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Isle Of Shadows (2012)

by Tracy L. Higley(Favorite Author)

3.87 of 5 Votes: 4

ISBN

140168744X (ISBN13: 9781401687441)

languge

English

genre

Romance

publisher

Thomas Nelson

series

Seven Wonders

review 1: Tracy L. Higley once again brings her readers back into the past with her fantastic writing style! Isle of Shadows (formerly titled Shadow of Colossus), sweeps us back to ancient Greece to the Isle of Rhodes, where secrets, spies, and conspiracy run rampant.Isle of Shadows focuses on Tessa, a hetera to the most influential politician on the island...in other words, she is a slave. Paid for her services as a companion. However, the system back then is interesting. Wives and daughters didn't have a say in politics or didn't have the ability to have an intellectual battle with men, but the hetera's could. They were the only women welcomed into the men's area of the house and forums and in doing so, hetera's had their ears at all time to the political climate and to the secret... mores that abound these men of society.Even though Tessa has what other women of her position wanted, it wasn't what she had hoped for. Tessa is desperate to be free. Free from her owner and buyers, free from the island, but the freedoms she desires are a far off dream and because of this, she is closed off, desperate to turn to stone and not feel. As much as she wants to keep the ability to feel at bay, Nikos, a new worker to the island slowly starts to break away at her facade with the help of an old servant at Glaucus's house, Simeon.As Tessa learns more about Nikos, she finds he is different then most of the men she is use to dealing with. However, with Nikos is not all that he seems to be. Like most everyone else in Rhodes, he comes bearing secrets, but his are far different then those that Tessa are used to.This was such an interesting story to read. It brought me to a place I didn't know much about and it was fun to explore this area through the book.I can't wait to read another story by Tracy L Higley! The attention to detail and history is just wonderful!
review 2: I just finished reading this book, and I haven’t decided exactly what I think of it. Overall, I guess I would say that I enjoyed it. I find that I enjoy historical fiction, especially well-written and well-researched historical fiction. So, let me tell you the things that I liked about it first before I tell you the things that I didn’t like.I really liked the look into the society of ancient Greece. I find that part of history fascinatingly similar and different from our culture today, and Ms. Higley draws those things out nicely. I felt that it was a well researched book, and that was confirmed for me in the end pages of the book when she stated that she has been to Rhodes, where the story is set, twice in order to really get a feel for the place as she was writing the story. In fact, you can go to her website to see pictures from her adventures there. I also thought the character development was decent and the interaction between characters was mostly well played. Those of the main characters was excellent, with the romance not being too pronounced but still being real and relevant. I do not enjoy reading romance books, but I do like it when a good book has a bit of romance thrown in, and this book had exactly that. As for the things that I did not like, there were 2. The first was the length. It wasn’t too terribly wordy, but I feel that the story could have been told more succinctly with just as much effect. But, historical fiction tends toward lengthy descriptions due to explaining the culture and the location, so this wasn’t a huge deal.What really did it for me, though, was the Christian element. I felt it was very forced. I understand that it would be difficult to squeeze it into a book that was written about “the dark times between the Old and New Testaments”, as she put it in the afterword, but if it was going to be that hard, why do it at all? Or why not develop the characters of Simeon and his family more and have them be more central? I didn’t like the way that Tessa came to faith in the One God in the span of a few short pages, but I am very glad that the story came back around to that. When we initially meet Simeon’s family and Tessa and Nikos spend time with them, it was very pleasant enjoyable, I just wish there had been more time spent on that.Again, though, I enjoyed this book overall and think that anyone who enjoys reading historical fiction would enjoy it. I think that it tends to be more of a “girl” book, but if you’re a guy that likes historical Greece fiction, then you might enjoy it too!Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book in exchange for an honest review from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. less

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