Shadowless

It took me a minute to sort out the main characters of Shadowless and what roles they played in the story. But once I got into it, it was off to the races!

Rowena Faye has never left her home. She’s grown up hidden from the world for…reasons. In Wyre, the kingdom where she and her father live, everyone has a Shadow, a magical animal they’re bound to. Everyone but Rowena, that is. Her Shadow isn’t an animal at all. It’s a stunted, weird, ghostlike thing that she can’t communicate with as others can their Shadows, and it’s got absolutely no magic. Rowena hasn’t let that stop her from creating, though, from learning as much as she can about the physical and mechanical world and how things work. But as things go, she can’t stay hidden forever, and her existence becomes known. People’s reactions to her and her freakish Shadow vary, with most coming down on the side of shock and horror.

But not Penalynn Graft. She is a Scholastic, a researcher for the Crown. She has magic, but refuses to use it. She is banished to the city where Rowena lives, pretty much the farthest reaches of Wyre. And when Rowena – magicless Rowena, with the barest runt of a Shadow – comes to her attention, Penalynn recruits her as her Scholastic Assistant almost immediately. Many try to advise her against it, but Penalynn has her reasons.

This book, y’all. I was stunned to learn that it’s Robinson’s debut novel. It doesn’t read like a debut novel. It’s a compelling fantasy tale, with characters you quickly come to care about (or not, in some cases). Penalynn seems like the perfect fit for Rowena, offering her the protection of her office and giving her a purpose that doesn’t require magic. Irritatingly for Rowena, though, Penalynn doesn’t feel the need to enlighten her as to what those reasons are, or as to the true nature of her research.

The stakes are high for Rowena – there are those in high places who would see her dead because they’re so frightened of what she could represent. But as it turns out, perhaps her lack of magic isn’t really a bad thing at all. There’s a twist to people’s unfettered use of magic. You know how the stories say magic always has a price? So it does here, but it wasn’t one I expected.

The romantic storyline isn’t the main focus of the story. Rather, it gives Rowena a reason to engage with the outside world, to care about someone other than her father and herself. It’s nice to see clean romance in a fantasy setting, and shows that on-page spice isn’t essential to telling an engrossing story.

And if you don’t like cliffhangers, well, this book ends on a doozy. Waiting on more of the story is going to be positively torturous!

Shadowless gets five stars from me. Highly recommended for anyone who loves a well-written fantasy with an undercurrent of clean romance. It’s one of those books I enjoyed so much, I wish I could go back and read it for the first time again! It’s in the running to be a favorite of 2025, and Alison Robinson is on my list of authors to watch.

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of the book from JustRead Publicity Tours. I was not required to leave a review. All opinions are mine, and I don’t say nice things about books I don’t actually like.