Through The Gloaming by Katrina Jack - Review

Recently I was lucky enough to review Land Of Midnight Days by Katrina Jack, the first book in The Silver Flute Trilogy and I absolutely loved it! (my review is here) So when I got the chance to review the second book, Through The Gloaming, I absolutely jumped at it. If you haven't read the first book or at least my review, then head off and go and do that first. I will try and keep this as spoiler free as possible, but I'd hate for something to slip through and me not to have warned about it! 

Through The Gloaming

Sequel to Land of Midnight Days, Jeremiah's journey continues.

Robbed from birth of his voice, Jeremiah Tully is nonetheless a musician of astonishing ability. Having fled after the demon wars to a place of tranquility, he must now return to the city and start all over again.

This time his journey will take him into The Gloaming, a world steeped in perpetual twilight and filled with tormented souls, trapped forever in semi darkness.

My Review

We join Jeremiah and the gang, 6 months after the ending of Land Of Midnight Days and Jeremiah and Helen are in the land of the Elwyn but the time has come for them to return to the "real" world as their battle has not ended but only just begun.

I found I still loved all the characters throughout this book, in particular Jeremiah. Joe and the Monk. The Monk is a new character to the story but made a huge impression on me and I thought he was incredibly interesting. We also meet the Abbot in this book and he is an incredibly hateful but intriguing character as you can't help but thinking there's more to him than meets the eye. Sylvan (Jeremiah's mum) shows a lot of character growth in this book and I definitely started to feel a little warmer towards her. Zeb is his usual boorish self and I still cannot find anything to make me like him any more. He rushes into situations and causes more problems than necessary.

We see a lot more of Jeremiah's power of "seeing" peoples memories in Through The Gloaming which was really well used and made flash backs and explanations a lot more immersive as you were experiencing them the same as Jeremiah was. I'd like to see if Jeremiah has even more powers going into the next and final book.

I thoroughly enjoyed Through The Gloaming and my only real complaint is that these books just aren't long enough, I want more of this world and for everything to take longer so I can still be on this journey instead of only having one book left to read!

I gave this book 5 stars.

Land Of Midnight Days - Katrina Jack

I was very lucky to receive an e-book copy of Land Of Midnight Days direct from the author, Katrina Jack, in exchange for an honest review. 

Omgoodness this book sucks you right in and doesn't let you out until its done! Land Of Midnight Days is fast paced and action packed. I genuinely couldn't put this book down when I picked it up as I needed to know what happened next. 

Jeremiah the main character is a half Elwyn/half human and a genius with the flute. He is an amazing character, he is broken but he refuses to give up. I think he is also the first mute character that I have come across and it was really interesting watching the struggle of trying to make himself understood when the other person couldn't use sign language. I thought this was all handled extremely well and the author also highlighted the presumptions that people have about differently abled people. I think the description in the synopsis of Jeremiah is perfect, he knows how to survive, but not how to live. 

The characters are all fleshed out really well and there isn't a single character that I didn't find interesting. The author has updated elves, ogres and demons in a really interesting way and in a way to make them work in an urban environment instead of rolling hills and valleys. Apart from Jeremiah, I really liked the characters of Joe, Big Fred and I thought Ezra's character wasn't nice but was interesting. As a parent I just couldn't find anything redeeming in either Sylvan or Zeb as both of them let Jeremiah down in the worst way time and time again. 

The world described is one of violence and of people just trying to survive. It is a very bleak place and one that can be recognised as somewhere we could end up one day. You can feel the hopelessness of the population, though there are spots of light that are shining through the darkness and hopefully they will be the one to succeed by the end of the story. 

I'm not sure why I have never heard of this series before or why more people aren't talking about it. I would 100% recommend it to anyone who loves fantasy or urban fantasy. I will definitely be picking up the rest of the books in the series to find out what happens next to Jeremiah and the other characters. 

I gave this book 5 stars. 

Land Of Midnight Days 

What would you do if your life was filled with fear: hide, run away - or would you fight back? In a city at war with itself, Jeremiah Tully already knows how to survive, now he must learn how to live. Mute from birth, of mixed race heritage and his only possession a charmed flute, Jeremiah tries to discover where his remarkable talent as a musician will take him.