Review: Shadow Hand

Shadow Hand by Anne Elisabeth Stengl is the sixth book in the Tales of Goldstone Wood series. I have loved all her books and was so excited to read this! But... I didn't really enjoy it. I was shocked actually. I hated how all the characters jumped back and forth. Not only was the story line vague, but it was very confusing. There were just too many story lines and main characters. Plus, I am really tired of never getting to read the finished story of anyone! Well, the first one about Princess Una got completed, but all the other characters we know and love have been left behind in a labyrinth of other stories. I did love reading about Lionheart again. He is one of my favorite characters. But I wish she would finish his and Rose Red's story!

It's Lady Daylily's wedding day, but when she received a letter from Prince Foxbrush she couldn't take it anymore and ran away into the Wood Between. Torn and bloodied by the creatures found there, she lays as one dead. Sun Eagle has been stuck in the Wood Between for thousands of years. He finds Daylily and takes her under his wing, but he doesn't have her best interests at heart. Sun Eagle takes her down a path to a Southlands of old. Confused and bewildered by everything that has happened, Daylily does as he bids her.

Foxbrush is determined to save Daylily without any help from Lionheart, but he didn't count on the craziness of the Wood Between. Without knowing it, Foxbrush is following the right path through the Wood when he meets a strange creature who is little child and grown woman mixed into one, Nidawi the Everblooming. She sees the path he walks and leads him to the gate to Southlands, but it's not a Southlands he knows. He stumbles upon the Eldest's husband who helps him reorient himself, and it is there that he hears of a red haired woman that fits his intended's description. How did Daylily end up here, too?

I wanted to read about Foxbrush and Lady Daylily, but this story made me like them less. It was way too dark and vague. Not to mention strange. Needless to say, this is my least favorite story in the series, and I'm hoping the next book is much better.

I was given this book free from Bethany House in exchange for an honest review.