But in the city of Pharsis traditional women healers are banned from practising and the penalty for breaking the law is death by hanging. After being arrested and interrogated twice Judith is careful to avoid suspicion, but then scarlet fever breaks over the city like a poisonous wave, leaving in its wake the small corpses of children. What will the young healer do?
Love of Shadows is the second book in the Healers Shadow trilogy. It has been more than a year since I read the first book of the series Girl In Glass, but almost immediately I found myself pulled right back into the story, almost like it had been days since I had put it down. In this second installment Judith and her Shadow Sarah are still in the Port city of Pharsis; after the death of her mistress Elma, Judith continues to run the perfume business and hone her craft that Elma has taught her. Judith and Sarah decide to go on expeditions in order to gather more plants and herbs for her perfumes and along the way Judith begins to embark on her journey to become a healer and Sarah starts her journey to become human. Unfortunately on one of their expeditions Sarah is killed in an accident and Judith is left to make her way alone in the world without her shadow.
On another plant/herb finding trip she meets a handsome northerner from the forests and falls in love with Bruno much to her own dismay. Shadows are not considered people in her world and so it is not a crime to kill a shadow. When the cities shadows are targeted by violence, Judith is asked to help an under ground hospital save the lives of those she can, while placing herself in grave danger of being caught.
I really like Zoe Brooks work, I think she is an extremely talented writer, she can draw you right in and make you want to camp out until the story is finished house work be damned. The amount of emotions that the author has poured into this story is commendable and it shines through, as you ride a myriad of emotions as you journey with Judith. This is a story of loss and love, and a passion for helping people. Judith has a lot of demons, and it’s those demons she will have to face in order to become the healer she was meant to be. Judith is a bit softer in this installment while still haunted from the ghosts of her past, her love for her husband and his love in returns helps cradle her from the nightmares. This is really a story about the healers journey and the people she has come into her life all bound together for the commonality of loving shadows.
I gave this book a 5 out 5 star rating.
I was gifted a copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.
Here is my is review for the first book in the Shadows Healer trilogy Girl in Glass
http://ordinarygirlzbookreviews.weebly.com/1/post/2012/07/girl-in-the-glass-by-zoe-brooks.html
http://zoebrooks.blogspot.ca/p/love-of-shadows-novel.html
http://www.amazon.ca/Love-Shadows-The-Healers-Shadow-ebook/dp/B009PCG602
http://www.amazon.com/Love-Shadows-The-Healers-Shadow-ebook/dp/B009PCG602