Wednesday, December 14, 2022

Young Adult Fantasy Book Review: Shadows Over London by Christian Klaver

This week, I will be sharing reviews from the young adult fantasy Empire of the House of Thorns series by Christian Klaver!  Today, I am reviewing the first book, Shadows Over London!  Learn about the series, read my thoughts on the books, learn about the author and be sure to enter for a chance to win a prize in the book tour giveaway at the end of this post.


 

​Book Title:  Shadows Over London (Empire of the House of Thorns series - Book One) by Christian Klaver
Category:  YA Fiction (Ages 13-17),  320 pages
GenreYA Fantasy 
Publisher:  CamCat Books 
Release date:  May 2021
Content Rating: PG. It's very clean.
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About the Book


The Faerie have come to take London, and only one girl stands in their way.

​Justice isn’t your average fifteen-year-old girl. She’s an irrepressible scoundrel, and she always has a plan. But her world falls apart when her father forcibly bundles the entire family into carriages in the middle of the night and carts them off to a strange mansion on the outskirts of Victorian London. The Faerie are invading, but the Kasric siblings can’t stay neutral in the ensuing war when they find their parents on opposing sides. Justice has no choice but to embrace her burgeoning magical powers to fight against the Faerie and save her family.
 
My Review

Shadows Over London Introduces Teen Readers to a Clean Fantasy Series. I enjoyed that this novel and the series are written cleanly and interestingly enough to hold the interest of the teen target audience. This first book introduces many characters and devotes some time to building the fantasy world and letting the story's characters discover the magic at play in their world. It also keeps a reasonably well-done balance between a coming of age in a dysfunctional family story and an entertaining fantasy tale with a female heroine coming to terms with her role in the family and with the dark, magical dangers of the fantasy world around her.   

 

This Book Requires a Little Patience at First. I struggled to settle into the story at first as the characters were introduced and the story began to form. Once I could organize the characters in my mind, I enjoyed the story. It is a little predictable, and there are times when the teen heroine seems younger than her age or behaves in a frustrating manner. Expect to read with a bit of patience at times until you settle into the story and the action builds.

 

Would I Recommend Shadows Over London by Christian Klaver? This book is a fantasy novel that my daughters would have enjoyed--and one that I would have felt comfortable with them reading as teens. This book does a nice job setting up the series and leaves readers with plenty of loose ends for the next adventure. If you enjoy slightly darker, older teen-oriented, young adult fantasy stories with unique characters--this series is worth a spot on your reading list. 

   
 
Enjoy Books Two and Three in the Empire in the House of Thorns series:
​Book Title:  Armadas in the Mist (Empire of the House of Thorns series - Book Three) by Christian Klaver
Category:  YA Fiction (Ages 13-17),  332 pages
GenreYA Fantasy 
Publisher:  CamCat Books 
Release date:  November 2022
Content Rating: PG. It's very clean.
 
Many of our posts contain affiliate links.
Should you purchase an item via our links--we may receive slight compensation from an
affiliate partner.  
 

About the Book


The Black Shuck’s forces gather just beyond the mist . . .

Captain Justice Kasric knows how complicated family can be. The escalating Human-Faerie war has scattered and wounded her siblings and transformed her parents beyond recognition. After narrowly escaping yet another dangerous clash, fifteen-year-old Justice has had enough. She’s determined to defeat the Black Shuck, the mysterious leader controlling the Faerie invasion of London, but if Justice hopes to stand a chance at victory, she’ll have to do the impossible: reunite her family and lead them against the looming Faerie Armada.

​With her mother and brother at the helm of the enemy fleet, and the prophesized Seven Virtues slipping out of reach, Justice more than has her work cut out for her. Even if she can save England, the cost may be higher than she’s willing to pay.
 
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​Book Title:  Justice at Sea (Empire of the House of Thorns series - Book Two) by Christian Klaver
Category:  YA Fiction (Ages 13-17),  416 pages
GenreYA Fantasy 
Publisher:  CamCat Books 
Release date:  December 2021
Content Rating: PG. It's very clean.
 
About the Book

The tides of the Faerie War are turning, but at how high a cost for the Kasric family?

Justice Kasric, her siblings, and her parents are locked in combat on both sides of the Human-Faerie War. At fifteen, Justice may be the youngest ever Admiral to command her own ship and lead a resistance, but she has the magic and the will to do it. If only nearly every other member of her family weren’t either in immediate danger of dying—or attempting to kill her!

​Forced to make dangerous pacts with more than one unpredictable ally, only Justice can decide how far she’ll go to save London. Is it worth sacrificing even a member of her own family.
 
Buy the Book  

Meet the Author

Christian Klaver has been writing for over twenty years, with a number of magazine publications, including Escape Pod, Dark Wisdom Anthology, and Anti-Matter. He’s the author of The Supernatural Case Files of Sherlock Holmes series, but has written over a dozen novels, both fantasy and sci-fi, often with a Noir bent. He's worked as book-seller, bartender and a martial-arts instructor before settling into a career in internet security. He lives just outside the sprawling decay of Detroit, Michigan, with his wife, Kimberly, his daughter, Kathryn, and a group of animals he refers to as The Menagerie. He’s also a part of the Untitled Writer’s Group based in Ann Arbor for the past decade or so with a bunch of equally starry-eyed dreamers and social misanthropes.

connect with the author: website ~ twitter ~ facebook ~ goodreads

Enter the Giveaway
ARMADAS IN THE MIST Book Tour Giveaway




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