-| Reviewing… Shadows by R. J. Furness |- @WriteReadsTours @rjfurness #SapphireSmyth #BlogTour #TheWriteReads

So today, is my stop on the blog tour for the first book in the Sapphire Smyth & The Shadow Five serial, and oh boy, what a way to introduce us to this world!

A massive thank you to Dave at The Write Reads and R. J. Furness for providing me with the copy of the book and inviting me on the tour. Also the featured image above was actually created by Sifa from Sifa Elizabeth Reads.

Lets jump in…

Have you ever seen something you can’t explain? Did it vanish as fast as it appeared?
Perhaps that thing you saw was lurking in the shadows, and you caught a glimpse of it before it went back into hiding.
There’s a good chance, of course, that the thing you saw simply emerged from your imagination.
Or maybe, just maybe, it didn’t…
Sapphire Smyth is no stranger to rejection. When she was only a baby, her father abandoned her after her mother died. Since then, Sapphire has never felt like she belonged anywhere, or with anyone. To make things worse, her foster carers have now turned their back on her – on her eighteenth birthday. After living with them throughout her childhood, Sapphire has to find a new home. Is it any wonder she finds it hard to trust people?
Abandoned by the people she called family, Sapphire is alone and searching for some meaning in her life. Except that meaning has already come looking for her. When she discovers mysterious creatures lurking in the shadows, Sapphire soon realises that her fate is unlike anything she had ever imagined. – Goodreads –

So this review is going to be pretty short as the book itself is only 104 pages long and I won’t be going into to much detail about the plot as Shadows is the introduction.
This is actually a serial which is why it’s so short, so here we have the first ‘episode’ (there are going to be 6). I’m not sure how I feel about the format of this book, I understand the reasoning that he gives, creating that intrigue and giving us just enough to keep us wanting more. However, I’m way too greedy and impatient as I wanted to devour the whole story in one go!

The authors note at the beginning of this book tells us that the inspiration for Sapphire Smyth and the Shadow Five actually came from a strange phenomenon that occurs at the bottom of his stairs. People say that they have seen glimpses of what looked like a shadow coming alive and then dashing to hide.
Then he thought to himself, what if shadows could come to life?

The writing makes it hard not to be drawn into this mysterious world, there are so many questions and possibilities. Yet, when we are finally being given a glimpse of what is going on here, he leaves us hanging! I’m not going to lie I was a little disappointed with where he decided to end this.

In terms of characters, Ben and Grace seem really intriguing and I’m looking forward to finding out more about them. Did Ben always know what Sapphire was? However when it comes to Sapphire I’m not a massive fan of her even though I can’t quite put my finger on why. Hopefully her character is developed throughout the instalments as I definitely want to find out more about what killed her mother (not a spoiler) and what happened to her father.

So, at the start of this review I said that it was going to be pretty short, however it’s turned out to be a full review as I have so many thoughts and so many feelings for the world that our author is creating. I’m so excited to carry on with the next book which is titled Mermaids, how can you tell me that you don’t want to read this…

Who is R. J. Furness?

R. J. Furness has been passionate about great stories since he was able to read. At an early age, he would frequently create new characters, worlds and creatures, then write crazy tales all about them. However, until now, he has always kept those ideas completely secret. After having a lifelong interest in animals, music and anything spawned from pure imagination, R.J.’s first love are now his wife and children. Over time, he has also developed an overwhelming desire for mugs of tea and good biscuits to dunk. He lives in Southport, England, with his family, a dog and several fish, chickens and quails.

Instagram: rjfurness
Twitter: @rjfurness