The Shadow Kingdom

Book One of the Shadow Curse Series

This title was previously available on NetGalley and is now archived.
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Pub Date 31 Oct 2018 | Archive Date 12 Jan 2019

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Description

Elliot West stands vigil as Watchman, on the lookout for signs the Shadow Curse may be spreading across the Barrier Strait to her small northern isle. But in all the centuries since the curse was cast, no one, including Eli, has seen a thing, and even she is beginning to wonder if it’s all some grand hoax. That is, until she's ambushed by the Lojkin, a warrior clan from the Shadow Kingdom who believe drinking the blood of someone with color will restore their own, stolen generations ago by the Curse.

Against her will, Eli is taken across the sea to the cursed Shadow Kingdom, waiting to be slaughtered as a sacrifice to foreign gods. Just when it seems her death is imminent, a young man with oddly shifting tattoos and a questionable motive, helps her escape, setting them on a dangerous path through shadowy lands in a desperate attempt to reach home.

Elliot West stands vigil as Watchman, on the lookout for signs the Shadow Curse may be spreading across the Barrier Strait to her small northern isle. But in all the centuries since the curse was...


Advance Praise

'Loved this book. The world is so captivating. Tren is probably one of my favorite book boyfriends in a long time!" - Goodreads review

"Really cool, imaginative world. Loved the entire story, with norse mythology thrown in. Tren was my favorite character by far. I can't wait to see what happens to Eli and Tren." - Goodreads review

'Loved this book. The world is so captivating. Tren is probably one of my favorite book boyfriends in a long time!" - Goodreads review

"Really cool, imaginative world. Loved the entire story, with...


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Available Editions

EDITION Ebook
ISBN 9781999531508
PRICE US$2.99 (USD)

Average rating from 35 members


Featured Reviews

Elliot West stands vigil as watchman on the lookout for signs the Shadow Curse may be spreading across the Barrier Strait to her small northern isle. But in all the centuries since the curse was cast, no one, including Eli has seen a thing and even she is beginning to wonder if it’s all some grand hoax.

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I really enjoyed this novel. It was an interesting read and the characters were really engaging and powerfully witten. The only negative I have is that as a kindle version, the formatting is really distracting and breaks up sentences half way through which takes away from the novel.

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Fresh and different, The Shadow Kingdom is an engrossing way to spend a snowy afternoon snuggled under a blanket with hot cocoa by your side.

We start in todays modern world, on an island called Tallon, where our heroine Elliot (who goes by Eli, please!) goes on a day outing with a couple of friends. Eli is one of a long list of generational Watchmen keeping an eye on the straits that separate her island country from the Shadow Lands, a fabled evil place that is completely devoid of all color. Eli falls asleep as she and her friends lie on aeach in front of a cave. She wakes to a hand holding a wet cloth to her face as she loses consciousness, and we are off on our adventure!


This tale has everything; exotic lands and people, bad guys and good guys, royalty and peasants, and a handsome mysterious stranger. The action is continuous and the excitement keeps you turning the page until well after you should have gone to bed. Everyone is a fascinating character that you want to know more about, but the story keeps things moving along, and that's ok too.


Satisfying surprises, eye-brow raising twists and turns, right up until the absolutely ho-hum ending, which was a bit of a disappointment considering the rest of this wonderful book. Will it stop me from pining for the sequel? Not a chance. I'm eagerly waiting...

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Imagine a land where all the color was sucked out, leaving its people with shades of black and white. Many years ago, a Shadow Curse was cast on an island, draining it of its color and leaving the people alone and in the dark.
Elliot West comes from a line of Watchman, tasked with keeping watch in case there is any sign of the Shadow Curse spreading into her homeland. It has been centuries, and no watchman has spotted anything.
That is until Eli is kidnapped and brought to the Shadow Kingdom.
Omigod I really enjoyed this book. It was a bit confusing at first but soon turned into an addictive read that I couldn’t put down.
I loved Eli’s character growth throughout the story. At first, she was scared and helpless with no real backbone. I got annoyed at her easily. As the plot went on and she was faced with more challenges, she became a stronger version of herself.
The book has you guessing until the very end! I honestly didn’t see it coming which is rare for me. I really enjoyed CJ’s descriptive writing and can’t wait for the next book!

Thank you NetGalley for this wonderful Ebook!

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The Shadow Kingdom is a fast paced, eclectic construction of comparisons. The contrast between a world of colour with a world in B&W, conincides with the building of character - particularly the character relationships with others and themselves. Very interesting - and not overplayed concept.

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It starts in the world of color, Eli is kidnapped away from it to be brought over to the Shadow Cursed kingdom, a land that 300 years ago lost its color and lives in black and white.

This book started slow, then was fast paced for a while and started to bring the two main characters together. When I was at 90% the story comes to a plot twist where Eli realizes that she is more important than she knew.
At this point I knew this would go into a second book and was just reading to end it...well at 96% there is another change in events and ends abruptly. That threw me off.
We will see what happens when the second book comes out.

I received this ebook copy from the publisher and NetGalley for an honest review.

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I finally got round to reading this - I am so glad I did, and I am sorry I missed the NetGalley archive date - but you can all go and buy it (I will be purchasing a paperback for my shelves) You are unlikely to regret it!

I really enjoyed this, more than I honestly expected to. It was really well paced, wonderfully written and I really liked the characters, including the smaller ones, some of whom we are going back to hopefully in the next book. I loved the way the colour of things were barely mentioned for Shetley, and when they were it was a 'white fence' 'eggshell paint' 'grey skys'. They were almost brushed over, taken for granted, because we have them. The Shadow Lands they were really descriptive but in tones and shades of black, greys and whites, moonlight and shadows.

I really liked that Eli was clueless, but curious, and that she had zero survival skills. As you would expect from someone who has never had to learn any. She was a realistic and believable character and I really liked the way her feelings crept up on her and even when she became aware she still wanted to go home.
Tren is mysteriously likeable in that you are kept wondering about him. You doubt him, cheer when he does good, or opens up just a little bit and hope that you're not wrong!

The world is well built, I like the different magics that we come across and I love the idea of the Rhunes and their magic, and the way they seem to react to Tren's emotions.

The end sneaks up on you really fast, and you certainly don't expect what happens in the final chapter!
I had almost forgotten that this was book one and that ending made me want to deduct a star because, just NO! But it is only book one, there will be more, and I, for one, cannot wait!

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