Review: Fear of Fire and Shadow by S. Young

Fear of Fire and Shadow by Samantha Young
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I was provided an ARC of this book via the Author, however I have since purchased the kindle version of the book, and I do own the kindle version of the original version Slumber. As with all of my reviews all opinions are my own.

Slumber was one of the first kindle books I ever purchased and it was the first book of Samantha's I ever read. Fear of Fire and Shadow is an updated version of Slumber, and only minor adjustments have been made to the book, the main plot is the same and a few things have changed. The characters are a bit older, which fits better with some of the more mature content. The book was originally YA, and it reads a bit more New Adult now. It is fairly tame compared to her contemporary novels when it comes to mature content. Rogan is fairly immature when she starts her quest and makes some questionable choices. She does have some good realizations that she did make poor choices and wasn't well prepared and owns her poor choices. Rogan does grown on this journey and faces internal and external battles. I'm not sure if the author has plans to return to this world and continue the series. The ending was altered slightly from the original to allow for more adventures in this would should she ever want to return, but this stands nicely as a standalone as well.

This follows Rogan, a mage in a world where magic has been thought to be dying. Her best friend Haydyn is the princess of the realm and when she falls ill to a mysterious sleeping sickness, Rogan's magic is the only thing that can save her. Haydyn's family has a unique magic that keeps the peace in the land, but with her illness, the people are turning to the darker side of human nature. Rogan sets out on a quest to find the cure with an entourage, the head of which is her sworn enemy. Wolfe has never done anything to Rogan personally other than exist, but his father killed her family and kidnapped her when she was a child for her magic. On their journey Rogan discovers that her hatred is misplaced, and that she and Wolfe have more in common than she knows. Rogan doesn't want to give into her feelings for Wolfe as it would betray her family, however her quest reveals much about herself, her land, and her true feelings about Wolfe.

I really enjoyed this on the second read. I would have liked to see a full edit of the book as both the author and I have matured over the last 10+ years. She is one of my favorite authors, but I would have liked to see her write Rogan and Wolfe with the banter and chemistry similar to her contemporary romances that I love so much. I'm still holding out hope for a sequel in this world and hope to see more fantasy from the author in the future.

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