Review: River of Shadows

River of Shadows by Karina Halle
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I’m a big Karina Halle fan and have been curious about River of Shadows since I first heard about it. While I’m always eager to dive into a new Karina Halle book, this had me extra interested because it deals with mythology. I’m a big lover of mythology, especially when stories deal with the lesser-known mythologies.

I will be honest and say that this one did have me conflicted for a while. It was quite slow to start with and had lots of information dumps, and there were points when I felt like the story wasn’t moving at the pace that I had hoped it would. After reading many books by the author, however, I’ve realised this is the norm for the first book in any series involving the paranormal. The first book is always bogged down a bit by the finer details, with the story gripping more the deeper you read, and you’re left eager for the next book (which, from experience, does not suffer from the same slowness). Due to this, I was able to overlook the slowness and the way the information was shared. The one thing I found difficult to overlook, however, was the constant pop culture references. I can deal with the odd one here or there, but this one seemed to be weighed down with them. It stood out more because of the fantasy setting. This, however, is mostly personal preference. After all, despite these things, I was hooked and finished the story in no time. I was intrigued by all that played out and was left eager for the next book to see what happens next.

All in all, this was an enjoyable start to the series. While I would not call this my favourite book by the author, it has certainly left me eager for more.

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