Shadowspell by Jenna Black (Faeriewalker #2)

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Shadowspell by Jenna Black
January 4, 2011; St. Martin's Press

Summary

On top of spending most of her time in a bunkerlike safe house and having her dates hijacked by a formidable Fae bodyguard, Faeriewalker Dana Hathaway is in for some more bad news: the Erlking and his pack of murderous minions known as the Wild Hunt have descended upon Avalon. With his homicidal appetite and immortal powers, the Erlking has long been the nightmare of the Fae realm. A fragile treaty with the Faerie Queen, sealed with a mysterious spell, is the one thing that keeps him from hunting unchecked in Avalon, the only place on Earth where humans and Fae live together. Which means Dana’s in trouble, since it’s common knowledge that the Faerie Queen wants her – and her rare Faeriewalker powers – dead. The smoldering, sexy Erlking’s got his sights set on Dana, but does he only seek to kill her, or does he have something much darker in mind? (courtesy of Goodreads)

Review

Dana is a hot commodity in Avalon. With her abilities as a faeriwalker, both the good and bad guys want a piece of her. For her safety, Dana is practically a prisoner in her dad's safe house. This definitely does not sit well with Dana. She gives her bodyguards the slip numerous times and encounters great danger and real consequences because of it. The biggest danger is the Erlking, the faery hunter who is loose in Avalon and apparently looking for Dana.

I go back and forth between admiring Dana and wanting to smack her. She is a strong, independent girl, probably a result of having to be the "adult" with her alcoholic mom. If someone tells her no, Dana finds a way to do it anyway, either by convincing the person to change his mind or simple defiance. This enables Dana to be brave and to save the day. It also causes her to do some really dumb things and people get hurt by her thoughtlessness. On the other hand, she's definitely a girl you want on your side. She'll fight to the death to defend her friends.

Shadowspell introduces a new concept in YA literature: A love rectangle (or square). There are now three hot, sex guys in this series. Of course, one of them is out to kill her...but little details. I'm not a huge Ethan fan, although I did feel a little better about him at the end of the book. For the most part, he's an arrogant, showy playboy. Dana should know better. We don't get to see his good side enough. There wasn't enough Keane in Shadowspell. I love Keane. The bad boy type who's really a good boy. He was around, but I didn't feel like his character went through much growth - or as much as I would have liked. The Erlking is intriguing. He's either evil or he's not. Or perhaps he's a bit of both. He is the biggest reason that I am foaming at the mouth for the third book.

It took me awhile to get hooked on Shadowspell, but once I was, the pages were flying. If you enjoyed Glimmerglass, you must read Shadowspell. It may suffer a little bit from second book syndrome, but it sets up everything perfectly for Sirensong.

Rating: 3.5 / 5