Random Things Blog Tour – Book Review – Sparks and Shadow by Ceara Nobles

“Seattle was full of monsters. I’m not talking about the petty criminals, drug dealers, and other miscellaneous jerks that flooded the streets every day. No, I’m talking about real-life, stuff-of-nightmares monsters – but these weren’t confined to the midnight recesses of the mind”

Genre: Y/A Fantasy

Number of Pages: 234

Date of Publication: 4 March 2022

Publisher: Riverside Press LLC

Rated: 5/5

My Review Summary: A gripping tale full of action and magic.

📖PLOT SUMMARY FROM GOODREADS📖

Seattle is full of monsters, and I’m the only one who can see them.

I’ve spent the last 17 years (AKA my whole life) pretending I can’t see the monsters who disguise themselves as humans. I may not have a place to live and my best friend may be moments away from getting in too deep with the city’s most dangerous drug lord, but I’m rolling with the status quo.

That is, until I save my arch enemy’s stupid life and find myself in a warehouse full of monsters.

Next thing I know, I’m in Monster Land (AKA not Seattle) and up to my ears in monsters, magic, and inevitable mayhem. If I want to get home, I have to join a band of revolutionaries and stay alive long enough to get back through the portal before war breaks out.

This’ll be a cinch.

Sparks and Shadow is a modern, action-packed YA portal fantasy featuring Fae mythology, magic, and slow-burn romance. This is the first book in the Rising Elements series.

💭THOUGHTS💭

I saw this come up on Random Things Blog Tour and I had to put my name down. I have recently got back into fantasy and I am pleased to say that it didn’t disappoint. It was a gripping fantasy tale and I can’t wait to read the rest of the series!

The writing was clear and engaging and I struggled to put it down! The story was told from the main character’s point of view. You were privy to her thoughts and feelings throughout and were taken on the journey through her eyes.

The description was excellent, you could really feel yourself there in Faery land. There was a good mix of description and conversation between the characters to give the story depth and a good pace. Nothing felt rushed and it gave you a chance to explore the surroundings with the main character.

The individual characters were gradually introduced at the beginning of the story. You got to know them through cleverly placed conversations and interactions with the main character. I loved the friendships that grew throughout the story and felt that whilst they were a side line to what was going on, it added some warmth to the story. All the characters clearly had their own sad stories to tell, so it was nice to see the bonds of friendship that had occurred after their experiences.

The characters themselves were complex and together made for interesting reading. I enjoyed being on the journey with the main character and seeing the relationships between them all. Some relationships were better than others, but there was positivity and happiness that was nice to read. There were some emotional scenes and every character had obviously had some trauma in their life which made you feel sorry for them and hope that they had a happy ending.

I enjoyed reading about the main character Everly, and Shadow, and want to see where their relationship ends up. It was quite up and down in the book and made for tense reading at times!

The chapters were a decent length and were often split into sections. This meant that you were given a good chunk of the story before moving onto another part. There were little cliff hangers at the end of the chapters which made me want to carry on reading. There was a good pace to the story with lots of different things being weaved in and brought together to keep the reader’s interest.

Even though the story wasn’t overly long, a lot of detail, action and emotion was packed in. It was written in such a way though that I didn’t at any point feel overwhelmed with everything.

Lastly the settings. There were some lovely descriptions – who doesn’t want to be transported to a Faery land once in a while?! There was a good mix of description and conversation, however towards the end the description grew less and we were more focussed on the characters and what they were trying to achieve. This made sure that the right bits were being focussed on by the reader, yet still giving the story depth.

The book was cleverly left open for the next one in the series. There were some questions left unanswered, but not enough that you felt short changed. It makes you want to read the next one in the series.

Overall an enjoyable read and one that I would recommend to fantasy fans!

⭐Rated 5/5⭐

About the Author

“Seattle is full of monsters, and I’m the only one who can see them.

That is, until I save my arch enemy’s stupid life and find myself in a warehouse full of monsters.

This’ll be a cinch. Sparks and Shadow is a modern, action-packed YA portal fantasy featuring Fae mythology, magic, and slow-burn romance. This is the first book in the Rising Elements series.”

Ceara Nobles is a Utah-based author of romantic suspense and fantasy novels. She graduated from the University of Utah in 2016 with a B.A. in Computer Animation, then realized she hated it. Now she spends her days juggling her side hustle as a line editor and her true love of authorship. When she’s not busy writing, you can find her chasing her toddler, road tripping with her hubby, or hiding in bed with a chai and a good book.

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