Format: Hardcover, 400 pages
Release Date: January 26, 2021
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Source: Publisher
Genre: Young Adult / Dark Fantasy
Shadow City is an action-packed young adult fantasy by Francesca Flores about a girl who perseveres through poverty, violence, and loss to achieve a future for herself.
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.
Shadow City is the second and final installment in author Francesca Flores The City of Diamond and Steel duology. The story picks up where Diamond City left off. Aina Solis is our main character for this series. She's a former top level assassin who has wrestled control of a criminal empire from her former boss, Kohl. The man who turned her world upside down, and then rebuilt her in what he thought an assassin should be. Aina, Teo, Raurie, Tannis, Ryuu, Hirai, and Lill are trying to keep Alsane Bautix, the old army general who was banned from his seat in the government, from taking back his power by force and destroying everyone who stands in his way.
14 years after the first Civil War ended, another one is brewing on the horizon. Because of everything that could go wrong, Aina decides to once again align herself with Kohl to protect her home. Regardless of the fact she defeated him and the two always had a
legitimately toxic connection, she has trouble shaking feelings for him. He found her when she was on the street's high on glue. He was the one who gave her a fresh new pair of shoes. He was the one who offered her a chance at becoming leader of her own tradehouse.
Even though she believes one of them will eventually end up killing the other, she ends up working with him against Bautix, who Aina ousted by revealing his corruption. Aina, though, isn't safe. There are plenty of people who would love to kill her and take the power she has fairly won. Aina and her allies have to deal with Diamond Guards who are sweeping the country looking for magic users called Inosen. Half the people in the country believe Bautix is a hero for wanting to eliminate the Inosen.
Aina's parents were Inosen. They were healers before they were murdered. Aina should have the same healing ability, but her emotions allow for something a bit more dangerous. Blood magic. The only problem is the more you use the distorted magic, the less you are able to heal yourself. But Aina first needs to defeat Bautix and others who have allied with him. She has to protect her own people now that she's in charge of new recruits. She has to deal with her emotions with Tannis, as well as Teo. Tannis and Aina are a good team, but Aina's secrets may shattered everything they've worked so hard to gain.
There's barely any downtime in the book, as most of the time someone is either fighting for their life. Aina and Kohl’s relationship is worrisome at times. It’s that relationship that is so toxic that you wonder why in the hell you are actually thinking they would make a pretty decent couple except for all the past baggage they carry. I think the only troubling thing about this story is the lack of Aina using her blood magic that she wanted so badly. At any point, Aina could have been the deadliest person in this entire world. She could have easily done what needed to be done.
Was there a cost associated from using so much power? Absolutely. But I don't think we would have had the heart breaking losses. Aina is still a flawed character but her abilities with a blade make her a badass. We really get to know Aina through her mental and emotional and physical turmoil over the course of this story. I don't think the magical system this world was used to it's fullest. As I said, Aina learns how to use blood magic, but fails to use it at key moments.
