The Allure of Shadows of the Crown: Forbidden Magic and Hidden Hearts
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In the kingdom of Eldoria, where essence weaving is the fabric of reality, Dakota Monroe’s “Shadows of the Crown” plunges readers into a tale of treachery and magic. Ariella Mistaire, known as the legendary assassin born of forbidden magic, becomes the kingdom’s worst nightmare with her striking silver hair and unparalleled lethal skill.
Drawn into a treacherous competition by the King, Ariella navigates a labyrinth of deceit. Her rare affinity for all strands of essence marks her as both a valuable weapon and a potential threat. Among her adversaries is the enigmatic Prince Caspian, whose intentions blur the lines between ally and enemy.
As Ariella uncovers unsettling truths that stretch beyond the castle walls, she finds herself entangled in a plot that could alter the very fabric of Eldoria. In a world where magic breathes and shadows dance, the Silver Wraith must confront the truth of her past—forging into the future of two worlds. This captivating story of love, magic, and betrayal will leave you breathless as it unfolds.

Title: Shadows of the Crown
Author: Dakota Monroe
Publisher: Independently Published
Genre: Dark Fantasy Romance
Pages: 435
Star Rating: 4 stars
Spice Rating: 1 chili peppers
A Throne Shrouded in Mystery
I sat on this review for 5 days because I don’t quite know how I feel about it. I am teetering on 3 or 4 stars. So, let’s parse this out together, shall we? Let’s start with what I liked.
The first sentence intrigued me. “Maybe I should fuck him before I kill him…” At the point of picking up Shadows of the Crown, I had already finished two books. I thought I would give myself a break to scroll TikTok late into the night. But my mind kept returning to that sentence.
And, with this sentence, we start the book with action, Ariella is out on a job, and her dagger ends up with blood on the end of it lol. Ariella is feared in the realm, known as the Silver Wraith. Her parents died when she was young (her mother killed herself and her father was murdered by the king), she was then adopted by the Guild where she developed her skills, working as a hired assassin. Ariella’s sole motivation for living is to seek revenge on the king for what he did to her father and kill him.
“Do I make you nervous Caspian?”
When the opportunity to put her plan into action presents itself as trials at the castle, Ariella leaps at it. What she doesn’t expect is Caspian, prince and heir to the kingdom. It goes without saying that Caspian didn’t expect to be drawn to Ariella as well.
When you look up feminine rage a picture of Ariella Mistaire should be featured. She is badass, amazingly strong, and fierce, but also closed off. Unwilling to let anyone in and allow them to love her the way that she needs to be loved. You feel for her, recognizing why she is the way she is, after everything she has endured. While she is strong-willed and determined, as the story progresses and she loosens around Caspian you see great development in Ariella. The things you see in her are the things she starts to see in herself. Ariella was wonderfully depicted with layers, and layers unfurling and blossoming.
“Every heartbeat of mine is a promise to you. and if you so wished, i would force both realms to bear witness as I sliced the organ from my aching chest and placed it in your hands so there would be no question about who it belonged to.”
And then there is Caspian. That man knows what he wants (Ariella) and goes after it. No matter how many times she has her dagger at his throat. He was smitten with her from the first moment he laid eyes on her. Doing anything for her, making sure she is taken care of on all fronts. We love to see a man take care of his lady. Everything she does arouses him (yes including the dagger to the throat lol), and spurs him on more.
There is great witty banter between the two. Making their relationship and the tension that much more palpable.
Although the story also flowed nicely and had a great premise there were things severely lacking in Shadows of the Crown.
For instance, the world-building. It is almost nonexistent. One would probably deem this as a character-driven tale. But even with that categorization, there needs to be a well-marked foundation in world-building to help set the surroundings. Giving landmarks that are more specific than the broader scope of mountains. One of which Ariella ends up on and we knew nothing about prior. Ariella also spends time throughout the city proper because her hands itch for action but we just end up there no signifiers that bolster the story.
Then there is the magic system, which also was left lacking. There are essences in which a person can weave, (great) but how many are there? How do you obtain them? Some Ariella (as a person who is supposed to have them all but we never really get the encompassing of all) has yet to play with and doesn’t know what they do. Again there is nothing to bolster the intrigue of the magic system, leaving you with more questions than answers.
“Oh, I remember. I remember how easily you had me on my knees for you.”
Too, are the questions you are left with. For long periods of the book, you feel like it is pointless, just filler to get to the real star of the book. The last 5-7 chapters. At this point, we are getting more parts of what happened in Ariella’s past when she visits her childhood home after never visiting. This point in the story is where it starts to get intriguing again NO SPOILERS but after Ariella finds her father’s journal things about her mother don’t make sense. Hell, things about her father don’t make sense and somehow the king is centered.
Shadows of the Crown would have been more interesting (I know you need something for book 2) if this mystery was set up before the end of the book. Doing this could have answered some questions about the magic system while then creating new questions to foster the need for further investigation in the second book.
Equally important it would have given some routes to take for boosting the world-building and propelled Ariella’s initial goal and not spending so much time on relatively non-existent trials.
So what do you think? 3 stars or 4 stars? Let me know in the comments. Shadows of the Crown releases on August 8th. Check it out on Amazon. Thank you to TheNerdFam and Dakota Monroe for an advanced copy for review.
Happy Reading!
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