Never bargain with a reaper.
The city of Aravell is in peril, plagued by a deadly blackmist that kills all it touches and reapers who roam the streets, stealing magic from innocent children in their thirst for power. Seventeen-year-old Viridia Solace has trained for years to hunt these reapers, but their ranks keep growing, led by the man who murdered her parents: the notorious Reaper Priest.
When the Priest's most loyal follower, Reeve Ashton, is captured, he offers Viri a chance to avenge her parents . . . for a price. She knows better than to bargain with a reaper, let alone this reaper, but his offer is too good to resist.
Soon she's breaking him out of prison, colluding with his crew of magic thieves, and following him deep into the blackmist forest in search of an ancient legend, all so they can stop the Reaper Priest’s plot to doom the city. Viri is staking her life on Reeve's plan, but how can she trust a silver-tongued criminal to keep his word? And how can she trust her own heart when a buried secret could shatter everything?
Full of relentless twists, enemies-to-lovers romance, found family, and high stakes action, Shadow Reaper is the start of a breathtaking new duology from international bestselling author Lynette Noni.
The city of Aravell is in peril, plagued by a deadly blackmist that kills all it touches and reapers who roam the streets, stealing magic from innocent children in their thirst for power. Seventeen-year-old Viridia Solace has trained for years to hunt these reapers, but their ranks keep growing, led by the man who murdered her parents: the notorious Reaper Priest.
When the Priest's most loyal follower, Reeve Ashton, is captured, he offers Viri a chance to avenge her parents . . . for a price. She knows better than to bargain with a reaper, let alone this reaper, but his offer is too good to resist.
Soon she's breaking him out of prison, colluding with his crew of magic thieves, and following him deep into the blackmist forest in search of an ancient legend, all so they can stop the Reaper Priest’s plot to doom the city. Viri is staking her life on Reeve's plan, but how can she trust a silver-tongued criminal to keep his word? And how can she trust her own heart when a buried secret could shatter everything?
Full of relentless twists, enemies-to-lovers romance, found family, and high stakes action, Shadow Reaper is the start of a breathtaking new duology from international bestselling author Lynette Noni.
Title: Shadow Reaper (Shadow Reaper #1)
Author: Lynette Noni
Publisher: Random House Children's Books/Knopf Books for Young Readers
Expected Publication Date: June 1, 2026
Review:
Thank you to Random House Children's Books/Knopf Books for Young Readers and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this title to read and give an honest review. The opinions expressed here are my own.
I was really excited for this title. I enjoyed The Prison Healer so much and I was excited to see what Noni would come up with next. I have to say she did an excellent job pulling me in with this story and keeping me invested through the end!
Reapers and hunters, forever enemies. Viridia Solace has known them all her life. She's a young hunter who fights to keep the children of her city safe fighting off the reapers who steal the children's magic to make themselves more powerful. Having lost her family to reapers, she needs to keep her found family safe and root out the evil that lurks. But when a long lost friend and reaper, Reeve Ashton, reappears in her life, she sees a chance to avenge her parents, even if it means teaming up with him. As they fight against evil, feelings begin to appear that Vidi doesn't expect or want. Can she still complete her revenge when her heart is telling her there is more to Reeve than what she believe she knows?
This book is told from Viri's POV. Noni did a great job developing Vidi. I was rooting for her the entire time. I wanted her to win. Her character was very relatable. And, even though I normally like more POVs in a fantasy or for it to be told from third person, I ended up really liking how this story was told. The journal entries were an interesting touch to the story. They really explored the before and the why of the magic, even if they didn't dig deep into the how. Reeve is so much more than he seems. Despite Viri hating him, she slowly learns things were not quite how she remembered them and comes to realize there is so much more to who he is. And their romance is a really nice slow burn. I definitely needed them to figure it out because their chemistry jumped right off the page. Noni then adds in a slew of side characters that give so much to the story through friendship, love, and acceptance. You cannot help but like them and see how their own found family is an important part of the world and of who they all are. All the relationships were so well thought out and blended well with the plot line.
At the same time. the romance wasn't what drove the story. Noni writes a plot that is layered and unique. I enjoyed the world she built and it was easy to see it in my mind. She doesn't overwhelm the reader with information dumping but introduces things slowly so you feel totally immersed. I also was intrigued by the magic system. I do wish there was a bit more exploration of it in the first few chapters of the book but it ultimately didn't detract from how much I liked the story.
And that ending! The entire book I was thinking the villain was someone else. I even made notes about it throughout because I absolutely knew that would be the reveal. But Noni didn't go the way I expected and the villain turned out to be someone I never would have expected! I honestly think I may have missed a few clues and now I want to go back and read it again to see how I didn't figure it out. And Noni leaves you wondering how things can possibly get solved in the future with that ending!
Other than a few instances of overused words, I'm really excited to have read this. It was so much fun. I tore through it and now I'm chomping at the bit to see where it goes. Noni has solidified herself as a favorite YA author for me (and I do not say that lightly as I've had some trouble with enjoying YA in the last few years). I cannot wait for more from her!
4.75/5 stars
Author:
Australian author Lynette Noni studied journalism, academic writing, and human behaviour at university before venturing into the world of fiction. She is the #1 bestselling and award-winning author of THE PRISON HEALER series, THE MEDORAN CHRONICLES, and the WHISPER duology. To date, her books have sold more than one million copies in over 20 countries across the globe.
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