Review: Rich detail and emotion
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 03 4, 2013
Love of Shadows follows immediately after the first book Girl in the Glass. Judith and her Shadow, Sarah, are once more alone and have to fend for themselves. Their employer, Elma, suffering from cancer, has taken an overdose of opium to stop her pain. Judith had expected to inherit  Elma's business but instead she is left with just the equipment to make perfumes. She is bitter and angry about being disinherited but this is overshadowed by her arrest for Elma's death.Healers are banned in Pharsis. Although Judith is not a trained healer, her mother was and the instinct and gift for healing is in her blood. Once she is cleared of murder, she is given an opportunity to travel with Sarah and to learn more about healing.Judith and Sarah's journey's educates them not only on plants and methods of healing but of Shadows and their amazing abilities. Shadows are more than just emotionless beings. They can learn to be human. Sarah had begun this process in book one and continues it in this novel.Tragically, Sarah is unable to continue her journey towards becoming human and Judith is left alone in the world. All she has is her healing and she takes a chance to help the poor people of Pharsis. In this, she encounters other people who feel the same way about Shadows and they band together to protect the Shadows under attack by the citizens of the city.All of the characters are linked by their love of Shadows. As you learn more about Shadows and their roles in society, you can't help but question: what are they exactly? Why do some people have Shadows and others don't. The end of this novel answered some of the questions but I don't want to spoil it.The author has a skill at storytelling that I feel has improved from the first book. There was more character development of Judith and less of straight story/plot development. I'm looking forward to reading the conclusion of the trilogy.4 out of 5 starsI received a copy of this novel for an honest review