SHADOW AND TORMENT Book Review

Shadow and Torment (Book 1 in The Ember Queen series) by Makayla Wheland, eBook, 282 pages

Synopsis from GoodReads: You are the story that has never been taught, for it is the ashes of the women burned they should check. For all it takes is a single wild ember to bring the inferno to life and when it dose, the eruption will be felt across the world.

After escaping a life of abuse as Princess of the Solis Court, Ember find herself in the Umbra Court in the care of the mysterious and alluring King Azarel. Having to face her trauma and learn to adapt to her new environment, Ember finds herself drawn to the people of Umbra Court after learning of the intense underling slave trade in Athedia. The decision is made to save the underling race from torment and the final act of war ensues. Ember soon learns that saving an entire race of fae is a harrowing task; one that calls for bravery, magic and the help of the ancient beings of Athedia.

BOOK REVIEW: The twists and turns this story has had me hooked from the very beginning! There's magic, talk of dragons, and all species of magical beings. I love it! This is my kind of fantasy. There is some violence but I just gotta say that Ember is one badass! I will say that the only thing that irked me was the amount of winking and commenting of the mismatched eyes. So much winking...but that's on me.

Trying to nail down anything that could possibly be my favorite part(s) of this is so hard! Especially since I don't want to give anything away but I will start by saying that finding out how Ember's magic was being suppressed royally pissed me off (pun not intended). There is one thing that I have highlighted that I think resonated the most with me from my own abusive history.

I know my story is sad and filled with undeniable evil. But it's mine, those moments made me who I am. I don't know why, but suddenly, I feel like I am who I was meant to be.

This is full send 5 stars. Like I said, it had me hooked from the very beginning and has all the magical beings. There is adventure and drama and tension (bad and good), and no spicy scenes. This was definitely an amazing start to Ember's journey and I can't wait to see what happens in book 2 of the series and that will be read shortly! This was also the first book I've read by this author and not only will I finish this series but I will be reading more of her work in the future! 5/5 Stars

2025 Reading Challenge: 38/50 complete