Book Review - What Hunts Inside the Shadows by Harper L. Woods

What Hunts Inside the Shadows by Harper L. Woods

The second book of this Flesh & Bone series by Harper L. Woods. So if you haven't read the first, don't continue reading this review because I'm going to reveal some spoilers from the first book.

This book picks up where What Lies Beyond the Veil leaves off, with Estrella shocked and confused after Caelum revealing his true identity. Caelum is actually Caldris, the God of the Dead, and he's Estrella's fae mate. He wanted to meet Estrella as a "human" (by using his glamour to hide his fae identity) to give her a chance to fall for him without her misconceptions and biases about fae. In the first book, Estrella and Caelum join the Resistance, and this book describes how Caelum/Caldris needed to infiltrate the Resistance and bring the other fae-marked humans from the Resistance to Alfeimr, the fae land. Along their journey, it's revealed that Estrella has some powers of her own and that she may not be human. Despite that reveal, there is another in this story that reveals that Mab, Caldris' evil stepmother, could potentially be Estrella's birth mother. So a lot of this book is about Estrella discovering her identity and where her loyalties should lie. However, at the end nothing really happened. There was very little story progression in this book. And the cliffhanger ending suggests that the author was using this book to set the scene for a very packed next addition. 

So I liked this book about as much as the last one. I liked that there was more context given around the Old Gods and the history of the Fae/human clash. Although not much happened plot-wise in this book, this book did provide a lot of context and allowed for more character and relationship development. But now that we're on the topic of relationships, can we talk about how Caldris and Estrella could be step-siblings? I know that means they're not related by blood but I feel like this was just an icky addition because they are mates. That being said though, I love Caldris. He's so sweet and attentive toward Estrella and the way he speaks to her is so cute. 

Honestly, this isn't my favorite fantasy series I've read so far but I still think it's good and am going to be reading on in the series in the future.