Book Review: The Long-Forgotten Winter King & The Twice-Scorned Lady of Shadow

I borrowed audio copies of The Long-Forgotten Winter King & The Twice-Scorned Lady of Shadow through Hoopla. These are books 2 and 3 of The Guild Codex: Unveiled series, by Annette Marie. (Narrated by Tim Campbell and Cris Dukehart.) I reviewed book one, The One and Only Crystal Druid earlier this year.

About the Book:

Everyone is keeping secrets.

Zak won’t reveal what really happened between us ten years ago. Ríkr’s been hiding so much I scarcely recognize him anymore. But the biggest secret belongs to my parents, and it’s the one I’m most desperate to unravel.

Finding out who they really were, and who I am, means solving their eighteen-year-old murders. For reasons unknown, Zak decides to join me—and that makes me nervous, especially when the trail leads us into the most dangerous fae territory in the lower mainland.

The questions keep piling up, but as I realize too late, my parents’ killer is no mystery. He’s been lying in wait all along.

But not for me.

I’ve led Zak and Ríkr into a hell with no escape, and I need more than answers now. I need power—because without it, none of us will make it out alive.

I generally enjoyed this. I still liked the characters a lot, the world is interesting, and Marie’s writing is easy to read (or listen to in this case) as always. However, it did feel a little like the middle book it is—you know, like you’ve been dropped into something but without any final conclusion. Maybe this wouldn’t have been such an issue for me if it hadn’t been so long since I read book one. But my experience is what it is. Basically I liked it, but didn’t feel overly invested in it. I’ll be continuing the series, however, and that says more than anything else.

About the Book:

I’m learning to embrace who and what I am, but there’s one thing I can’t face: the night Zak betrayed me. But even with the mysteries of our shared past hanging between us, I can’t turn Zak away when he asks for my help.

Powerful fae are going missing, and when he tried to investigate, Lallakai vanished too. Now he wants me to venture with him into the territory of the Shadow Court, but its bloodthirsty courtiers don’t welcome meddling druids.

Danger is gathering around us, seen and unseen. As we uncover incomprehensible clues about the missing fae, we realize this nightmare runs deeper than we imagined, and unveiling it means delving into the past—our past.

If I abandon Zak now, he’ll never make it out alive. But if I stay at his side, if I face the truth of that night, it will destroy us both.

I don’t really have a lot to say on this one. Three books into the series and I’m still enjoying it. I’m invested in seeing how it all works out and I appreciate that Marie has allowed these young adults to have made grievous errors in life that hurt each-other horribly, but they be the mistakes of youth. Not need to complicate it with deep machinations. The writing, as always, is easy to follow and the narrators are doing a fine job.

I have to admit that I’m not finding myself falling in love with the characters though. It’s a story I flow along with easily, but I don’t think I’ll remember it next week. Regardless, the series is getting me through my ‘company is coming’ scramble to get the house clean.