Sea of Shadows by Kelley Armstrong is the first in a new YA epic fantasy series.  It tells the story of Ashyn and Moria, twins who are destined from birth to take on the roles of Seeker and Keeper respectively.  In the world of the Sea of Shadows, the dead don’t always rest quietly, and it’s the job of the Keeper and Seeker to keep them under control and to send them to their rest.  Ashyn and Moria are new to the role and are inexperienced, and naturally, this is the point at which the dead choose to mount a full scale attack.  Their attempt to control and investigate this uprising brings them in contact with the upper echelons of power and all the accompanying politics.

I must admit I found this a difficult book to get into.  That wasn’t through any fault of the book itself I don’t believe; it just didn’t appeal to me personally.

What I liked

The relationships.  I thought the relationships between Ashyn and Moria and also between the girls and their respective love interests was well written and believable. I did feel invested in the pairings and I am glad that there was no love triangle.  They have enough work dealing with their trust issues.

The concept.  I did think the initial concept was interesting, although I wasn’t so fond of its execution.

The twist in the ending.  Mmmm, I didn’t see that coming, although in hindsight it was well set up.

What I didn’t like

Horrific descriptions.  I found that I was put off by the amount of blood, guts and gore mentioned in the book.  We get that these walkers are evil and that dangerous beasts lurk in the forest – I don’t think we needed quite so many descriptions of people’s innards being ripped out or their faces being dissolved by acid.

As I say, Sea of Shadows didn’t grab me personally.  You may enjoy it more than I did.  Let me know in the comments

I gave Sea of Shadows three and a half stars out of five.

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