THE GATHERING OF SHADOWS
By JD Netto

• Series: The Whisper of the Fallen, Book 3
• ISBN13: 9781611877687
• Publisher: Untreed Reads (October 31, 2015)
• Genre: Fantasy

When the thread of hope is split into two, which side will you take?

After the capture of three book-bearers, Isaac, Xylia and Arundel are beckoned to return to Agalmath to meet the Dark One. Around the four corners of Elysium, Lucifer and his servants are gathering an army—uniting men, beast, Shadow and Nephilin to expand his kingdom.

Hidden in the shadows and holding one of Lucifer’s most faithful servants in captivity, the blood-drinkers continue to hunt down Isaac and the others, seeking to retrieve the Book of Letters.

Isaac and Xylia’s courage and willingness to fight is starting to wane as they now fear that the path they have taken will claim their lives.

“When the stars blood drink. When the moon red turns. When the snow melts away. That’s when Elysium will burn.”

Available October 31st!

A MON REVIEW 

Hello my preciouses! I was given my first ARC book to review The Whispers of the Fallen- The Gathering of Shadows by J.D Netto. I was so excited for this because I like having stuff before anyone else, I’m childish like that. I blame it on being an only child. 

Before this, I had never heard of this author or the series, and honestly I hadn’t missed out on much. Having jumped into the third book without prior knowledge of the story is much like jumping into mid-season of a show you discovered at midnight during an insomnia addled TV cruising night: you literally have no clue what’s going on and you have to piece it together by what little information they give you in the episode. 

The characters Isaac, Demetre, Arundel and Xylia are a little bland, a lot like a slice of plain pepperoni pizza: not bad, not great, just okay and enough to get you through a few hours before you have a proper meal. I got a lot of emotional whiplash from Isaac within the first chapters. One minute he’s filled with righteousness to go help his fellow book bearers and then he’s collapsing on himself in self pity and doubt. Which it is understandable since he’s knee-deep in danger trying to keep Lucifer from coming to power. It doesn’t make it not any less annoying though. Xylia is supposed to be this BAMF warrior and Isaac’s love interest but spends more time crying than being a BAMF. Demetre and Isaac are BFF’s and Demetre is only on this adventure out of BFF duty. He gets sent out on his own adventure because he’s true of heart and only comes back to break everyone’s heart. Arundel is some sort of warrior or another book bearer, I’m not sure.

The dialogue between all the characters felt forced and too formal. The only reason I knew that Xylia and Isaac were in love with each other was because they kissed and there was some boob squeezing going on for half a scene. Very little, if anything, felt truly organic. The story itself felt both rushed and lagging.

I give this book 2.5 Tacos out of the Taco Scale of Awesome. As a whole the book was okay, like a B-movie you catch on the SyFy channel. I didn’t like it but I didn’t hate it either. The writing didn’t invoke any sentimental attachment to any of the characters which is a little disappointing because there’s so much potential there already. If you are in between books and have some time to kill then you might want to check it out but you won’t miss out much if you don’t.

Until next time. Mon, over and out.