Name: Shadowscent: the Darkest Bloom
ISBN: 9781407192154

P. M. Freestone

A sensationaldebut fantasy adventure! In the empire of Aramtesh, scent has power. When disaster strikes and the crown prince lies poisoned, long-suppressed rivalries threaten to blow the empire apart.It's up to Rakel, a poor village girl with a talent for fragrances, and Ash, the prince's loyal bodyguard, to find an antidote. To succeed, the unlikely pair must uncover cryptic, ancient secrets as well as buried truths from their own pasts in an adventure that will ignite your senses.

Shadowscent: the Darkest Bloom

Eleanor Luhar

This was another book I picked up from the library at random. The cover was beautiful, and the idea of scent-based magic was certainly intriguing. While it was a decent book, it didn't quite live up to my hopes and expectations, sadly.
Most of the book follows Rakel as she tries to make enough money to purchase a cure for her father's Rot. She has an expert sense of smell, meaning she is a fantastic perfumer, distilling her own creations and experimenting with different methods. But she becomes the suspect for a horrendous crime that leaves the Prince in a coma, and so she flees.
Ash is the Shield of the Prince, and his best friend. He doesn't believe Rakel is to blame, however, and believes she holds the key to curing him. So he runs away with her, searching for a place that may not exist, and hunting down valuable ingredients for a poison that nobody even knows about.
I found this book quite slow at the start. It just didn't excite me. There was nothing wrong with it, but it just wasn't right. However, towards the end there was a far more exciting plotline added, involving Ash. The cliffhanger ending left me actually wanting to read on.
While I didn't love this, there were definitely some good aspects. It was unique for sure, and I do think there's a lot of potential for the rest of the series. 3.5 stars!

Alice

Lisa Beasley

This was an amazing read. I loved the world, the characters and the plot. I admit to being frustrated with the lack of backstory we get for one of the characters but a reveal later on in the book more than made up for that. I felt that both main characters were very well developed and I liked their journey (the instalove wasn't actually too bad). The story was gripping and I cannot believe that ending. Talk about a cliffhanger!

Pm Freestone

The exciting conclusion to the Shadowscent duology! Rakel travels outside the borders of the empire, seeking answers to new questions about the past. Meanwhile, Ash must find a way to warn the others of dangers to come. All this as the empire itself hurtles towards a civil war that's been brewing since the gods last walked the land. Prince or servant, everyone must take a stand.

Shadowscent 2. Crown of Smoke

This book didnt grip me as much as the first one or as much as I had hoped it would. I adored book 1 and had high hopes for this but it just felt like the pacing was off. A lot didnt happen for ages and when it did it felt a little anticlimactic. I'm glad I read it and the writing itself is very descriptive but sadly as the second in a duology it just didnt have the impact the first book had.

"First published in the United Kingdom in 2018 by Scholastic UK Ltd."--Copyright page.

Shadowscent

Lauren James

Full review on my blog, Storied Adventures

3.5 stars!

I was honestly stuck between 3 and 4 stars. 3 stars because I could put this down really easily, but 4 stars because it was unique and I enjoyed reading it! Soooo in between it is! 

I liked the characters and loved the plot. The characters were slightly similar to a lot of other YA books, Rakel is stubborn, head strong, and sassy, and Ash is brooding, tortured, and has a deadly secret. BUT the plot was unique! Based on scents, and how strong you can smell or make them, can determine your status. I looooooved the different descriptions of how things smelled! AND it had tons of adventure and different creatures! I am all about that!

Shadowscent: the Darkest Bloom

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