Of Silver and Shadow by Jennifer Gruenke (Website, Twitter)Published by North Star Editions on 2020
Genres: Dark Fantasy, Dystopian, Fantasy, LGBT, Young Adult Fiction
Pages: 480
Ren Kolins is a silver wielder—a dangerous thing to be in the kingdom of Erdis, where magic has been outlawed for a century. Ren is just trying to survive, sticking to a life of petty thievery, card games, and pit fighting to get by. But when a wealthy rebel leader discovers her secret, he offers her a fortune to join his revolution. The caveat: she won’t see a single coin until they overthrow the King.
Behind the castle walls, a brutal group of warriors known as the King’s Children is engaged in a competition: the first to find the rebel leader will be made King’s Fang, the right hand of the King of Erdis. And Adley Farre is hunting down the rebels one by one, torturing her way to Ren and the rebel leader, and the coveted King’s Fang title.
But time is running out for all of them, including the youngest Prince of Erdis, who finds himself pulled into the rebellion. Political tensions have reached a boiling point, and Ren and the rebels must take the throne before war breaks out.
Of Silver and Shadow by Jennifer Gruenke is a book that caught my attention because of the cover…it’s so pretty. With that said, the story itself was quick to grab my attention and I found I didn’t want to put it down until I finished. The fact that I finished it in less than a day should tell you I enjoyed it. I’ll do my best not to include spoilers but be warned, that might be harder than I think.
The story is told from multiple perspectives and normally I favor one over another but in this case, I liked all perspectives equally. I think this speaks to Gruenke’s ability to make every chapter as engaging as the last, regardless of who’s perspective it was.
Now to the story – Ren Kolins is a silver wielder. This is important because a number of years prior, the King did what he needed to to eliminate anyone who had this magic but wasn’t a member of the royal family. Ren’s family was killed but she ended up surviving and living on the streets of Erdis. Ren is definitely a survivor. With the help of her magic, she’s actually been able to get by and you could say she’s a pretty successful thief and pit fighter. When Ren is approached by the leader of a group of rebels to join them and use her magic to overthrow the King, she bargains to get a fortune that will get her out from under the thumb of a gang leader she owes money to.
Our rebel leader is Darek and he doesn’t really make a great first impression with Ren. Having taken on the mantle of leader of the rebels when his mother died, Darek isn’t interested in Ren’s reasons for not doing whatever she could to make things better for the people of Erdis. Having grown up protected by his father and their money, he doesn’t really know what Ren has gone through and it shows. Luckily for Darek, he has his younger brother Markus, who is a bit more sensitive and is able to talk (negotiate) a deal with Ren to get her on board.
Adley Farre is one of the King’s Children; a group of warriors raised and trained by the King so you can imagine her life hasn’t been that easy. With that said, she has been able to carve a place for herself within the castle walls and by doing so, she is now a primary person responsible for hunting down the rebels. Her motivation is the competition the king has created amongst the Children. Whoever is able to hunt down the rebel leader will be made the King’s Fang (his right hand) and Adley sees this as an opportunity to obtain her freedom (and potentially that of the person she loves, another warrior named Lesa).
The final point of view is that of Kellen, the second son of the King. His ability to get in and out of the castle and make people believe that he doesn’t have a care in the world are what helps him survive in the world he grew up in – Kellen recognizes just how dangerous his father and his brother are. Unbeknownst to Kellen, his relationship is what gets him pulled into the world of the rebels and with a side gig he has, he finds himself right in the middle of Ren’s world.
I loved how Gruenke developed the characters, brought them all together, and leveraged them all to move the story forward. Yes, Ren is right at the center of everything but everyone in this book has a role to play and it makes the story that much more interesting.
This book has plenty of action and the pacing felt right. Every time I thought I had the storylines figured out, there was a twist or something else happened that required the characters to completely adjust their intended plans and it made things more interesting.
That’s about all I can say without giving anything away. If you’re looking for a new young adult fantasy, consider adding this one to your tbr shelf. I will definitely be picking up more stories from Gruenke whenever she writes them as this was a great read!
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the early copy in exchange for an honest review.
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