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Title: Blue Shadow Prophecy (#2 Chimera)
Author: Anca Antoci
Published: 28th of January 2021
Format: eARC – 302 pages
Hello Hello! How are you all?
Today, I am so happy to be bringing you my review of Blue Shadow Prophecy by Anca Antoci! I read the first book in this series last year for a blog tour, and I loved it so much! I am so grateful to Anca for sending me a review copy of her book because the second instalment was great too!
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review, all opinions are my own.
Disclaimer: This is the second book in the Chimera series and I will only be doing a small-ish review for it because there are a lot of elements that could be spoilers for the first book, so head over to my review of Forget Me Not if you wish to find out more!
GOODREADS SYNOPSIS
It started with a prophecy, a kidnapping, and a curse. Then it got worse!
Joining the Resistance to fulfill the prophecy — dismantle the Council and free the chimera, Rae’s life went from ordinary to exciting overnight. It didn’t last long.
Kidnapped by a witch with her own agenda, Rae uncovers a web of lies woven to conceal the true extent of her magic. To survive she must concede to her captor’s terms but there is a silver lining — Michael, her vampire guardian is also held captive with a curse. Rae sets out to break the curse to sway the vampire’s allegiance. But nothing ever goes according to plan.
MY REVIEW
Blue Shadow Prophecy by Anca Antoci is the second book in the fantasy series called Chimera. As I mentioned above, I read Forget Me Not (book 1) last year and I didn’t yet know Anca much then, but I’ve gotten to know her more since and she is such a lovely person!
Anca has her own amazing fantasy-focused blog which I really recommend, she has great content, so if you are a fantasy fan, head over to Summon Fantasy! I was so glad when she told me about her second book being released and I’m so grateful to her for sending over book 2 – so thank you so much Anca! This did not however impact my thoughts on this book.
Today’s review is going to be shorter than usual because there are a lot of things that happen in this book that I can’t really talk about because they would be spoilers for the first book, but I will do my best to entice you while keeping the spoilers at bay!
I was so excited to pick this book up and I think had I been less tired, I could have read this in one or two sittings because I got drawn into this world so quickly again and it was great to be back with some old characters, and also some newer ones. It had been a year since I had read Forget Me Not, so the first couple of chapters were a tiny bit confusing, but once I remembered the events of book 1 and the characters, I was completely immersed. That’s a lesson that I need to remember to reread the previous book in a series before jumping into a sequel aha!
Rae is back and she is back kicking and fighting in a way. I loved her in book 1 and I feel like she had such a huge development since then. She is very strong-willed and a character who strives for just behaviour. She would not hurt a fly, literally, and I really like that she is compassionate and caring as well as strong and so important to the plot and greater events surrounding it.
I suppose you could say that this book has elements of urban fantasy because it is set in places in the U.S. and Alaska and magic and the supernatural world are brought to the light on the backdrop of the “real” world. I really like the world and setting that Anca has set up because it is believable, but there is also a lot of leeway for future adventures – and from that ending, I’m sure the next adventures will be high-stakes and fast-paced.
The majority of the characters in this book are new and that’s why I can’t say much because a few do come back from the first instalment in this series, but I want you to discover them for yourselves. Saying that, I really liked Jessica, and Michael grew on me, although, I am still not sure what my thoughts are towards Maya. I found that the characters we did see again had developed since the first book and I liked that.
The writing style is really fluid and I was completely sucked back into this world. Anca has managed to infuse her story with an almost sinister atmosphere as Rae has to constantly be on her guard for anything that might happen to her or threaten her. She spends most of this book trying to figure things out, be it the people around her or herself, and I like that the plot and the setting are almost ominous. There are also some great creatures introduced in this book that hint at a new setting for the next book, so I am intrigued to see where that will go.
MY THOUGHTS AND RATING
Overall, this was a great second instalment in a series I already love and that I’m very invested in. Although I was tired and kept falling asleep reading, I read this book relatively quickly because the writing is so fluid and easy to read, as well as a really nice pace that keeps you turning the pages as fast as you can. The cover and the chapter headers are beautiful, I really like the whole vibe Anca has going on for her series!
I found that Forget Me Not had slightly more action or maybe things happening compared to this book and there was a big difference between the events of book 1 and book 2, but I know that the characters from book 1 will be back soon. Despite the big difference in plot, it did carry on the “major” plot point and I found it really interesting to learn more about this, the prophecy that Rae learned about in book 1 and also the view of this prophecy from two different sides. I thought that was a really clever element to add to the story as it kept Rae up at night and thinking things through.
I gave this book 4 stars, you can find my full ASPECTS rating below. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I feel like it has set up the plot and the characters perfectly for the next book in this series – at least, I hope there will be more!
This is a great series for anyone who is a fantasy fan and anyone who likes reading about unique magic, a unique plot and some great characters. I hope I did this book justice in my review and I highly recommend it, but please remember to check out my review of Forget Me Not first, you won’t want to miss out on this series!
Thank you once again to Anca for letting me read your book and for sending me a copy. I’m so grateful that you did as it was a joy to dip back into this world!
That’s all for now, I hope you enjoyed reading this post, see you soon, stay safe,
Ellie xx
ABOUT THE AUTHOR – ANCA ANTOCI
Anca Antoci started out as a fanfiction writer and then moved on to write her own story. Thus her debut novel Forget Me Not got published in January 2020.
Her fanfiction stories are still available on her blog. Living in Romania, Anca speaks English as a second language.
Because she’s a passionate reader, Anca started a blog where she reviews fantasy books called Summon Fantasy. When she’s not reading or writing, Anca loves cooking and watching movies with her daughter while eating nachos.
Anca’s Links: Website – Twitter – Facebook – Instagram – Pinterest – Goodreads
ASPECTS RATING
Atmosphere – 7
Start – 6.5
Pacing – 6.5
Ending – 7.5
Characters – 7.5
Theme – 7.5
Style – 7.5
Total = 50
This list includes some affiliate links. If you decide to purchase a book from one of my links, I may earn a small commission, at no extra cost to you.
If you would like to purchase this book, you can find it here: Amazon UK – Amazon FR – Amazon US