Hello Blogging World!

Jonny

Hey Misty. If you had to choose between shadow or flame powers, which would you go with? I think shadow has more uses. I’d love to prank some people with my shadows!

Misty

Hi Jonny. Both would be cool but I think I would pick having flame powers just because I feel like that would be more useful in everyday life. Although pranking people with your shadow powers sounds like fun too.

This buddy read and rant is for Shadow Pawn by Jina Bazzar.

Blurb

Betrayed, hunted, afraid…half broken.
Melaina escaped Henry Nazar’s thugs, but her loved ones paid the price.
Desperate to find her aunt, Melaina accepts help from the last person she should: Soldier Bradley Savini, her ex-boyfriend turned rogue hunter.
Together, they embark on the hunt for Camila’s whereabouts, dodging thugs, soldiers, and other breed with agendas of their own.
And what they uncover could be the one thing to break Melaina forever.

GoodReads

Amazon

***Brief disclosure***

Jonny is an Amazon affiliate and earns a tiny commission for purchases made through the Amazon links in this post at no cost to you. It’s a great way to help him keep things running on my blog if you’re already intrigued enough to make a purchase. 

Buddy Read Book Rant:

Jonny

How’d you feel about this sequel? I liked it a little bit better than the first one because we already had a good knowledge of the broken world Mel lives in and we got a lot more worldbuilding and expanding on certain things that I thought were really interesting.

Misty

I did like it but slightly less than the first book. I agree with everything you said about it but for me not a whole lot happened plot wise to move the story forward until like the 60% mark. I feel like the world building took over the story a little too much. Yes we needed it but it needed to be a bit more balanced in my opinion.

Jonny

I understand where you’re coming from. I think maybe the extra world building was something shiny I could focus on, so I didn’t notice the plot not moving very quickly. How’d you feel once it did pick up?

I think I know the exact part that you are referencing at that 60% mark, and holy moly it was very interesting for the remainder of the book! All the sudden plot twists really threw me for a loop. I did not see a lot of it coming.

Misty

I should say that I loved that it picked up right where book one left off and it was action packed from the very beginning so despite the fact that the world building took over for me it was still a very quick and immersive read for me.

I actually so that reveal coming. Well I saw the who but not how they played a part. I thought no the only reason I saw it coming was because of what the synopsis said so I would suggest people go into this one not reading the synopsis.

Jonny

Oh, for sure! Mel had a mission from the get go and it went awry pretty much immediately, so I liked that the author kind of sprung that on us instead of giving more build up first. I love it when authors smash expectations to smithereens!

I think my favorite part of worldbuilding was the big reveal behind Mel’s lineage and past events. I didn’t even think of what ended up happening as a possibility, and it made me root for her even more.

Good catch! I must have just glazed over the synopsis, but giving it another look it does hint at what you’re referring to.

There was a little bit more romance this time. Did you like it?

Misty

Yes the world building was sprinkled in amongst all the action and I did really like that otherwise I don’t think it would have been as immersive and quick as it was.

Yeah I wasn’t expecting any of that and I agree it makes you like her even more and root for her to win. Like you expect the corruption but not to the extent it was.

Normally I wouldn’t have caught that but I think since I read it right before I started it, it stood out to me.

You know I’m all for the romance so yes I clung onto that and I do love it however I still can’t tell what Bradley is feeling/thinking. He’s so hot and cold.

Jonny

Right. Some of the truth behind things was really horrific, and you know I love the dark stuff, but I really wasn’t expecting it to go that far.

Yeah, I’m kind of torn. On one hand, the elephant in the room that is Mel and Brad’s previous relationship was finally addressed and I liked that. Mel’s feelings were fairly easy to understand since we know her so well, but Brad still doesn’t seem 100% sure of where he stands. They have both changed in different ways that make the situation tougher, but I’m hoping they do end up together by the end of all this.

Where do you think things are going to go from here? I see some huge conflicts between the Houses and anyone who undermines them. I also think we’re going to see more of that darker material in the next two books for sure.

Misty

Yeah Mel has been very transparent about her feeling for Bradley at least to us as the reader maybe not so obvious to him. Like he flat out tells her his feeling in one scene but then in another scene he acts like he’s disgusted by her. Like I’m hoping that he’s trying to hide a secret of his own or something. I do hope they are end game.

Honestly I have no clue where we go from here. Like there’s obviously going to be more conflict because nothing has been resolved. I also feel like I know what’s going to happen concerning Mel but I can’t say because it spoils the ending of this book.

Jonny

Exactly. I think there may be something else he hasn’t told her yet. Like maybe he’s not actually disgusted by her, but with himself. So far he’s been something of a white knight for the most part, but I bet there’s something dark that happened that he beats himself up about. Time will tell!

Haha, me either. Given how this book ended I can kind of tell the general direction and I have some thoughts about the bigger picture items they were hinting at, but the rest is up to debate for now. Bazzar sure does a good job at keeping us on our toes!

Misty

You’re right, only time will tell. Luckily all of the books are out already so we don’t have to wait too long.

She’s very good at keeping us on our toes. I’d totally be down for a buddy read of the 3rd book if you are.

Jonny

Yeah, totally! I love when I can binge a series. Once I finished my current read I’d be happy to start the next one. I have a feeling things are gonna get crazy!

Misty

That sounds like a plan. Just let me know when you’re free to start it and I’ll let you know if I can.

Jonny

Okay, sounds great. Thanks again for another fun read!

Misty

Of course! I love our buddy reads!!

That’s A Wrap!

Thanks for joining us on our buddy read and rant of Shadow Pawn! We had a lot of fun, and hope you did too! We will definitely be doing some more buddy reads in the future, so stay tuned!

In the meantime, why not check out Misty and Jonny’s other fun buddy reads?

Buddy Read: Shadow Walker

Buddy Read: Slewfoot

Buddy Read: Cemetery Boys

Buddy Read: Ravensong

Buddy Read: Wolfsong

Buddy Read: Magic Bites

Buddy Read: The First to Die at the End

Buddy Read: They Both Die at the End

Buddy Read: Under the Whispering Door

Buddy Read: The Burning World

Buddy Read: Warm Bodies

Buddy Read: The Wicked Deep

Buddy Read: The Locke & Key Series

Buddy Read: Dark Lover

Buddy Read: Please Don’t Tell My Parents I’m a Supervillain

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