(Completed Read) Kingdom of Shadows and Wings- Nina Frost

Overall Star Rating:  ★★★

Overall: I will start out by saying that I did finish this series. However, I did not expect it to be 4 books long. I feel like it really could have been a trilogy and been happier with that. Overall, the book had a good plot/storyline. The mystery of the dragoncaller, the development of the villain and inclusion of the Gods was great. However, the description of the shadow creatures and the lore of the Gods did get kind of confusing and hard to keep up with. Each book ended with me wanting to find out more, just to see what was going to happen next. The books are relatively short and easy reads which was nice. 

Characters: Lark, the main character, had good development throughout the story that was believable and made sense. Sterling, in the beginning was a good character and had enough rough around the edges but with a protective and soft side that I liked him a lot. However, as the series went on, he lost his appeal, and their banter/relationship got a little boring. The side characters were okay. They were not all fully developed to where I really cared what happened to them. When the inevitable deaths did happen, (its a war right?) I feel like they were supposed to impact me, but they didn't really have that impact because I didn't feel connected to the characters. What kept me reading was the plot, not the characters. 

Setting: The first book was easy to follow, there are two kingdoms that do not get along and are at war with each other. She attends a war school for riders in her kingdom. However, after book 2, you start to see other kingdoms come in that I feel like there was no reason to include them and made the setting more confusing on where these kingdoms are in relation to each other. 

See below for a synopsis of each reading session through the book. I will try to keep details to the minimum for anyone wanting to read the book but just want to see my impressions. 

Other books I have read and wrote about:

Of Flames and Fallacies - Courtney Whims

Wild Reverence - Rebbeca Ross

Dire Bound - Sable Sorenson

Empire of Flames and Thorns - Marion Blackwood

He Loves Me Not - C.M. Nascosta

Powerless - Lauren Roberts

Plated Prisoner Series (Gild)- Raven Kennedy 

Heaven Breaker - Sara Wolf 

Chapter 1-16

This is being made after several nightly reading sessions, but I am just now writing things down. 

We have our FMC, Lark, who gets news that her sister is missing from a prestigious flight academy where she was learning to fly Alicorns ( horses with wings and a horn) and Dragons. She is of course the girlier of the two sister who has no experience or desire for flying but will go because she wants to figure out what happened to her sister since her disappearance was highly suspicious. 

Her first days at academy are full of hazing from others who believe she doesn’t belong there and is the weakest link. Which she kind of is. 

We learn she has a fear of flying, is incredibly out of shape and has no skills required to become a flier. 

We also meet our MMC, Thorne, who is an instructor at the academy and hates Lark at first but eventually comes to kind of like her and offers to help her get over her fear of flying. 

Now here are my theories so far…

Lark has magic that doesn’t need a special drug to activate, she is some kind of special species that is not human. She has to suppress her magic because she can’t control it.  Her mom mentions that they cannot know about her powers and it’s mentioned a few times that she does not look like her mom or sister. 

There are a few snippets of her memories where it seems like she is flying or has extra senses. I think maybe she is some kind of dragon shifter. 

There’s a small comment from Thorne about the dragons being unhappy. I think her sister may have found out a secret about the mistreatment or imprisonment of the dragons and left to help or there is some sort of group that she went to that was formed because of the dragons  

Chapter 16-24

Honestly, I don’t feel like much as happened between chapter 16 and now. However, I did change a theory towards the end of chapter 23. We find out exactly how dragons are treated in this chapter and bonded dragon riders are mentioned. So changed my theory from dragon shifter to a dragon rider who has may have bonded with a dragon or the dragons know she will be bonded soon. 

Chapter 24-46

In these chapters, the two main characters give up on the things that keep them apart and get together. But of course, the bliss does not last long. 

Lark finally releases her powers and we find out exactly what she is I wasn’t too far off on my theory.

We meet the king, who it has been hints at throughout the book that he is not a good guy.

We get a betrayal that was not all that surprising and the trial begins. The first part of the trial is pretty shortly written, maybe described in one chapter. The return trip back is where I stopped reading. 

Ch. 46 - End

War breaks out, you find out a different side to Sterling and we begin the journey to book 2.   The ending to this book did leave me wanting to read the next one.