Claimed by Shadow by Karen Chance

A Largely Spoiler Free Reread Review

So, Claimed by Shadow is extremely rough and tumble. Lots of action, little time to sit an explain what exactly is going on at any given point in time. My notes are largely full of me being annoyed at Cassie over a good chunk of this... which I still am, in all honesty. But, if you're going to read the Cassie Palmer series, you ought to get used to the chaos, if I remember correctly.

Okay, my annoyance with Cassie is two -- possibly three -- fold. She latches onto particular characters pretty much to a fault and distrusts pretty much everyone else. That's not to say the mistrust is displaced, seeing as everyone else is out for their particular agendas and has little time for Cassie's, but when the mistrust gets in the way of either moving the plot or misdirecting it, it's annoying. The latching on part... Cassie pretty much only trusts Billy and Mac (though I'm not entirely sure she has a lot of reason to trust Mac) and manages to mess up her mission by being too attached to Tomas and Pritkin's golem once they reach Faerie. This bugs me. Do not like. Blech.

And on the note of not liking things: the geis. It's gross. So gross. So plot-moving. Like Imprinting in The Twilight Saga. It goes both ways in Cassie Palmer but that doesn't make it any better. I hate it.

I did enjoy some of the world-building here. It's kind of fun to see how the world of Cassie Palmer is set up, even if these slower world-building scenes are few and far between. No one has time to sit still and actually talk to each other in any sort of satisfactory manner so the world drips in between the fight scenes. Doesn't help that Cassie is slow on the uptake often times... which really makes me question that Pythia position she's in. Gonna need to work on that reaction time.

Honestly, the last section of Claimed by Shadow saved the book for me. Once Cassie manages to get herself, Pritkin, and Billy into position to save Mircea from Myra, the story moves in an understandable fashion... well, aside from the big fight scene, which is as chaotic as usual, but otherwise, yes, it's nice to have some linear story telling. I'm really about to contradict myself here, though, because I do enjoy the way Cassie's adventures go with the time-jumping. It's just that everything else seems to blink by in a stream of chaotic light... I could not tell you much about a good chunk of this book and I just finished reading it. That's how crazy chaotic it is. I feel like Touch the Dark was much the same.

So yeah, Claimed by Shadow is largely chaotic, but pretty alright. I enjoyed the ride. 

Favorite Quotes

"It's a clue that you are hanging with the wrong crowd when you have beer, guns and about a ton of ammunition, but no clean clothes." - Cassie Palmer

"No one who wants power should ever be allowed to wield it."

     "Then I'll be great," I said bitterly, "because no one could possibly want it any less than I do." - John Pritkin and Cassie Palmer