Shadows - R.J. Furness

(Sapphire Smyth & The Shadow Five #1)

Have you ever seen something you can’t explain? Did it vanish as fast as it appeared?

Perhaps that thing you saw was lurking in the shadows, and you caught a glimpse of it before it went back into hiding.

There’s a good chance, of course, that the thing you saw simply emerged from your imagination.

Or maybe, just maybe, it didn’t…

Shadows is book 1 of the Sapphire Smyth & the Shadow Five series. This is quite a short book, the first of a six part serial. I've read a few books this year in this format and I enjoy it as it keeps things fast paced and not too bogged down with detail. The downside of this is that it would have been nice to have at least a little more detail. There wasn't really enough time to really get to know the characters, though I expect this will be remedied in the later books. It would have been good to start just a little further back, to understand more about Sapphire's relationship with her foster family. Not knowing them at all, it is hard to feel the shock that she must be feeling at their behaviour. However, the prologue gives an intriguing glimpse into Sapphire's much earlier past and her parents.

Ben clearly knows a lot more about everything than Sapphire does, though he doesn't seem in a hurry to explain much to her. I don't really blame him as she can be kind of a bratty character and I really couldn't empathise much with her.  I'm not quite sure about their relationship as it sounds as though they are supposed to be really close but Sapphire definitely has trust issues from the start. Hopefully he will turn out to be a trustworthy friend.

I enjoyed the fantasy and wanted to know more about the shadows and where they come from, so far I can't tell if they are actually good or bad, I'm guessing they can be either. The book didn't leave me desperate to read more, though the titles of the next two books, Mermaids and Dragons, did pique my interest!

Here's my Shadowsmyth cocktail:

Mix 1 shot blue curacao and 1 shot chambord. Stir with ice to chill and strain into a champagne flute. Top with prosecco.

The Sapphire Smyth & The Shadow Five blog tour runs until 20th October so be sure to check out some of the other great tour stops.