Queen of Shadows

How it reads

Queen of Shadows is fantasy (young-adult epic fantasy, specifically), and its dominant mood is adventurous. It's driven by momentum, discovery and getting into trouble. It moves fast: plot-driven and hard to put down, the kind of book that carries you along even when you're tired.

It's set in an invented world, in no single period, told in the third person across several viewpoints. Its central concerns are power and politics, love and redemption. In weight it's light and escapist — easy to fall into.

It's a later book in a series — you'll usually want to start earlier. It ends on a cliffhanger, so have the next book ready. At 648 pages it's a real commitment. It's a mega-bestseller — the book everyone seems to have read.