The Umbra King by Jamie Applegate Hunter
The Umbra King is book one in the Vincula Realm series. This is a dark fantasy series. This series follows Aurora (Rory) Raven, who, after witnessing the brutal murder of her twin sister, spends years turning herself into a ruthless vigilante. Rory has been searching for the man who killed her sister and stole her soul. Rory is convicted of 13 murders and sentenced to 500 years in Vincula, the Prison Realm.
Vincula is ruled by the Umbra King Caius, who is rumoured to be the King of Monsters and the things nightmares are made of. Caius is locked in his own realm after being sentenced for a crime he didn’t commit. When Rory is dropped in his throne room, he is drawn to her and he despises it because she is everything he hates isn’t she?
The “magic” in this series is called mystics and their are different types of mystics. Each person has their mystic symbol behind their ear. The mystic types are:
Aatxe – Gentle souls and enfocers of the realms
Alchemists – Create potions and perform spells
Angels – Have wings and can shapeshift
Eidolons – Also known as phantoms, can walk through non living objects but not iron.
Fey – Stronger and faster than other mystics, can see peopls souls
Merrow – Soul stealers
Munin – Manipulate memories
Royals: Lux King/Queen – Controls Light
Umbra King/Queen – Controls darkness/shadows
Scales of Justice – Ability to see souls and know the perfect punishment for their crimes
Seraphim – creator of the realms, reside in the aether
Shifter – Shift into a specific animal
Sibyl – Oracles, they see the potential future
Sylph – Manipulate air
Visitant – Control the mood with skin to skin contact
She didn’t deserve to die before me. She would be ashamed to see what I’ve become
⚫️ Enemies to Lovers ⚫️ Forced Proximity ⚫️ Protective/possessive MMC ⚫️ Badass FMC ⚫️ Found Family ⚫️ Morally Grey MCs ⚫️ Cliffhanger ⚫️ Magic ⚫️ Dark Fantasy ⚫️ Fated Mates
🔴 Graphic Violence 🔴 Graphic Death 🔴 Gore 🔴 Loss of an immediate family member 🔴 Imprisonment 🔴 Vigilante serial killer 🔴 explicit sex scenes 🔴 mature language 🔴 Brief mention of sexual assault and rape (not graphic) 🔴
If she was the person you say, she could never be ashamed of you.
This book was recommended to me by my friend Katie as part of my 12 Books Challenge. As I said in my previous review, I have been in a bad reading slump this month. The previous book was my way to get back into reading, and after finishing that, I picked this up. I knew a book recommended by Katie would be good, and once I picked this up, I didn’t want to put it down. After I had finished it and was filling in my book journal, I looked to see how many pages it was and was shocked to see it was 400. I know that’s not the biggest book in the world, but the pages went by so fast and effortlessly, I didn’t realise I had read 400!
We all go through tough situations; it;s the nature of life. Doesn’t mean we get to be twats to everyone.
I really enjoyed everything about this book. I liked that the world building was not too heavy, but you got a sense of the realms and how they worked. I loved Rory; she was a badass FMC who stood her ground and fought hard! She valued her friendships and her family, even though her mother was a sybil (she had visions) and was most of the time unable to think clearly, she still cared and did everything she could for her. She found ways to survive, and she helped people. She killed 13 people, but not because she is a cold blooded killer, but because they had black souls and needed to be expunged. Rory’s power was that she could see the colour of someone’s soul, and those whose soul was black meant they would kill and they wouldn’t ever redeem themselves.
I love you more than anything, and I always will. I will find my way back to you.
I also really liked Caius; he is just as damaged as Rory, but he also has a soft heart. I haven’t read many fated mate books, other than fan fiction. I really enjoyed it. I can’t wait to read book 2. The only thing I struggled with, and I find it is the case with many fantasy books, was being able to pronounce some of the characters’ names and also the places, as well as the magic, they were all called something totally different in my head 😂 I can’t even pronouce the title of the 2nd book which is also the name for soul mates in this world, Aeternum. The realm Rory comes from before she is imprisoned in Vincula is called Erdikoa and who knows if i’m saying that right in my head. I definitely recommend this book. It does end on a cliffhanger but book 2 is out!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5/5
🌶️🌶️.5/5
