eARC Review – Shadow City

Title: Shadow City (The City of Diamond and Steel #2)

Author: Francesca Flores

Publisher: Wednesday Books

Publication date: January 26th, 2021

400 pages

4/5 stars

Goodreads Synopsis

The stunning action-packed conclusion to The City of Diamond and Steel duology.

Aina Solís has fought her way to the top of criminal ranks in the city of Kosín by wresting control of an assassin empire owned by her old boss, Kohl. She never has to fear losing her home and returning to life on the streets again—except Kohl, the man who tried to ruin her life, will do anything to get his empire back. Aina sets out to kill him before he can kill her.

But Alsane Bautix, the old army general who was banned from his seat in the government after Aina revealed his corruption, is working to take back power by destroying anyone who stands in his way. With a new civil war on the horizon and all their lives at risk, the only way for Aina to protect her home is to join up with the only other criminal more notorious than her: Kohl himself.

As Bautix’s attacks increase, Aina and Kohl work together to stop his incoming weapons shipments and his plans to take back the Tower of Steel. To defeat them both, Aina will resort to betrayal, poison, and a deadly type of magic that hasn’t been used in years.

Through narrow alleys, across train rooftops, and deep in the city’s tunnels, Aina and Kohl will test each other’s strengths and limits, each of them knowing that once Bautix is dead, they’ll still have to face each other. If she manages to kill him, she’ll finally have the freedom she wants—but it might forever mark her as his shadow in a city where only the strongest survive. 

Review

Conclusion to Diamond City, Shadow City follows the story about a month after DC ends. The gang is still trying to stop Kohl and Bautrix from taking the city over, and Aina is working with Tannis to run the tradehouses.

For the most part, I enjoyed reading the conclusion to this duology and seeing where the gang ends up. I wasn’t as invested in this book as the first, and it’s hard to put down reasons for why. I appreciate that there is little to no romance in this duology. If you’re here for the romance, this wouldn’t necessarily be the series for you. There are some couples by the end, but it’s the slowest of all slow burns and starts off with Aina having 3 potential partners – which was a little weird. This piece confused me throughout the book, which might have been why I had a harder time getting into it.

There are some big twists in this book, and it wraps up fairly nicely. I would’ve enjoyed more world-building and explanations around the magic system, as magic played a much larger role in this book than the first. It ended exactly they way I think it needed to, so that worked for me. It was just about the same length as the first, and it was an easy read.

Thank you to Wednesday books and Netgalley for an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Happy reading, folks!