DARK SKIES(DARK SHORES #2) by DANIELLE L. JENSEN BLOG TOUR + GIVEAWAY

Hi everyone! Today I’m excited to participate in the blog tour for Dark Skies by Danielle L. Jensen hosted by FFBC! It’s the second book in the Dark Shores series but there are new protagonists this time around.

Dark Skies(Dark Shores#2) by Danielle L. Jensen

Publication date: May 5th, 2020 
Publisher: Tor Teen
Pages: 464
Genre: Fiction, Young Adult, Fantasy
Buy: GOODREADS | BOOK DEPOSITORY | Wordery | B&N

Synopsis:

A RUNAWAY WITH A HIDDEN PAST
Lydia is a scholar, but books are her downfall when she meddles in the plots of the most powerful man in the Celendor Empire. Her life in danger, she flees west to the far side of the Endless Seas and finds herself entangled in a foreign war where her burgeoning powers are sought by both sides.A RUNAWAY WITH A HIDDEN PAST Lydia is a scholar, but books are her downfall when she meddles in the plots of the most powerful man in the Celendor Empire. Her life in danger, she flees west to the far side of the Endless Seas and finds herself entangled in a foreign war where her burgeoning powers are sought by both sides.

A COMMANDER IN DISGRACE Killian is Marked by the God of War, but his gifts fail him when the realm under the dominion of the Corrupter invades Mudamora. Disgraced, he swears his sword to the kingdom’s only hope: the crown princess. But the choice sees him caught up in a web of political intrigue that will put his oath – and his heart – to the test.

A KINGDOM UNDER SIEGE With Mudamora falling beneath the armies of the Corrupter, Lydia and Killian strike a bargain to save those they love most—but it is a bargain with unintended and disastrous consequences. Truths are revealed, birthrights claimed, and loyalties questioned—all while a menace deadlier and more far-reaching than they realize sweeps across the world.

– My Thoughts –

You don’t need to read Dark Shores to read Dark Skies as it’s set in a different world with an entirely different cast of characters..well, except one.

In Dark Skies, we follow Teriana’s(from Dark Shores) friend Lydia to a place called Mudamora where there’s politics, Gods, and so many other things at play.

The story begins in Celadon, and during the same timeline as Dark Shores. Lydia escapes from Cel and lands in Mudamora where she comes face-to-face with two dangerous things, only one of them won’t kill her. Killian, marked by the God of war and the commander of his King’s army, meets Lydia during a fight. He saves her life and in return, Lydia repays him by saving him. This is where we stumble into a whole new world; a world where a god would suddenly appear and bestow their ‘gifts’ upon you. The gifts can be healing, fighting, growing things, water breathing, etc.

I love Danielle Jensen’s writing which gets better with every book. I never thought I’d be able to finish this book in a day, but I did. The pacing is wonderful and even though there are so many things happening, you’ll forget your bathroom break and watch(err.. read). There are assassination plots, mysteries, magic, chases, a BLIGHT(Or, a virus. I should’ve included a trigger warning) zombies, evil god, evil army leaders, more evil people, more scheming.. There’s a lot of slashing people, and more darkness.

I loved Lydia and Killian. They were both compassionate, loyal, brave and so very human. When I say ‘human’, I mean that they feel afraid, helpless, anxious considering the fact that they were god marked. The other characters in the book like Malahi, Killian’s mother, brother, Finn were written impeccably well, with just enough context to their characters.

Overall, I would highly recommend this if you love fantasy, great characters, a couple that you’ll root for, magic, politics, intrigue, plot twists, and of course if you loved Dark Shores!

Thanks to the publisher for gifting me an ARC in exchange for an honest review and to FFBC for including me in the blog tour!

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– Giveaway – 

Win one copy of DARK SKIES. Enter here. Open to US residents only! Ends on May 19th, 2020

Click this link to see the entire Tour Schedule. Make sure to visit the rest of the tour stops to get more chances to win!

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– About the Author –

Danielle L. Jensen is the USA Today bestselling author of The Malediction Trilogy (Angry Robot), the Dark Shores series (Tor Teen), and The Bridge Kingdom series (Audible Originals). She lives in Calgary, Alberta with her family. Follow her on:
Website | Goodreads | Twitter | Instagram

Thank you for reading! Do you think you’ll read Dark Skies? Have you read Dark Shores or any of the author’s books? I’d love to you thoughts in the comments below! 

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A journey into the wonderful yet terrifying world of the unknown | ARC Review: Dark Shores by Danielle L. Jensen

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About the Book: Publisher: Tor Teen Publication Date: 7th May, 2019 Paperback(ARC): 368 Pages Genres: YA Contemporary
Goodreads Buy: Book Depository | Wordery

SYNOPSIS

In a world divided by meddlesome gods and treacherous oceans, only the Maarin possess the knowledge to cross the Endless Seas. But they have one mandate: East must never meet West. A PIRATE WITH A WILL OF IRON Teriana is the second mate of the Quincense and heir to the Maarin Triumvirate. Her people are born of the seas and the keepers of its secrets, but when her closest friend is forced into an unwanted betrothal, Teriana breaks her people’s mandate so her friend might escape—a choice with devastating consequences.  A SOLDIER WITH A SECRET Marcus is the commander of the Thirty-Seventh, the notorious legion that has led the Celendor Empire to conquer the entire East. The legion is his family, but even they don’t know the truth he’s been hiding since childhood. It’s a secret he’ll do anything to protect, no matter how much it costs him – and the world.  A DANGEROUS QUEST When an Empire senator discovers the existence of the Dark Shores, he captures Teriana’s crew and threatens to reveal Marcus’s secret unless they sail in pursuit of conquest, forcing the two into an unlikely—and unwilling—alliance. They unite for the sake of their families, but both must decide how far they are willing to go, and how much they are willing to sacrifice.

Should You read Dark Shores by Danielle L. Jensen?

“You cannot tell, you cannot tell…. Better to die than to tell.”

Dark Shores is a YA fantasy and is a story about a pirate, a soldier and a dangerous quest they have to embark on. It’s purely plot driven and you’ll feel like you’re going on an adventure. Perhaps, this is why I loved the book so much. Let me tell you a bit about the story.

The story begins in Celendor where we see Teriana, one of our protagonists, who disembarks off of her ship and goes to find her best friend. Teriana is not a Celendorian but she’s a Maarin who are seafaring people and mainly come to Celendor for business purposes. When Teriana sees her best friend after a long time, she divulges the secrets of the West aka the Dark Shores to her. That was a mistake as the “East must NOT Meet West”. As a consequence of divulging these secrets, Teriana looses most of her crew when they are attacked by a ship of the Celendor Empire.

“They think I’m just the daughter of a merchant captain. they don’t realize that my word carries weight with kings.”

-Teriana

On the other hand, we meet Marcus who’s the commander of the Thirty-Seventh, the deadliest legion that has been paramount to the Empire in conquering the entire East. Soon, Marcus is called to a senator named Cassius’ home, where he blackmails Marcus into voting for him at a Senate election. Marcus has two choices: Vote for Cassius and let Celendor be ruled by a dictator or let Cassius out his secret which would destroy his family and make his soldiers doubt him.

When Teriana and her crew is captured, she’s tortured and questioned about the “mythical” Dark Shores or the lands in the West. Marcus, who’s present during the questioning along with Cassius, offers Teriana a chance to save her mother and the rest of her crew or die along with them. However, saving them would require a sacrifice of a different kind: revealing the secret of Dark Shores. In the end, Teriana leaves with her crew, Marcus and his troops in a dangerous journey to the previously undiscovered, previously mythical Dark Shores. Will they survive this perilous journey? As the path to the Dark Shores is guarded by Gods and half-gods who have fought and succeeded at keeping this part of the world a secret.

“Makes one wonder how many secrets you harbor.”

-Marcus

If you love reading about adventures, plots that go all twisty when you least expect it to, then you should definitely read Dark Shores! This book is the first in a series and that’s why you’ll find most of the scenes open to interpretation. For example, you’ll wonder about Marcus: is he the villian or the hero..or the anti-hero? Marcus is another unique character because he isn’t “fit” to head an army yet he does that impeccably. I thought of him as an anti-hero because the secrets he still keeps from Teriana at the end of the novel. Besides Marcus, I loved Teriana.. her fierceness and her loyalty to those she loved. She suffers a lot to keep the secret of the Dark Shores and there’s also a hint of some other secrets that she’s been keeping. There’s no memorable villian yet. Cassius was cruel yes but he didn’t go full on psycho or something to make him memorable. There’s an introduction of a possible villian but you’ll have to wait until book 2 to see the full picture.

I liked the world building but what I loved most was the journey on the way to Dark Shores, which was an integral part of the story. Dark Shores is inspired by Roman history and you can see quite a few similarities there. It was filled with action and there’s a scene where Gods battle each other; I would have loved to see the Gods play a major role in this story. If you’re interested in a readalong (and also win a prize), go to Danielle Jensen’s insta as she’s hosting one!

Overall, I highly recommend this book if you love reading stories filled with adventures on the high seas, badass ladies at the helm, soft boys who’ve no option but to fight in their legion, and slow burn romances. Also, I recommend Dark Shores to you if you loved To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo, Seafire by Natalie C. Parker or Daughter of the Pirate King by Tricia Levenseller.

Thanks to the publisher for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

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VERDICT: 

Author: Connect with Author Danielle L. Jensen  here.

What do you think? Will you read Dark Shores? If you have read it already, then let me know if you liked it or not. If you’ve read any of the books I recommended with Dark Shores, let me know in the comments below!