This one is a tough one to review.

I finished it, and willingly, so that's a big point in its favour. No DNF, here.

I even found myself carving out any time I could spare to read it at times. There were times I was ready to gush over it.

And yet...

Early on, I wanted to know amore about how these portals opened up. What did they look like. Were they doors? Holes in the ground? Did they float in mid-air? How was security monitored? Were there keypads? Or guards? Rie was able to use someone else's "code" to go through a portal, so I'm guessing there weren't guards there. So, I wondered how she input this "code".

I was also a bit concerned that while the Shadow Realm was so named because it had short daylight hours, it also seemed populated with dark-skinned beings (vampires, dark elves, and the like). Yet, in our world, populations that evolved in areas of lesser daylight hours (farther north or south) tend to have lighter skin, to make as much Vitamin D as possible in those limited hours. In fact, Vitamin D deficiency is more common in darker skinned individuals during winters in places with short winter days... However, at the end of the book, we learn that these populations simply travelled to these different realms at some time in the past, rather than having evolved there. So, that might explain that. I would like to know what the impact is for these populations living in this realm with such short days (which seems to be a constant state, rather than seasonal, as on Earth); do they need to take supplements? Have their bodies adapted to simply not need so much sunlight? Such details wouldn't alter the story, and I suppose exploring them could have slowed the pace, so I understand not delving deep, but they were questions that swirled through my head as I read, so I would have loved to have got a hint.

The middle was probably the best bit. Just along for the ride, following a growing group of characters as Rie tries to learn who tried to have her killed.

I liked the pixies.

As the story began to wind up and tie up loose ends, I found myself feeling... disappointed. It started to feel like a book written with a plot firmly in mind, with the characters doing what needed doing and never straying from that path into full realness. When that declaration of attraction came, it felt scripted, to me (and this is, of course, just my opinion). And then later there came the knowledge that Rie simply attracts people, it's sort of a magic power of hers... If I was Rie, I would have immediately questioned the sincerity of that early declaration that I was so happy about. To me, it throws up so many questions.

I also would have liked more of a demonstration of who Lord Garamaen was earlier on. We learn a lot more about him at the end, but I felt like he wielded a lot of influence on Rie's journey, so I would have liked to have another hint or two regarding his standing in the worlds. He was able to remain neutral across realms. Why? Why did the kings tolerate this? Well, the answer is pretty clear near the end; forcing him to pick a side would be more trouble that it would be worth, but Rie never asked this question. She just went along for the ride and answers eventually revealed themselves. Just a moment of "Who is he to have set up the treaty, made demands to have the Human Realm remain neutral, and be granted this?" would've satisfied me. If Lord Garamaen was an inconsequential character, then fine. But as a fairly major force in the background of various realms, I would have liked to have felt more of a connection to him from earlier on.

Anyway, on a fundamental level, this was an enjoyable read and I can see it appealing to many. It just didn't address the questions that mattered to me