Hello and welcome to Adele Is Reading.

Today on the blog, I have my book review of:

Mother of Shadows is the first book in The Chosen series.

Trigger Warnings: Kidnapping, Blood, Fighting, Violence, mentions of Mass Murder, mentions of Dead Parents, Sex Scenes, mentions of Accident (with horse).
Please note that there may be other possible triggers that I may have missed.

“It’s not a story.”

With four words, Helena’s quiet life goes up in flames. When her childhood friend returns to tell her she is the prophesied ruler of the Chosen—those blessed with the gift of magic—there’s no avoiding her destiny.

Suddenly, Helena is surrounded by a circle of protectors, each man having sworn their loyalty to her since her birth. All except for one: her Mate.

It’s not enough that she learn how to use her magic and undergo a trial to prove her worthiness; in order to claim her title, Helena must also find the man who carries the other half of her soul.

Exiled due to a past he had no part in, Von is the last man the Chosen expect Helena to select. Despite their protests, his soul calls to hers, and there’s no denying he was made for her. But the prophecy stands…and all isn’t as it seems.

There’s an enemy lurking within plain sight who will stop at nothing to destroy her.

From GoodReads [x]:

“REVERSE HAREM” IS, LITERALLY, THE OPPOSITE OF “HAREM”, WITH A GROUP OF MALES CENTERING ROUND A SINGULAR FEMALE, USUALLY WITH THREE OR MORE MALES. QUITE OFTEN FOUND UNDER THE ROMANCE GENRE.

To be quite honest with you, I didn’t know what to expect from Mother of Shadows, like, the way that people converse is more akin to Olde English, but with regular English thrown into the mix.

There are different points of view, and there’s also a mixture of how the story is told. We have both a passive narrators voice, alongside a first point of view.

I will say that the different view points are great—it really adds up in the overall telling of the story. And I’m not going to lie here, I totally thought that the plot would be completely different than it actually is—–and I’m 100% here for it.

I love a story that lets female characters be soft, hard, and everything else in between. Hmm, how can I put this into words that make sense… I love a story that lets their female characters be themselves in their truest form. The human psyche is an obviously complicated and sometimes tangled messes. So when an author creates characters that are complex and let their characters be themselves I just melt a little for those characters. Let us have our anger. Let us have our joy, sadness, despair. Any emotion and then every emotion in between. /rant over, lol/

Also a quick side note; I really enjoyed how Von is softer towards Helena than he is to anyone else.

I love how Helena’s anger isn’t, and doesn’t get, washed away, either. Her anger is a Thing, and it’s not something to be messed with!!!! Helena is all good and dandy towards people until they cross/slight either herself, or those she loves, and frankly, I love love LOVE that.

To say that Helena learned of her heritage and then was 100% okay with it, is not something that happens in this book. In fact, we don’t really see Helena truly struggle with her new role in life. We only see what Helena is like when she learns of it (her heritage), and a few weeks afterwards, when she’s been more settled into her role of things.

All in all Mother of Shadows is not a book that I anticipated, but nevertheless truly, genuinely enjoyed. I’m giving Mother of Shadows 5 stars, and am immediately moving onto the next instalment of the series.

Have you read a story where a character is the “mother of ____”?

Honestly, I love stories where the main character turns out to be a major player in their story (aka, the “Mother of All Things”) and just happen to be badass too.

Thank you for stopping by.

See you soon, and happy reading.
Adele