Book Review - Sea of Shadows by Kelley Armstrong

Sea of Shadows

(Age of Legends #1)

Author: Kelley Armstrong

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Paranormal

Published: April 8 2014

Pages: 406 pages (Paperback Edition) (Atom)

Read: July 2014

Rating: 5 Stars

They hear the spirits. They must obey.

In the Forest of the Dead, where the empire's worst criminals are exiled, twin sisters Moria and Ashyn are charged with a dangerous task. For they are the Keeper and the Seeker, and each year they must quiet the enraged souls of the damned.

Only this year, the souls will not be quieted.

Ambushed by an ancient evil, Moria and Ashyn must race to warn the empire of a terrifying threat. Accompanied by a dashing thief and a warrior with a dark history, the sisters battle their way across a wasteland filled with reawakened monsters of legend. But there are more sinister enemies waiting for them at court - and a secret that will alter the balance of their world forever.

The first volume in the Age of Legends trilogy, Sea of Shadows is a thrilling dark fantasy where evil hides in every shadow and the deadliest monsters of all come in human form . . .

Sea of Shadows is the first book of a new series, Age of Legends, by Kelley Armstrong. It is a fantasy tale, following twin sisters Moira and Ashyn as they battle a restless, ancient evil to save their people and world.

The plot of 'Sea of Shadows' is a plot that can keep you hooked and intrigued. I will admit that the plot is slow but it is all worth while. For me, I thoroughly enjoyed the story. Kelley Armstrong's writing style is addictive and her use of descriptive language and imagery makes this book darkly intense with a high level of suspense and mysterious and of course there's some fluffy romantic notions added here and there. 

I have heard from other readers, some of them my friends, that they found this book boring, confusing and hard to get through. I, on the other hand, would have to disagree. This is a dark ad haunting tale which kept me gripped to the pages the whole way through. The plot twists that happened without a speak of warning only added to my enjoyment of this book, but I'll shush now about the plot - I don't want to spoil anything for anyone.

Character wise - I loved them all!!! 

Perhaps I have found a new fictional boyfriend, Gavril *nudge, nudge*. But, we'll see how things play out - currently he has my heart in pieces!!

There are two main protagonists in 'Sea of Shadows' - Ashyn and Moira - the twin Seeker and Keeper. Each protagonist tells her point of view to a continuous story through alternating points of view every few chapters. Both these girls are different - personality wise - and I find that that adds to the enjoyment of the story. It is easy to distinguish between them and to know who is telling the story when, if you missed the name at the start of the chapter. I enjoyed both characters point of views but if I had to pick a favourite, it would be Moira's. I'll let you guys decide for yourselves once you read the book...

There is also one other character I forgot to mention and that is Ronan. Ronan is seen from the very start and is a likeable character. Not a character that goes on your most favourite characters in the whole literary world, but a likeable character none the less. 

One who may join that list mentioned above may be Tyrus. He seems very very likeable in his short period of the book, and I do mean short. We just meet the guy near the end!!

Overall, all these characters were amazing, likeable, relate-able and most importantly connect-able. Because what is a book truly, if you cannot connect with the characters?

I liked nearly everything about this book - the writing style, the plot, the characters. Honestly, I can't think of anything right now that I disliked about 'Sea of Shadows'. I gave it five stars!! That should say it all. And damn it, that cover is drop dead gorgeous...It is distracting me!!

Oh, the ending. As you can tell by now, I am having a special paragraph where I discuss the ending (in a non-spoiler way) for all the books I've read and are reviewing because honestly the ending can make or break a book.

Now about the ending in 'Sea of Shadows', what an ending it was. I had not expected what happened at all. It was such a shock. A heartbreaking shock too. But, this ending sets up nicely for the next book. I have no idea what's going to happen, only maybe one aspect, but that is not nearly enough!! I need to know what happens!!!

BREAKING NEWS!!

On my snoop of Goodreads I have just found that Book 2 of the Age of Legends is called Empire of Night!!! There is a blurb, there is a cover for one edition, not the edition I'm collecting, but it is beautiful!! I'm just hoping the other cover is as amazing as that one. And there is an expected publication date - April 2015 - CAN'T WAIT THAT LONG *crawls*

Rounding this all up now, I loved this book. LOVED! LOVED! STILL LOVE! FOREVER WILL LOVE! And yes I am excited for the next instalment and I would recommend this to lovers of Kelley Armstong and to lovers of the dark, fantasy genre.

So there it is guys :) My review for Sea of Shadow by Kelley Armstrong. Let me know what you think :)