Sea of Shadows by Kelley Armstrong
Series: Age of Legends #1
Published by Harper Teen on April 8, 2014
Genres: Fantasy
Pages: 416
Format: eARC
Source: Edelweiss, Publisher
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In the Forest of the Dead, where the empire’s worst criminals are exiled, twin sisters Moria and Ashyn are charged with a dangerous task. For they are the Keeper and the Seeker, and each year they must quiet the enraged souls of the damned.

Only this year, the souls will not be quieted.

Ambushed and separated by an ancient evil, the sisters’ journey to find each other sends them far from the only home they’ve ever known. Accompanied by a stubborn imperial guard and a dashing condemned thief, the girls cross a once-empty wasteland, now filled with reawakened monsters of legend, as they travel to warn the emperor. But a terrible secret awaits them at court—one that will alter the balance of their world forever.

It’s been a while since I’ve read a book by Kelley Armstrong but it didn’t take me long to remember why I used to love her books.  Her writing style is simple yet beautiful, her characters are always interesting, and her stories are beyond unique.  Sea of Shadows is definitely no exception.

Sea of Shadows started off confusing me a little.  Ashyn and Moria are identical twin sisters and even though they are very different personality wise, it took me a little bit to see that.  For a while I wasn’t sure which girl I was reading about.  It was made even more difficult because one of the other main characters couldn’t even tell them apart!  Once you got to know the girls a little better though, it was pretty clear who was who.  Ashyn was rather shy and kind of afraid of her destiny.  Moria was much more outgoing and she was so brave.  It seemed like nothing scared her.  The girls were pretty good at balancing each other out and I loved their relationship.  They were so close and they clearly loved each other very much.  They also had a great relationship with their father.  He did everything in his power to protect them.  He was a great caretaker and he loved them both very much.  He could see the good in each of his daughters and he loved them for their uniqueness.

The story was really unique.   The concept of criminals being exiled to this place called the Forest of the Dead was pretty terrifying.  There were hints of evil creatures in the Forest of the Dead and I never knew what exactly everyone was going to find when they went in.  Ashyn’s job was to go into the forest and put to rest the souls of all the people lost there but things went wrong from the very start.  It was pretty creepy, to be honest.  And that was just the start of the creepiness.  Moria loved to tell stories to the children of the town about made up creatures from her imagination.  However, she never believed that the creatures could one day come to life and start attacking them.  Talk about terrifying!

My biggest issue with Sea of Shadows and something I know other people struggled with as well, was the pacing.  Honestly the book dragged on for a while.  I couldn’t really get into the story at the beginning because it never seemed to go anywhere.  I was almost bored enough to stop reading but I am truly glad that I didn’t give up.  The second half of the book really makes up for the first half.

Overall, Sea of Shadows is an interesting start to Kelley Armstrong’s new fantasy series.  I am eager to see where the story goes in the next book.

What others are saying about Sea of Shadows:

All Things Urban Fantasy’s review: “SEA OF SHADOWS is an action packed and kind of spooky departure from what I am used to with Kelley Armstrong’s writing.”

Lost in a Great Book’s review: “Sea of Shadows  is a great fit for both the male and female reader who are looking for something more in their historical fantasy, especially if it’s tinged with enough horror-filled moments to bring shivers to your late night reading.”

Book Whales’ review: “Overall, the book is great for adventure and gore lovers.”