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From Fire & Shadows by J.F. Baptista


A girl with a dangerous power.

A warrior they call the shadow of death.

A world divided and slowly dying.


Six-year-old Theodora grew up at the House, a place for girls born without power. Abandoned as a baby, she has no memory of her past beyond the melody that invades her dreams. So when an ancient presence starts whispering in her ear, she answers. 

The reward is fire; the price is the destruction of the only life she has ever known. Yet from the loss comes a chance at a better future… if she can learn to control a power that no one seems to understand. 

Across the ocean, Death's Arm warrior Kai struggles with the changes forcing him out of the shadows. With the neglect of those in power breeding dissent, he is called to do his job as their occasional assassin: cut it at the root. 

But when a strange restlessness makes him question an order for the first time... he finds himself on the path he never wanted, but can no longer avoid. After all, he may be the only one capable of stopping what is coming—a war where death is just the beginning.


REVIEW: I really enjoyed this debut novel from J.F. Baptista. Following Thea through her life as a child up until her seventeenth year, we are privy to all the important events in her life that shape her into the woman that she is becoming. Then in contrast following Kai's journey, and learning the he really has no defined past, that he can remember, and we aren't really sure how he became the entity that he is. Those two story lines paired with the realization that both of their stories are headed towards a head-on collision with the other, make for a very unique and interesting story. This world of power and magic is intertwined with Scottish Gaelic terms (the Glossary can help with these if you get sidetracked by these like I did) and histories of the different lineages of magic buried throughout. For me I had a hard time with the Gaelic terms because they would bring me back to reality, instead of getting sucked in like I really wanted to be. I am very interested to see how these stories play out in the books to come in this series. Overall a must read, if you enjoy dark, magical, fantasy, tales.

Thank you to NetGalley, Books Go Social and J.F. Baptista for the eARC in exchange for this review.



Publication Date: August 31, 2020 (Preorder Now!)


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