Shadow & Flame

I'm finding it really hard to sum up my feelings about Shadow & Flame. On the one hand I loved the ending, and there were lots of great moments, on the other hand, it was really quite slow and seemed to be lacking some of the charm of the first book.At times, it kind of felt like all the characters had had personality transplants, they didn't feel like the same gang from book one. I think Mindee's love of horses was really rife in the first book, and that was what made it just that little bit more special. The lack of horses in this sequel was perhaps the problem? At times I just couldn't wait to get to the end, and then I'd find myself racing through the next few chapters excited to get to the end for other reasons.It's a little disappointing to not have enjoyed this one as much as the first, but it's still a great duology, with plenty of original aspects.

this book was immersive and enthralling and despite its predictable nature in places and almost cliche ending it was so pleasant to read I will most definitely read again!

Already forgotten!

I liked the first book pretty well, especially since I rode horses growing up, but this second book was *chef’s kiss*The writing improved tenfold. The plot was IMMACULATE. The romance was not overwhelming, but Corwin’s confessions of love made me want to start a fight with my husband.Loved it

Maravilhoso, sem nenhum defeito. Can't wait to read it.😊💙

I didn’t see so many things coming. I was along for the ride and enjoyed the conclusion to the duology.

Shadow and Flame is so much darker than the first novel and I tore through it. If I could say anything: I went into this series expecting it to be more about the messenger service and the horses. As much as I love these books I still have a large messenger-horse sized hole in my heart. Right next to Bonner's giant hole. Basically I have no heart right now.Shadow and Flame branched a span of almost two years, and it was weird to have that kind of time go by from the prologue to the rest of the book. It was a much darker book but was generally interesting and kept me engaged thru the whole nearly 500 pages.As the events filled themselves in between the prologue and the book, my heart just crumbled and only ever got put 2/3 of the way back together. It was sooooo wrong what Rendborne was orchestrating through Gavril. I think the characters that I liked all got good endings, and one of my favorite aspects was the black&white uror legend. That part of the storyline had a wonderful ending, and it made my day that the Uror horse had a role in the ending.I developed an irrational hate for Signe's character though, how dare she withhold information that is vital to the resistance, then have the nerve to go off on a high horse at Kate? If she wasn't so valuable, I bet someone would have considered her treasonous. You don't get a choice when it comes to putting others in even greater danger. I didn't ship her romance at all either, and it seemed that a lot of her bitterness had rubbed off on DalOtherwise... I mean I would have liked to see more of the rebuild, but it seems like the world was left in an okay position. There is nothing wrong with a little happily ever after, and I like being able to feel reasonably satisfied at the end of a series. I would 100% recommend these if you like fantasy and magic and darkness😁

Onyx and Ivory had me on the edge of my seat.. this conclusion had me guessing every step of the way. At one point I had no idea what to do with the emotions I was feeling along with the MC. Arnett wrote such a passionate book.... you won’t regret picking up this duology and diving into it!