Review: Circle of Shadows

Circle of Shadows by Evelyn Skye
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Another ARC found at work, and another story greatly enjoyed.

The latest from Evelyn Skye gets a lot of comparisons to the works of Leigh Bardugo and Renée Ahdieh, but I'm also going to offer up some comparison to Julie Kagawa's recent feudal Japanese-inspired dark fantasy, Shadow of the Fox. Especially since both books highlight main characters with some kind of affinity for a certain canid beast. And since both involve some seriously nasty magic that certain nobles shouldn't have hold of, and yet that's how the story really kicks off the drama, no?


Sora and Daemon are a pretty strong pair of main characters - recognizably Skye due to how much they remind me of Vika and Nikolai in The Crown's Game, and also forming a bond which, from a social standpoint, should in theory severely limit their ability to pair up romantically. Like if they were a pair of Cassandra Clare's parabatai. But again, there's gotta be a way to kick up the drama, no?

Daemon's my favorite character by far, though. Mostly because he reminds me very strongly of my dear friend Koda - tall, with a propensity for strangely colored hair, a certain blue aura (not for nothing does Koda self-describe in his song "Sakura" as "the ocean-eyed boy with too many dreams in his head"), and the aforementioned strong canid affinity. Specifically, wolves. He can even bark like a wolf, that's how well they raised him.

If nothing else, Daemon's my #1 reason for being desperate to read the sequel immediately. Especially with how he ties into the story's ending and taps into one of my own greatest paranormal-power fantasies.

Next stop: bring this ARC to Kepler's when Skye starts her next tour!

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