Book Review: Rain of Shadows and Endings

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Here’s a review I rarely get to write: the jury is still out. I finished Rain of Shadows and Endings honestly unsure how I felt about it. Not disappointed, not obsessed — suspended somewhere in the middle, still trying to figure out where the story is going. So I did the only sensible thing a curious reader can do: I got the sequel. Consider this review a dispatch from mid-deliberation.

The spoiler-free setup: this is the opener of Melissa K. Roehrich’s Legacy series, a dark romantasy set in a world the gods created for their descendants and then forgot. Dragons overhead, Fae in the politics, fated mates and broken bonds on the emotional docket, and a setting closer to our own world than you’d expect from the genre. It’s a big canvas, and Roehrich is clearly painting for the long series arc.

What I Loved About Rain of Shadows and Endings by Melissa K. Roehrich

It kept me curious, and I don’t mean that as faint praise. Roehrich withholds and reveals with unusual patience: every time I thought I had the shape of the story pinned, another layer slid open, and that not-knowing is precisely what kept me turning pages. Most series openers tell you exactly what they are by chapter two. This one refuses, and there’s something admirable about an opening installment confident enough to keep its cards face-down this long. The proof of the pull is on my receipt: I finished the book unsure of my own verdict and still went straight for the sequel. Books I actually dislike never get that far.

What I Didn’t Love About Rain of Shadows and Endings

The same withholding cuts the other way. I spent long stretches unsure what the story was building toward, and by the final page I still couldn’t confidently tell you what this series is about at its core. A first book has to be a full meal even while it sets a longer table, and this one leans hard on the promise that book two will snap the picture into focus. Maybe it will! I intend to find out. But a verdict-shaped hole is a real thing to leave in your reader, and I’m reviewing the book I read, not the one it promised.

Final Thoughts on Rain of Shadows and Endings

Three stars as an honest placeholder, scored mid-mystery. The Legacy series has my attention and my book-two money, which is its own kind of compliment — once the sequel clarifies things, I’ll circle back and update the record. And if you’d rather start with a romantasy that shows you its whole hand early, my list of the best romantasy books on Kindle Unlimited has you covered in the meantime.

My final score: 3 out of 5 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Do I recommend this book? 🤷 Ask me after book two — read it now only if you enjoy going in blind, ideally with the sequel on deck.

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