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
Genre: YA Fantasy 
Publisher:  CamCat Books 
Release date:  May 2021
Content Rating: PG. It’s very clean.

Book Description:

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.

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My Review

I chose to listen to this book after receiving a free audio copy from iRead Book Tours. All opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased.

The story is told from the viewpoint of 15-year-old Justice Kasric. At the beginning of the story, she seems to be your typical teen in a family with a father at sea and a mother who shows favoritism, and Justice is not her favorite. Then they are all whisked away in the middle of the night, and their lives are changed forever.

Once the family is in the mansion, strange things begin happening, including Justice being able to see ghosts. Eventually, they realize they each have some sort of power. Once their mother leaves them behind, they realize they must escape which is easier said than done. After they escape the mansion, the adventure truly begins.

The children find out that there is a threat of war with the faeries. But there aren’t only faeries and ghosts in this world, there are goblins and dragons and many other fantastical creatures.

This is a dark young adult fantasy that is definitely not for middle school readers or younger. There is occasional action but there is also a lot of downtime in between when Justice is trying to work things out or is having conversations with other characters.

I didn’t feel connected to the characters, so hopefully there will be more character development in the next book.

The narrator was very good. She did great with the voices, and her pace and timing were perfect. Because of the narrator, I think I enjoyed the audiobook more than if I would have read the book. I’m still confused about some things. I will definitely be listening to the next audiobook in the series because there are things that haven’t been resolved, and I have to find out what happens.

About 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

Giveaway

Enter to win a copy of

SHADOWS OVER LONDON
EMPIRE OF THE HOUSE OF THORNS
(BOOK ONE)
(2 winners/USA only)

Gleam

Follow the Tour

Nov 21 –Splashes of Joy – book series spotlight / giveaway
Nov 21 –Rockin’ Book Reviews – audiobook review of SHADOW OVER LONDON(Book One) / giveaway
Nov 22 –Jazzy Book Reviews – book series spotlight / giveaway
Nov 23 –Cover Lover Book Review – book series spotlight / giveaway
Nov 25 –Sadie’s Spotlight– book series spotlight / author interview / giveaway
Nov 25 –Rockin’ Book Reviews – book spotlight of JUSTICE AT SEA(Book Two) / giveaway
Nov 28 –Books With A Chance –book review of SHADOW OVER LONDON(Book One) / author interview / giveaway
Nov 28–Rockin’ Book Reviews – book spotlight of ARMADAS IN THE MIST(Book Three) / giveaway
Nov 29 –Living in a Bookworld– book series spotlight / author interview / giveaway
Nov 30 –Bound 4 Escape– audiobook review of SHADOW OVER LONDON(Book One) / giveaway
Dec 1– Gina Rae Mitchell– book series spotlight / author interview / giveaway
Dec 1 – Writer with Wanderlust  – audiobook book review of SHADOW OVER LONDON (Book One) / giveaway
Dec 2- Writer with Wanderlust  – audiobook book review ofARMADAS IN THE MIST (Book Three) / giveaway
Dec 5– Liese’s Blog– book series spotlight
Dec 6 –Book Dragons TBR– audiobook review of SHADOW OVER LONDON (Book One) / giveaway
Dec 7 –Book Dragons TBR– audiobook review of JUSTICE AT SEA (Book Two ) / giveaway
Dec 8 –Book Dragons TBR– audiobook review ofARMADASIN THE MIST(Book Three) / giveaway
Dec 9 – Lady Hawkeye – books series spotlight / giveaway
Dec 12 –Books With A Chance –book review of JUSTICE AT SEA(Book Two) / giveaway
Dec 13 –Bound 4 Escape– audiobook review of JUSTICE AT SEA(Book Two) / giveaway
Dec 14 –fundinmental– book series spotlight / giveaway
Dec 14 –Book Corner News and Reviews– book review of SHADOW OVER LONDON(Book One) / giveaway
Dec 15 –Book Corner News and Reviews– book review of JUSTICE AT SEA(Book Two) / giveaway
Dec 16 –Book Corner News and Reviews– book review ofARMADASIN THE MIST(Book Three) / giveaway
Dec 19 –@onecreativeartist– book review of SHADOW OVER LONDON(Book One)
Dec 19 – Books and Games – audiobook review of SHADOW OVER LONDON (Book One)
Dec 19 –Locks, Hooks and Books– book review of SHADOW OVER LONDON(Book One) / giveaway
Dec 19 –Welcome To MLM Opinion’s Reviews– book review of SHADOW OVER LONDON(Book One) / giveaway
Dec 19 –Authors on iTours: Let’s Talk Books– book review of SHADOW OVER LONDON(Book One)
Dec 19-@onecreativeartist– book review of JUSTICE AT SEA(Book Two)/ giveaway
Dec 20 –Locks, Hooks and Books– book review of JUSTICE AT SEA(Book Two)/ giveaway
Dec 20 –Welcome To MLM Opinion’s Reviews– book review of JUSTICE AT SEA(Book Two)/ giveaway
Dec 20 –Authors on iTours: Let’s Talk Books– book review of JUSTICE AT SEA (Book Two)
Dec 20 –@onecreativeartist-book review ofARMADASIN THE MIST(Book Three)
Dec 20 –Bound 4 Escape– audiobook review ofARMADASIN THE MIST (Book Three) / giveaway
Dec 20  – Books and Games – audiobook review of Justice at Sea (Book Two)
Dec 21 –Authors on iTours: Let’s Talk Books– book review ofARMADASIN THE MIST(Book Three)
Dec 21 –Locks, Hooks and Books– book review ofARMADASIN THE MIST(Book Three) / giveaway
Dec 21 –Books With A Chance –book review ofARMADASIN THE MIST(Book Three) / giveaway
Dec 21 –Welcome To MLM Opinion’s Reviews– book review ofARMADASIN THE MIST (Book Three) / giveaway
Dec 21 –Books and Games – audiobook review of ARMADAS IN THE MIST (Book Three)