A confession of sorts, I often have a lot of apprehension reading novels from authors I’m unfamiliar with. There’s always a risk the story could be disappointing in a number of ways and the time it takes to finish a book always makes it feel a bit risky. But it’s also a mindset I’m trying to pull myself out of as I could risk missing out on some really well written stories. Sea of Shadows by Kelley Armstrong is a good example of the latter and I’m glad I took the chance to read it.
Character Development
9/10
I was surprised how much I grew to like Moira and even more so Ashyn as the story progressed. While they started out rather generically, twin sisters with one being more polite and demure while the other is more aggressive and hot-headed, they turned out to be far more interesting than I expected. Moira turned out to be not only sincere when the time was appropriate, but she was also quite insightful when the time called for it. But I think Ashyn was the one who surprised me the most. Initially I wasn’t very interested in her perspective as I usually favored the more aggressive and action-oriented characters, but Ashyn’s story and her character was quite interesting. Something I always love to see personally is when characters have strength that isn’t simply in combat. Despite Ashyn being a far softer character than her sister, she had moments of wisdom, insight and cunning. She was a far more impressive character than I expected.
The other two supporting characters, Ronan and Gavril, were not quite as strong but both served their purpose for Moira and Ashyn to bounce off of. In their own ways, they helped the sisters grow and develop into far more developed and interesting characters. The only issue is neither of them really seem to have fully developed characters themselves. Not everyone has to have character development, static characters are very important as well, but those static characters need to already be developed and established. While there is potential in the next books, neither Ronan nor Gavril felt like they every got passed the “dashing rogue” or the “angry but caring guard” archetypes.
Plot
9/10
Something truly surprising about this book was how simple the story was and how much I truly enjoyed it because of it’s simplicity. There were very well constructed twists and turns with hints properly laid out throughout the early chapters. Nothing felt like it was pulled out of nothing and everything flowed smoothly from one moment to the next. There was nothing convoluted or complicated to have to think about or consider and the characters were able to truly shine and drive the story forward with their decision making and careful insight. It’s a bit slow paced but almost everything felt like it served a purpose to develop the plot or help the characters grow.
Worldbuilding
7/10
If there really was one issue that I felt hindered this book, it was the fact that the worldbuilding felt a bit lacking. The whole Seeker and Keeper dynamic makes sense and is explained fairly well, but everything else is rather barebone and only really explained well enough to understand what is happening but not necessarily why their world is the way it is. Whatever is explained is staggered throughout the book in far apart sections which does lead to some moments of confusion as some things sort of just happen. Part of this confusion does relate to the grand mystery surrounding the main plot of the book, however it’s a little too mysterious at times.
Writing Style
10/10
Kelley Armstrong does an excellent job of keeping the story engaging and easy to read despite how slow the pace is. There’s no long drawn out exposition dumps, action scenes are fast and fluid, and the chapters never feel too long nor do they feel too short. Armstrong also does a good job of making each sister’s point of view feel uniquely different when describing the same situation with her use of language.
Score:
8.74
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