
The Shadow Cats is a prequel novella to the young adult fantasy novel, The Girl of Fire and Thorns. One thing I enjoyed about this novella is how well the author fleshed out the character of Alodia, who was only a secondary character in The Girl of Fire and Thorns. I found her to be a strong, likable lead, and quite different that Elisa. Alodia comes across as mature and pragmatic, although she can also be a bit harsh. I appreciated the focus on the often strained relationship between the two sisters, and felt Alodia's hints of jealousy over not being the chosen one were very realistic. I also felt that the novel was very well paced. It's sixty-four page length pretty much flew right by. The story was very suited for the novella length, instead of feeling like a drawn out short story or rushed novel. Also worth mentioning is that The Shadow Cats was my first ever ebook (or enovella). Although it took me a little while to adjust to reading something lengthy off of the screen of my kindle fire as opposed to an actual paper book, I found that it was a pretty positive experience.
As someone who enjoyed The Girl of Fire and Thorns, I found The Shadow Cats to be a nice little nugget to keep me tied over until the publication of The Crown of Embers, the second book in the trilogy. As the novella is a prequel to the series and deals with a secondary character, I suspect that it would also be very approachable to people who haven't read the series yet. The Shadow Cats is a nice addition to the series, but also a pretty good introduction to the characters and the world that surround them.
Rating: four and a half stars
Length: 64 pages
Source: amazon.com (kindle ebook)
Other books I've read by this author: The Girl of Fire and thorns
Next I will be reviewing Thirteen by Kelley Armstrong and The Gathering by Kelley Armstrong (it's a Kelley Armstrong double feature!)
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