Friday 27 November 2015

Night Study by Maria V Snyder

GoodReads: Ever since being kidnapped from the Illiais Jungle as a child, Yelena Zaltana's has been fraught with peril. But the recent loss of her Soulfinding abilities has endangered her more than ever before. As she desperately searches for a way to reclaim her magic, her enemies are closing in, and neither Ixia nor Sitia are safe for her anymore. Especially since the growing discord between the two countries and the possibility of a war threatens everything Yelena holds dear.

Valek is determined to protect Yelena, but he's quickly running out of options. The Commander suspects that his loyalties are divided, and he's been keeping secrets from Valek...secrets that put him, Yelena and all their friends in terrible danger. As they uncover the various layers of the Commander's mysterious plans, they realize it's far more sinister that they could have ever imagined.

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Exptected publication date: 26/01/16

Night Study picks up exactly where Shadow Study left off, and I have to admit that although I enjoyed the previous book, Night Study, had me captured from beginning to end. There was so much excitement and twists and turns I did not see coming. Every chapter ended on a sort of cliffhanger as something new came to light or something unexpected happened - if the phrase 'just one more chapter' ever came to mind it was when I was reading this book.

In my review of the previous book, Shadow Study, I complained that as much as I thought Valek and Yelena were strong and awesome on their own I would love to see them working together more - like they did in Poison Study, because in the following books they're only together for a short while then re-united towards the end.  However, I was super pleased because in this book they started of together and remained so for the first 40% of the book.

Told from Yelena, Valek, and Leif's POV Shadow Study focuses on Yelena and the gang's hunt for Owen Moon & co. In addition to this there is another plot thread that is equally as exciting, but I won't mention it here as it's a spoiler. The action and adventure coupled with the colourful cast of characters with their usual banter and bickering made for a thrilling read - from Leif and Devlen to Yelena, Valek, Janco and Ari - these characters are hard not to love. Not forgetting secondary characters, either like Fisk, who is a really interesting guy. I'm kind of hoping that Snyder writes a book centered around him and his Guild of Helpers in the future as I think it would be really cool.

Valek and Yelena go through a lot in this book - Yelena has to learn to cope without her magic and Valek learns a lot about himself and his past, and you can see the small changes and influence Yelena has had on him. As for Yelena herself she is kick-butt as usual, and I love her selflessness and need to save everyone.

Finally, onto the romance: The level of swoons in this one is off the scales, guys.  The number of times I happy sighed through out the book I don't even know, Valek and Yelena are such a wonderful power couple. I have to admit that I wouldn't have minded if the romantic scenes were extended as opposed to fading to black *cough* just sayin'...

Overall, this was a brilliant sequel and I cannot wait to see how Snyder wraps it all up in the final book in the trilogy/series, Dawn Study.

Rating:

3 comments:

  1. Yay :D Awesome review Renu. <3 I'm glad you enjoyed this book a lot :) You make it seem awesome. Yay for good romance ;) But ugh, yeah. I hate those fade to black scenes, lol ;) I own these books, but haven't read them. I'm curious now, though :D

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  2. I cannot wait for this book to come out! Snyder is the fantasy queen in my eyes, and this series has gotten so much better. I'm expecting this to be even better than the last one! Especially after reading your review ;)

    Cucie @ Cucie Reads

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  3. Snyder is a wonderful fantasy writer but I was disappointed with Shadow Study and I have been reluctant to pick this one up, but your review makes me want to reconsider, you make this one seem to be more like the original trilogy.

    - Hills of Books

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