Shadow Magic by Joshua Khan (review)

Thorn is a royal squire who wants to find his missing father, while Lily Shadow is the heir apparent who knows her family is dead and wants to find a way to lead a faltering kingdom in their absence. Ruler of a land that embraces all aspects of the dark, including necromancy, Lily is promised to a boy she hates as a bid to unite warring kingdoms, so she desperately needs a friend. Lily and Thorn, along with a misplaced royal from another land, work together to solve the mystery of Lily’s parents’ murder, all while trying to keep Lily alive when it becomes clear that someone wants her dead as well. While more background detail into the sorcerers and their kingdoms would have been welcome, the action stays firmly on Thorn and Lily, keeping the exposition to a minimum and the heart-wrenching tension high. Occasional black-and-white illustrations highlight significant moments, emphasizing the dramatic twists of the plot. The core premise of a kingdom that embraces dark and death with open hearts, while still loving life and (at least in this generation) not being evil at all is a grabber. The addition of Thorn, a rural kid whose family has always struggled to make ends meet, is a smart one, as it pairs two kinds of intelligence, scrappy and privileged, to solve formidable obstacles and gives readers two engaging protagonists to root for.