I finished this book a little over a week ago, and I’m still not sure how to discuss it, or what to comment on. I can’t remember ever reading a book that felt this real, that I could empathize with this much, or that looked like the world we’ve been living in. My goal with this review is to state the facts of this book, with a limited number of my personal opinions thrown into the mix.

Our main character attends a party where she reconnects with her childhood best friend. There is a shooting at the party, which both teenagers are able to safely escape. As they are driving home, they are pulled over by a police officer, which leads to the officer shooting the childhood friend, and threatening to shoot our main character.

The novel proceeds to guide us through our main character’s grief. We watch as she tries to navigate a school environment where she is the second black person in her class. We watch as she is taken to the police station to give her statement, and instead the officers ask her if she knew her friend was selling drugs. We watch as she spirals in and out of her trauma, and decides to testify in court. We watch as the court rules in favor of the officer, as her neighborhood learns that she is the witness, and as the gangs decide she is a snitch.

We watch her learn to use her voice as a weapon, while weapons are trained on her during a protest. And as I read this book, it felt like I was reading about George Floyd, or Breonna Taylor. It didn’t feel like this story revolved around some fictional “tragic accident”, a “one time thing”, that just so happened to conclude with a race driven homicide getting a slap on the wrist. It felt like being pulled into a never ending loop; groundhog’s day if the groundhog lived in the hood and had never seen sunlight.

I wondered early on if this book would end with any sense of hope, or be shadowed by harsh reality. I choose to believe we got a bit of both. The reality is that this isn’t just a fictional story. The hope is that we have a new President, and a generation of people who fundamentally understand that. I hope change is coming. I hope.

Review coming soon!

Started this as an audio book but had a hard time keeping up with the characters (to no fault of the audio book, I just think I had a hard time concentrating). I ended up switching over to my physical copy and flying through this one. THAT ENDING. I audibly said "oh s**t" during those last few pages. I wasn't sure how this would lead into a second book until I finished it. I'm hoping to write a full review of this soon!

Fantasy Lovers Give This A Try

This story definitely requires the reader to suspend disbelief for a few hours, but if you can get past that and let yourself become immersed in this world it’s totally worth it. This was my first reverse harem adventure and I’ve found a new favorite troupe. I really enjoyed the fantasy and supernatural elements to this story. The characters have really great and distinct personalities with their own pov chapters which I loved. I cannot wait for book two.

Did not expect to love this so much

This is my second ever reverse harem book, so I’m still not totally sure what to expect, but werewolves are some of my favorite magical creatures. I really enjoyed getting swept up into the pack dynamics and watching our heroine rewriting history and forming a brand new pack. This book is definitely full of very mature content, so keep that in mind. That cliffhanger though…boy oh boy. Scrambling to get my hands on book 2.

Original Review Below - Thoughts after a reread 1/15/21 - While I agree with my initial review of this book, I did find during my reread that this novel felt too long. I think the inherent novelty and the wonder of discovering this new part of the kingdom had worn off (because I had read it before). I'd drop this down to 4 stars for the reread, but absolutely loved it the first time and think that experience holds more weight.
--ORIGINAL REVIEW--
I've got to gather my thoughts on this one. What a story.

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Dark Skies is the second novel in the Dark Shores series. If you haven’t seen my review of Dark Shores you can check it out on my blog (readwiththelibrarian.com)! I absolutely adored the first book in this series, and listened to it on audio book. So far, Dark Shores is my favorite book of 2020. Dark Skies will be available for purchase wherever books are sold, TOMORROW, May 5th! I got an ARC from Netgalley, and I preordered my physical copy from my favorite local independent bookshop.

With the first book in this series being my favorite of the year, I was excited to see how the second novel would stack up. I wasn’t worried that this would have second-novel-syndrome, because the writing and storytelling in the first book was just so good, and I knew I could trust Danielle L. Jensen to deliver. Would it be better? Would it be equal? I was about to find out.

It was definitely a much different experience reading the first book as an audio book, and the second book as an e-book. I’m a very fast reader, and because of that I can sometimes skim over words or paragraphs, and still come away with the gist of their purpose in the story. This was a skill I developed in college as an English Literature major. I would be taking three to four literature classes per semester, and in every class we were expected to read seven to ten novels. I quickly learned how to become a speed reader, while retaining the information I needed to pass my classes.

However, it’s a skill that allows me to read a lot of books in a short amount of time, but I noticed I took in a lot more information when listening to the audio book. There is no skim reading an audio book, so every descriptive scene, every explanatory prose, got soaked up into my brain, which made the first book feel so alive and visceral.

In Dark Skies we follow the same timeline as Dark Shores, but with different characters. I knew this was going to happen before I started reading, so I didn’t experience any shock or disappointment that our beloved Teriana and Marcus were seemingly absent for most of this book. They do make a few ‘appearances’ through the eyes of our new narrators, Killian and Lydia.

Thankfully, Jensen continues down the path of multiple POV, allowing us an in-depth look at both of our main characters’ thoughts and actions throughout the novel. I also noticed we switched characters more frequently in this novel (almost every other chapter) compared to the first. Once again our male character is a soldier, a character I believe the author writes exceptionally well (I mean the descriptive fight scenes, hello?!). Our female character is a politician’s (adopted) daughter and aspiring scholar, which at first was much different than following a female pirate princess. As the story progresses, we quickly learn that scholars can be badasses too, when it comes to survival.

I’ve noticed that books with repeating timelines, as seen through different character’s perspectives, can sometimes feel boring and repetitive. This novel did not give off that vibe at all, and instead filled the story we were already familiar with with even more depth and background.

I was thrilled when this novel took place on the Dark Shores, and we were able to learn a lot more about the gods/goddesses through Lydia and Killian’s experiences. Their entire story revolves around the seven deities, the blessed, and the discussion around faith.

The plot of this novel was dealing with a war between gods, in which men, women, and children were being used as pawns to suit their agenda. The seventh god was repeatedly tearing Killian and his people down, making them lose faith in their gods, themselves, and each other. It honestly was a rather depressing read. Whereas by the end of Dark Shores Marcus and Teriana had come to an agreement within themselves and regarding each other, Killian and Lydia brought together only to be pulled apart. It felt like by the end of this novel, they were both finally on the path their lives had been leading them towards, but the way they got there was convoluted and heartbreaking.

While Killian and Lydia, as well as the entire cast of Killian’s female soldiers, had rather good banter and chemistry, I did miss the camaraderie between Marcus’ men. The women in this story were thrust together last minute to form a troupe ordered to protect the life of a princess (whom I hated, by the way).

Jensen did such a good job developing characters, that I had strong and hard emotions about them. Every scene with the princess towards the latter half of this novel made me grimace. I wanted to like her. I wanted to root for her. This novel was a feminist dream (featuring lesbian representation and female empowerment), and yet, I could not stand behind her, her attitude, or her actions. Maybe when I reread this novel, knowing the outcome, I’ll see her and her actions differently, but for right now she’s on my list.

This novel made me want to know what will happen next. How will Marcus, Teriana, Killian, and Lydia meet in the future books? How will they defeat the evil that is closing in on all sides, especially if the evil force they’re facing is really a battle within themselves? As I was reading Dark Skies, I couldn’t help but notice Killian and Lydia’s names. Killian, a soldier blessed by the god of war, who is forced to kill his own people. Lydia, who has been away from her true home her whole life, and is blessed by the goddess of healing, and returns life back to her countrymen. It’s just so good! There’s so much to unpack in these two novels, that I could go on forever. I don’t know how long this series is supposed to be, but I will be there every step of the way.

Original Review Can Be Found Below: Reread January 2022 - This book stands the test of time. The story and plot were just as exciting as the first time I read/heard it. The world had that same sparkle and magic as it did when I first discovered it. I will continue to recommend this book to anyone who will listen.

---ORIGINAL REVIEW---
I listened to this as an audiobook and I was hollering at my phone half the time. What a story. Full review to come.

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Author Danielle L. Jensen has been incredibly active on Instagram lately, as most of us have been during these stay at home orders. It was because of her posts on IG that I decided to take a more in depth look into her books. And what would you know, I had a copy of her first book in the Dark Shores series sitting on my Kindle in the form of a Netgalley ARC.


Danielle had been promoting the second novel in this series, Dark Skies, which was at the time available for download on Netgalley (and will be available everywhere May 5th). There’s honestly nothing that puts me in the mood to read more than the premise of a binge read.

I picked up Dark Shores and was plunged into a world with female (and male) pirates, demigods in the form of giant sea monsters, and soldiers who had been forced to leave their parents at a young age as a tax to the empire. This story is massive, but it all worked so incredibly well.

This book does something I L O V E. That’s right! Multiple POV baby! We follow a 17 year old female pirate, Terianna, and the head of the 37th band of soldiers, Marcus. As soon as the soldiers were introduced, both through Terianna’s lens and through Marcus’, I knew I would get along with them just fine. They have the comradery and banter that comes with years of training and surviving together. The chemistry between the men, including some of their more complicated dynamics, were fascinating to listen to.

Oh yeah, I should mention that Dark Shores is my first completed Audiobook, as an adult! It’s not that I wasn’t enjoying the experience on my kindle, but my brain and eyeballs could not keep looking at a screen after reading all day for work. This audiobook was incredible, voiced by both a male and a female actor who did amazing accents for each new character that was introduced. I highly recommend this audiobook to anyone who is willing to give this medium a try.

The plot of this story was rich and vast. There were so many underlying elements that got dug up as the story evolved, and motives upon motives per character. We got to watch Marcus and Terianna fight to remain in control of their own narrative, while slowly learning that maybe they should be working together instead of against each other. There were so many times during this audiobook when I was talking out loud to the characters for being adorable imbeciles, clutching my hair, hands pressed over my eyes, or biting my lip in anxiety.

There were a few times throughout the novel where information is dumped on the reader, because our characters have reached a new location, a new god/goddess is introduced, or a new group of people are discovered. These scenes slowed the story down a little bit, but also helped bring a general sense of understanding about how or why things took place in the upcoming chapters.

This story did so many things well. It tackled race in a wonderfully non discriminatory way. It discussed sexuality among soldiers in a way that normalized any preference. And it tried unraveling the process of conquering nations, and the motives or actions that drive these types of conquests. I say tried to unravel because the characters are still coming to terms and toiling with the repercussions of these actions. They don’t have all the answers yet, and in many aspects they themselves are peeling back years and years of imposed jargon and propaganda.

This novel also discusses what it truly means to be good or evil. Do evil actions for the greater good make someone good or bad? Do good intentions that cause chaos and destruction make you good or bad? While this may not have been answered in this first book of the series, it did give you room to question morality, and what these characters are up against. I think by the end of the book both characters realized that what started out as black or white, is now a fine shade of grey.

I loved this book so much, I got out of bed at 11:30pm to order myself a copy from bookoutlet, and then preordered the second book Dark Skies, from my local independent bookstore. If someone asked me today, right now, what my favorite book of 2020 was, it would be Dark Shores. Without question. I’ve read a few books where part of a character’s adventure takes place on a ship, but I’ve never read a story where the main character is a Pirate Princess. Terianna gives off such strong, bold, Gryffindor vibes, while Marcus is so clearly a Slytherin, my little green heart could barely handle him half the time. Not only did Danielle make me fall in love with Terianna and Marcus, but all the side characters as well! If you get the chance to pick this up on audiobook (via your public library and Libby), please do! Now I’m off to go binge read my ARC of Dark Skies, while I await my preordered copy to arrive.

The anxiety I had while reading this book, and then realizing that it wasn't the last book in this series, is unparalleled. I loved that we got 4 POV from our two MC's from book #1 and two MC's from book #2, all mixed together in book #3. There were so many side characters and storylines that finally brought as many answers to the story as questions about what might happen next. I cannot wait to read the finale. This series is so, so good. It's seriously all of my favorite things in fantasy. I hope more people pick it up and give it a shot.