Book Review: Shadow Reaper by Lynette Noni
Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Children's Books for the early copy of this book!
Published: June 2, 2026
Series: Shadow Reaper #1
Genres: Young Adult // Fantasy, Romance
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice Rating: 🌶️ (Glimpses & Kisses)
Quick Thoughts: Shadow Reaper is a solid setup for a duology even though I had a few issues throughout. The slow pacing and layered half-truths made the worldbuilding hard to follow, and the romance felt off, but the ending twist and the found family taking shape pulled me back in enough to commit to book two.
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What is Shadow Reaperabout?
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?
Shadow Reaper Review
It's been way too long since I've had a Lynette Noni fantasy on my TBR, so I snatched this up the moment I saw it. And while Shadow Reaper didn’t fully land for me, I was still able to enjoy it for what it was.
Characters
As a big fan of Noni's The Prison Healer series, I have been searching for a found family half as good as the one in those books, so I was really hoping we’d have a strong found family here. While all the side characters didn’t spend a lot of time together, we did get introduced to a strong crew of characters with distinct personalities. The found family is just starting to take shape, and I have high hopes for book two.
Pacing
Pacing-wise, things move slowly for most of the book, though twists and reveals are scattered throughout that kept things interesting. The final five chapters pick up significantly, and the ending twist was strong enough to pull me back in. I did not see it coming at all!
Things I didn’t like: Romance & Worldbuilding
I did have two main sticking points. The romance felt off because Reeve and Viri’s backstory and vibes gave more sibling energy than romantic tension. I do love the hunter/hunted trope, but this romantic arc felt forced.
The worldbuilding was also hard for me to follow. The magic system and world aren’t that complicated, but characters are constantly speaking in half-truths throughout the book. With so many layers of misdirection stacking on top of each other, it was hard to parse through what was actually true about the world. I do still have some questions about the magic system and lore that I hope get answered in book two.
So, should you read Shadow Reaper?
I'll be reading the second book because it's only a duology and I want answers, but it won't be a must-read-on-release-day situation for me.
Definitely recommend for readers who were fans of The Prison Healer series or someone craving a story with a lot of twists, turns, and misdirection.
Check out this review on Goodreads or Storygraph.
Happy reading!
Kim
Shadow Reaper FAQs
Some of the answers may be spoilers if you haven’t read it already. Proceed with caution!
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Potential spoilers ahead ⚠️
Death
Violence
Child Death
Death of paren
Kidnapping
Child abuse
Confinement (minor)
Torture (minor)
Abandonment (minor)
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Potential spoilers ahead ⚠️
Found family
Enemies-to-lovers romance
Childhood friends-to-lovers
Reluctant/unlikely allies
Hunter/Hunted dynamic
Quest
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Yes, Shadow Reaper is the first in a duology.
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As of the writing of this post, the second book of the Shadow Reaper series has not been announced yet.
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The spice level of Shadow Reaper is 1 🌶️ meaning glimpses or kisses. This means there are no spice scenes but some romantic tension, yearning, and/or kissing between characters.