Rain of Shadows and Endings: 1 (The Legacy Series) Paperback – 29 Aug. 2023

Best book I've read in a long while. No spoilers- I've just finished the 3rd book in this series and will now be patiently waiting for November for the 4th installment.Some books just stick with you- love the characters and the whole setting. Fantastic storyline. Going to buy in paperback after reading on KU. 10/10 recommend.

The first 2/3 were a bit hard to get through. It was the setup, it felt like nothing happened. I didn’t learn much about the FMC other then she was an orphan who flits between a damsel who ‘isn’t strong enough’ to mouthing off. The MMC wasn’t much better with the ‘do as I say because I say’. It was really hard to like either and get into the story. But the last 1/3 was great, story/action/romance all moving along.

If you are weak enough to fall, you are strong enough to rise back up. Weakness and strength come from the same place, and both are necessary. Both provide purpose, and both can lead to destruction or salvation.”The Plot, Characters and Story Progression:I was bound to this book like a Source is bound to a Legacy, I could not put it down. Strap in folks, grab your donuts and your pizza, this review is going to be a long one.Where do I begin… Rain of Shadows and Endings, ended me. The complex characters and how they are intricately woven into this plot full of secrecy and self-discovery is some of the most masterful writing i’ve ever read. Melissa, take your flowers, you deserve them for this one.Upon skim reading reviews before starting this book, a lot of the negative reviews were surrounding our FMC. Calling her “whiney” and “insufferable”. “This book is Tessa being abused over and over again” Yes, yes it is and why shouldn’t it be? “Tessa is a petulant teenager screaming for donuts and pizza”. God forbid a girl have one thing that brings her comfort in her sad life! If you bothered to keep reading you’d find out WHY she is always asking for those things. Why shouldn’t that be represented in a story? Some people have lived that. The authors note at the back explicitly states the story was originally written for herself. So, to those reviews I say, have some respect.After reading her story myself, all those reviews have highlighted to me is that: this book is not for the people who have the privileged of never being abused. Those who have, understand Tessa exactly and perfectly. Every protest, scream, thrash, defiant back-lash are the last bits of light she has within herself to fight for the respect she deserves. The basic human, or shall i say, fae, respect that she isn’t getting.As someone who has lived and breathed every emotion Tessa is going through, I was on the edge of my seat for her this entire book. Tessa is for every woman who has suffered at the hands of others through no fault of her own and is fighting to do the best with the absolutely terrible hand of cards she keeps being dealt. Melissa’s incredible characterization of Tessa allows us to not only see how her treatment alters her behavior and trust of the people around her. But how she feels deep within herself as a result of such treatment. She is constantly questioning her own self worth and strength. What she deserves. Her mental health is slowly ebbed away as the book goes on and by the end she is a shell of her former self. An empty husk drained of all care, all she craves is the sweet release of death to end her suffering because she truly believes it is the only way out for her. I’ve been there, and honestly, I still am. Reading the depression representation in this book made me feel so seen and I can tell it was written by someone who has been there too.Tessa is a light in the dark for every person enshrouded in darkness, a fictional salvation illustrating that even when you feel like you’ve got nothing left within you. You can take the dark cloud hovering above you, own it, and be the storm.“We help each other glue the pieces back together, but it’s never quite right. The pieces of yourself never quite fit back together the way they once did. Until eventually, you don’t remember what it was like to not feel cracked and scarred. Until eventually, you are just a shell of what you once were, but you know there’s no way to go back, so you just move forward, even if death’s song sounds sweeter and sweeter every time.”Moving on to Theon. I’d compare his character to someone like Joe Goldberg from YOU. You read his perspective and almost understand why he’s behaving the way he is. Whilst knowing that it is inherently wrong and absolutely hating him at the same time. You have this constant inner conflict between feeling sorry for him for being the product of an evil horrible man, his father, but simultaneously hating him for repeatedly abusing Tessa over and over again.Luka and Axel are just angels and I almost see them as little guardian angels trying their best to protect Tessa from everything, including Theon.The pacing, plotting and story progression are perfection, I wouldn’t have changed a single thing. The breadcrumbs sprinkled into the prose had me on the edge of my seat at the edge of every page. This ongoing mystery surrounding Tessa and her powers, wondering if she was ever going to give in the bond with Theon. Whether his secret plans would come into fruition and how she’d react when she found out. There is so much of the plot that is yet to unfold and I loved every second of it!World Building, Atmosphere and Setting:Urban fantasy girlies, rise up! This one is for you. Rain of Shadows and Endings is the perfect blend of godly fantasy with magic, opulence and fae mixed with urban undertones. My favourite kind of fantasy. The atmosphere and setting is painted with precision at the beginning of every scene allowing you to vividly plant yourself in the room with the characters. Whilst most of the first book only takes place in a few different locations, that simplicity allows you to focus on the development on the characters which is what i feel this book is about, whilst still allowing your mind to be transported somewhere else – which lets face it, is why we all love to read fantasy so much!A message for Melissa:If you ever somehow find yourself reading this review. Thank you. Thank you for allowing me to feel and embrace how i’m feeling. Thank you for every beautiful uplifting quote in this book, whilst written to bring life back into Tessa they also brought life back into me. I’ve never been able to relate to a character so strongly as I relate to her. A fighter who has lost her fight, a fighter who is sick and tired of picking herself back up only to be kicked to the ground again by life. But its okay, because nobody can take my thunder if I am the storm. And after reading this? boy am I going to be the storm.Rating: Five stars – my top read of 2025 and my new favourite book of all time.⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

What a book. Absolute amazing plot lines, really well thought out, the timeline actually felt realistic and the characters are chefs kiss

I find this book to be too much of a tease for me. For every step forward, it's 5 steps backwards for the main female character. The Stockholm syndrome-esk bond between the main male and female character and the main male and his cohorts is very grating. I know it is the main aspect of the book, but I just can't get past how the characters are meant to progress with their relationships.There are too many secrets, too many questions to keep me interested at this point. I may come back to this series since the writing was very good, and the political world of Elves and God's was one I hadn't read before, but as for now... It's too open-ended in almost every aspect of the story.

I really enjoyed the world building, the magic, shifters, the characters!, EVERYTHING except the FMC. I found the FMC very unlikeabke, so much so that she nearly made this book a DNF. I’m 20% into book 2, and her whining, contrary, self absorbed behaviour is again making me question how much more of her attitude I want to read. The MMC is no saint, he doesn’t treat her well all the time, but he has a lot of similar issues and trauma that she does. There are lots of repercussions of her actions, which she’s warned about, but still acts as though she has been grossly mistreated for people not tolerating her behaviour. Spoiler, someone dies from her behaviour, but she’s still beyond reproach (in her head) because the MMC locks her in a wine cellar for an evening as she’s repeatedly shown she can’t be trusted. Some reviews call the MMC Tamlin, but he’s not, he’s controlling her safety because he knows the outcomes from some actions; it’s not his insecurities. He doesn’t communicate any of this to her, which he does get *sshole points for though. I just don’t know how much more whining from the FMC I want to read about. She basically hates her day job that she was forced into, which includes free housing, food, clothes, jewellery, everything she could ever need; I could definitely put up with a job I HATED for the perks she gets without all the complaining because “she never gets a choice”. The magic system and worlds are so interesting though, that’s where the 4* came from.