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4.5/5 Stars - You'll be obsessed with this gothic romance.
Castle of Dusk and Shadows by Rachel L. Schade is a Fae retelling of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. Need I say more? Yeah, okay, I'll say more.
I first learned about this book by following Schade on Instagram. She shared some quotes from it, and I thought, "Huh, that's a neat story idea." Then I kept seeing these reels with quotes from CoDaS and wound up buying it. In short, Rachel's marketing is great (I'll be taking notes), and I'm really glad it worked on me because this book is great. Now let's get into the review.
Being a Pride and Prejudice retelling, readers will likely expect the dynamic between Elle (the protagonist) and Fitz (the love interest) to have the same enemies-to-lovers tension as Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy. And when I say Schade delivered, I mean I wound up finishing this book a day sooner than intended because I was so caught up in it.
Castle of Dusk and Shadows has everything you want in a gothic fantasy romance book. There is a dangerous Fae court, ghosts, and a fun little wedding switcharoo (fun for readers, anyway).
My only complaint with this book has to do with the reveals. I'm not going to spoil anything, but I will say that, in my opinion, most of the reveals felt more like exposition than surprising
twists. I have nothing against the twists themselves. There was just something about how they were uncovered that didn't land right for me.
But let's face it; I didn't pick up this book because I wanted plot twists. I picked it up because I wanted a gothic romance packed full of tension. And I got it. So if anyone out there is looking for a compelling enemies-to-lovers standalone (that's clean), do yourself a favor and pick up Castle of Dusk and Shadows.
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