The Half-Light City, Book 1

Synopsis : Imagined a city divided. On one side, the Night World ruled by the Blood Lords and the Beast Kind. On the other, the elusive Fae and the Humans protected by their steadfast mages. A city held together by nothing more than a treaty – and even then, barely…

I was born of a Fae mother, but I had no place among her kind. They called me soulless. An abomination. Perhaps they’re right… I am a wraith, a shadow who slips between worlds. I was given into the service of the Blood Lord Lucius, who raised me to be his most feared assassin. Still, I’m nothing more than a slave to my master and to the need that only he can fulfill.

Then Lucius orders me to kill Simon Du Caine, a powerful sunmage. In the blaze of Simon’s magic, my own disappears. Instead of seeking revenge, he shows me mercy. He wants to free me. But that’s one thing my master and his kind will never allow.

And even if I thought I could trust Simon, stepping from the shadows into the light isn’t as simple as it sounds…

Review : I was so sure after reading the synopsis and seeing the cover that this book was a typical Urban Fantasy Novel. But finally I was wrong, it wasn’t the case. I couldn’t compare it either to a real paranormal romance, but I think it was a book on the border of the two kinds.

We discover in this novel a new world. Indeed, this one is shared in two very distinct categories which are each very intriguing. The first one brings together the Blood Lords, i.e the vampires and the Beast Kind. They live on the fringe of society. The other one brings together the Mages, the Templar : some strong warriors, Humans and the Faes who want to defend humanity. In this world we could meet a different person : Lily, a wraith. She is the slave of Lucius, one of the oldest vampire in the city who mistreats her like the others. As she is the personal assassin of this man, she is the only one who can hide in darkness. Therefore she is a significant advantage. But everything will change when she meets Simon, who just only wants one thing : save her and destroy Lucius with her testimony.

From the beginning, we learn the Simon’s feelings for Lily, because, of course he wants her in his bed. She is more suspicious about all this and he will have to wait some times before she could make a choice. And well, our terrible assassin is a virgin ! I think their feelings were quite too fast and finally the relationship between the two characters is a very important point in this story. Which was a shame because even if we’re very touched by the new feelings of Lily, the relationship is a too big part of the story. Finally, the novel is led by the Simon’s feelings for our heroine.

Lily is a character we like quite fast. Despite she seems cold and is depreciated by everyone, she has some vivid emotions and would like to impose her own opinions. I was sometimes wondering if she gives them ammunition. She is always in some difficult situations where she couldn’t escape. However, we very sad for her, for her life because she has to live alone.

We can learn very well the feelings of our two characters, whether it was for Simon or Lily, because the book is shared between their two points of view. Therefore, we can understand their suspicious and their desire. I think I prefer the point of view of Lily, Action was more present with her while the logic is more for Simon.
It’s a cute story and I surely will read the second book with curiosity, but it’s right that it wasn’t a mind-blowing read. Maybe I’ve expected a little too much for it.

10 thoughts on “Shadow Kin by M.J. Scott (VO)

  1. Mimi Valentine

    LOL I find it hard to distinguish an exact boundary between urban fantasy and paranormal romance too! But you’re totally right: who says it has to be one or the other? Why not both? 😉

    This book sounds like such a cute read! Even if I didn’t have a weakness for this genre, I think I’d be totally interested in it!

    Awesome review, Melliane! 🙂

  2. Melliane

    I just love books about faes ! Usually, it’s not difficult for me to distinguish the two of them, but right here I don’t really know… so I think the two kinds are perfect LOL. Thanks !

  3. Andrea

    I hate when I have dangerously high expectations for a book and they fall short. The book does sound interesting, though.
    Nice review!

  4. Melissa (My World...in words and pages)

    Thanks for this review. I have this one on the want list and it does sound really interesting. Neat to learn that it’s more than just the basic UF read. Thank you for the great review.

  5. Mary @ BookSwarm

    I wondered about this one! Thank you so much for reviewing — it gave me a much better picture of the overall book. Sometimes the blurb just doesn’t do it justice, you know? Great job.

  6. Melliane

    @ Andrea : Yeah, I think finally it’s a bad habit. Thanks for stopping by !

    @ Melissa (My world…in words and pages) : You’ll tell me if you read it if you think the same thing !!!

    @ Mary : Yeah, it’s difficult sometimes to really know. thanks for stopping by !

  7. Melissa (Books and Things)

    Even though the love was too fast, it still sounds like a great book. I really love fae books and I think I will put this one on the wishlist!

  8. Sherri

    I’ve seen this one around also but didn’t think much of it, now I reconsidered by opinion and will be adding it to my wishlist. Thanks for the excellent review and I love how you do both the english and french ones. I may not understand but I get to see the covers for the different versions and that is really neat.

    Thanks for stopping by my blog on the Waiting on Wednesday tour. I appreciate it.

  9. Melliane

    @ Melissa (Books and Things) : I do hope you’ll like it, it’s a nice read. I think discover a new world so different is always interesting !

    @ Sherry : Thanks it’s very nice, I’m always afraid to make too much mistakes eveywhere in english LOL. Thanks too for stopping by mine !

  10. Missie

    I like how PNR and UF have been crossing over. Since I’m always craving more romance, it works great for me. And I like the sound of the POV shifts, they seem to provide balance to the story between action and down time.

    Great review!

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