Shadows So Cruel

Court of Ravens, Book 2

By: Liv Zander

Narrated by: Shaina Summerville, Tor Thom, Tommy Fuller

Length: 15 hrs

Publisher's summary

Adrift in a sky shadowed by war,

We seek, we ache,

Searching for the woman who fled us.

We shattered her heart, but she unfurled her feathers,

Our sweetheart, our little dove,

Escaping our talons on pure white wings.

One of us soars over battlements,

Haunted by past mistakes,

Vowing never to repeat them.

The other storms through walls of stone and hatred,

Eager to destroy the shackles of his past,

Determined to shackle her to him instead. Forever.

Loyalties are torn.

Friendships are tested.

Among the chaos, one claim stands irrefutably:

We will get her back.

She will be ours.

Come home to us, white Raven.

Shadows so Cruel is a full-length dark fantasy romance novel, and book two in the Court of Ravens duet. The two-part story features two morally gray raven shifters, a young woman at the mercy of their shadows, and a HEA. This world contains dark elements, violence, and themes some may find disturbing. Listeners can find more detailed information at LivZander.com. What this book doesn't contain is a hero—because villains do it better. And two do it better than one…

©2023 Liv Zander (P)2023 Dreamscape Media

SMDH

As I said about the first book, I didn't care for the narrators. The F did ok. The voice for Sabian was the best of them, but it was because he read really well. The dude that voiced Malyr? Whenever he started reading, I just kept hearing the Cowardly Lion from the Wizard of Oz, "Put 'em up, put 'em uuuuuup!"
Now, onto the story. The amount and type of sex in the book doesn't bother me. Lucky woman, I say. It really is a good story. The back stories are well done, the characters are well fleshed out. I have to say, the last few chapters? Jesus. I cried like a big fat baby. I really did NOT like that, and felt it was totally unnecessary. The book was done, I didn't even want to listen to it. It actually pissed me off. So, it's a good book, but I HATE how it ended.

Wow!!!

When I think dark fantasy I think Liv Zander! Between this duet and the King of Rot just WOW! Story, spice and everything not so nice in all the right and wrong ways! Listen and read these books immediately you will be doing yourself a favor.!

WOW!!!

I thoroughly enjoyed this little series. Not dragged out with 6 books. Overall good story.. I could not really get behind paying 25 for a book but, again I bought the second book & read/listened both with in 4/5 days. Also the main male characters voice???..
idk If you want to get into something new to keep you going for a few days check it out. I agree with other comments will most definitely keep an eye on this Author.
thankx.

wow I am shattered

All I can say is wow great story I had the 3 of the most roller-coaster days with these books. never finished books so fast before

Shadows are very very Cruel

Well titled. I left a review of the first book, which you might want to check out. You absolutely CANNOT read this book without reading the first one. So if you haven't read Book 1, stop now. As I mentioned in my review of Book 1, this story have MANY triggers warnings. If you are a sensitive reader/viewer, this is not the series for you. You can see a list (Yes, a list) of triggers for these books on the author's website. A lot of abuse of all kinds happens for many of the characters in this book. I compared it to Game of Thrones level of cruelty. Joffrey and Ramsey has nothing on the tortures and abuse some of these characters experienced. With that said, the story is an emotional roller coaster that I could not put down. The first book ended in a cliffhanger, and this book picked up right where the last ended. I loved the transition Maylr goes through in this book. Sabian- I can't even go there still. It's truly an amazing story if you can handle the darkness that comes from cruelty and prejudices. There is light at the end of the tunnel. Some people mentioned they did not care for the ending. Again, that goes back to triggers and the saying there is a special place in hell for individuals who abuse children. I personally had no problem with the ending. I hope to listen to more from this author. The narrators were amazing in my opinion. As I mentioned in my review of the first book, I found this series because of Tor Thom. Some have commented not caring for him specifically. I have discovered from reading other reviews- you are either going to love Tor or absolutely hate him. I personally love his growly voice and will often listen to a book just because he narrated it. I think he was perfect for Maylr Summerville and Fuller were perfect additions to the characters as well.

Emotional roller coaster

I absolutely LOVED this! Could not stop listening! Such an emotional roller coaster that pulls at deep emotions. The growing bond between characters was so sweet to see.

New Favorite Series!

Dark,cruel, heart-wrenching, exciting and super freakin HOT. The narration was top notch. The story had a good pace and a lot of clear character growth. The sex scenes are deliciously depraved and yummy, but don't give the book a smut feel. It's hard for me to decide if I liked this one more than the first book. The First book had that great tensions and angst but this book really dug into the whole story. There are some sad bits but they add to the plot ( not just tragic for tragedy's sake). Overall I was very satisfied with the ending. I will be replaying this sometime soon ( both books start to finish) just to hear this awesome story again. It was that good. This author is officially a new favorite and I will be buying any new books she comes out with asap!

Very dark and spicy…but

The traumas were dark indeed. The thing that really bothered me was the watering down of fated mates. Sebian was super cringey. I wished it was just a story focused on Melyr and Galatia

good books, questionable word usage

good story and delightful spiciness. however, the author likes to say things like "my pulse pounded in my aorta" which makes me cringe every time. your aorta is in your torso, not your neck. I also can't stand when anyone is running their tounge along her gums. wtf why. who does that?

Dark Fantasy Romance/MFM

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫(4.5)
🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️
☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️ (4.5)
Dark Fantasy Romance/ MFM 🎧📖

✨“My love is not gentle, or tender, or easy. But it is real, grown from hate and pain deep inside a chest sullied by shadows. It is cutting and biting, leaving behind scars as unfading as my love for you.” His warm lips scathed my jawline.

“And once we are gone from this earth, I will continue to love you among the stars. I will be the night, the darkest patch of sky around you, just to ensure that everyone can see how you sparkle. And once your light starts fading, I will take you into my black embrace, and that is where I will love you beyond death.”

✨This book, these characters……this author…she utterly broke me, tore me to absolute shreds, all while filling my heart with more love than I thought possible this week 💔 The way I sobbed, it was not a pretty sight.

I am going to need some time to process this one fully, time to let that ending mend my heart, and definitely time to re-read this amazingly beautiful, and devastating story all over again.

✨Liv Zander did not hold back in Shadows So Cruel, book two, in her Court of Ravens duology. I absolutely loved it 🖤 This books is still full of plot, the dark elements we have come to know in this world, spice, tension, and all with so much added swoon.

If we have chatted in the last couple of months, then you know that I have been raving about book one in this series, Feathers So Vicious! I can not recommend both of these stories enough! They are both available on KU and audio. I listened to this book on audio as I read along. Check CW/TW my friends