begin trusting David (or his associates), she's wary of his intentions and sanity quite frankly. And David is wary of her. He doesn't quite understand why he felt a need to bring her back to 'Haven' (the compound he runs his territory from) or why he feels a need to train her so she can control her gift.

Slowly the two open to each other and it’s a sweet process. They communicate, something severely lacking in a lot of relationships in books today. And when the time comes for them to reveal all, well it felt more satisfying (to me, the reader). It didn't feel like the author was pushing this connection to excuse them feeling all touchy-feely after only two days.

Faith and Sophie cracked me up. The two of them added a stretch of humor to the book that kept it from being too brooding.

My only complaint is that Miranda goes from one end to the other end with what seemed like very little difficulty towards the climax of the novel. There was pain, and it didn't come about in the most delicate of ways, but she took it in a stride. I think, based on the rest of the novel and previous explanations, Sylvan was trying to say that Miranda was a natural due to her heritage and gift, plus her connection with David. Which I'm fine with, I'm also cool with her being Miss Kick Butt--we see her training and learning. I wasn't as cool with her becoming Miss Best At All Things in what seemed like a relatively short amount of time.

The epilogue however was priceless. I would so do what that girl does if confronted by a hero of mine.
… (mais)
 
Assinalado
lexilewords | 30 outras críticas | Dec 28, 2023 |
In the normal course of things I would have given this book a 4.5 because I was excited for this book (very excited) and what excerpts I've read were promising indeed. QUEEN OF SHADOWS was different and Miranda was the sort of heroine I enjoy reading about; she didn't just suddenly fall for David, she made him work at gaining her trust and Sylvan showed Miranda actually learning to defend herself. David for his part didn't push her or act irritated by the fact Miranda needed time to heal and process. If maybe some of it was a bit too convenient I could forgive that because the overall book was refreshing.

So imagine my surprise when during the course of this book I get a sudden, overpowering urge to hulk smash David into the next millennium. I won't spoil anyone for why, but its important to understand I'm not upset by the nature of what happens between David and this person. Sylvan handles it well and under any other circumstance I would have fallen for it hook, line and sinker. The thing is the circumstances are extremely unforgivable for me. Not just on his end, but also on the other person's.

For me it was kind of a slap in the face and confusing to boot because it didn't really flow with the in-world dynamics set up in Book 1. It threw off a lot of the characterization as well because Miranda is just as thrown as the reader.

Miranda seemed to have fallen back from the 'Vampire Queen Hear me Roar' from the end of the first book. I rather liked that she instinctively got the whole vampire thing and because of her earlier training was better prepared. There wasn't any sign of this Miranda at first. That Miranda didn't resurface for a while and when she did, a whole new curve ball is thrown and there's that.

Admittedly she's able to handle her own when things start to go bad--she keeps a level head, and I applaud how she handles her emotions without devolving into 'my world is crumbling'. That's when the Miranda I loved came out to play. The Miranda who pulls herself together, dusts off her hands and says 'All right I got this'. She takes command and doesn't let anyone push her around.

The world intrigues--the set-up and power play and the different ways each Prime views leadership. I enjoy those parts. I enjoy watching Miranda come into her own. Unfortunately the plotline involving David's past and his present did not make sense given the world set up.

review originally published at Night Owl Reviews
… (mais)
 
Assinalado
lexilewords | 10 outras críticas | Dec 28, 2023 |
After the events of Book 2, SHADOWFLAME, I was...well reluctant would hardly cover how I felt. The direction Sylvan took David and Miranda's relationship left me feeling hollow. I want to stress I did not have a problem with WHO David slept with, but rather that he did it at all. I was hoping there would be more fall out and consequences to those actions in the third book. Instead Sylvan jumps our music loving Miranda three years with a Grammy-winning career and holding down her Vampire Queen status pretty smartly.

So in short everything she ever wanted, on a silver plate, with a hot guy attached.

Wouldn't be much of a book if that's all that happened of course, but honestly I'm not sure how much of the middle of the book mattered. Its pretty much the same as the last two books, just different motivations and different people attacking. Different allies coming forward and different betrayals. At the end of the day however its the same old song (see what I did there?) with a would have been shocking cliffhanger.

Where Sylvan went wrong I think is that instead of leaving things lie in the end, she just had to put that nugget of hope in there that undermined the entire chapter before it. All the pain, all the anguish, all the 'We should have done better!' regrets were trivialized by the last line of the book. If the book had ended on 'proceed', well it would have lent an urgency to things. Would have almost made up for the meandering middle.

Instead the reader now knows that eventually things will follow a certain course in the next book (or maybe the book after that if Sylvan is feeling risky). That whatever Miranda goes through until that moment is cheap and can me waved away because it doesn't really mean MUCH. My advice is to read the first book, QUEEN OF SHADOWS, and read it as a stand alone. It works amazingly well as one in fact. Forget any books there after because they will only make you grind your teeth in frustration.

Originally reviewed at Night Owl Reviews
… (mais)
 
Assinalado
lexilewords | 4 outras críticas | Dec 28, 2023 |
4-4.5 stars
I decided to re-read this books and the others in the series to remind myself of the happenings, and in hopes that the next installment will be released soon.

I was surprised to see that my rating after the first read was 5 stars, until I remembered that, in the event my rating has a fraction, I round up to the next whole, since I can't actually select 4.5 stars.

On re-reading it I decided that it was between 4-4.5 stars, and rounding down to a four was a more accurate score. I still enjoyed it, and think it was well out together, and a very good starting point for a series, setting up the world building. It whetted my appetite and made me invested in finding out what happened to the characters next.… (mais)
 
Assinalado
nikki-pops | 30 outras críticas | Jan 30, 2022 |

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Estatísticas

Obras
18
Also by
1
Membros
1,236
Popularidade
#20,768
Avaliação
4.0
Críticas
63
ISBN
20
Marcado como favorito
7

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