Blog Tour: Beyond the Shadowed Earth by Joanna Ruth Meyer (Review)

40778901._SY475_ Title: Beyond the Shadowed Earth (Beneath the Haunting Sea #2)
Author: Joanna Ruth Meyer
Genre: Ya Fantasy/Mythology
Publication Date: January 14th, 2020

Thanks to the publisher for the free copy! (I received a copy for reviewing. All opinions are my own.)

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“It has always been Eda’s dream to become empress, no matter the cost. Haunted by her ambition and selfishness, she’s convinced that the only way to achieve her goal is to barter with the gods. But all requests come with a price and Eda bargains away the soul of her best friend in exchange for the crown.

Years later, her hold on the empire begins to crumble and her best friend unexpectedly grows sick and dies. Gnawed by guilt and betrayal, Eda embarks on a harrowing journey to confront the very god who gave her the kingdom in the first place. However, she soon discovers that he’s trapped at the center of an otherworldly labyrinth and that her bargain with him is more complex than she ever could have imagined.

Set in the same universe as Joanna’s debut, Beneath the Haunting Sea, Beyond the Shadowed Earth combines her incredible world building and lush prose with a new, villainous lead.” (Goodreads)

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Joanna Ruth Meyer hails from Mesa, Arizona, where she lives with her dear family, a rascally feline, and an enormous grand piano. When she’s not writing,she’s trying to convince her students that Bach is actually awesome, or plotting her escape from the desert. She loves good music, thick books, loose leaf tea,rainstorms, and staring out of windows. One day, she aspires to own an old Victorian house with creaky wooden floors and a tower (for writing in, of course!)

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This isn’t technically a sequel to Beneath the Haunting Sea as it is more of a companion novel. I still think that you should read BtHS because it’s where we are first introduced to Eda and it really is the driving force for this novel.

I enjoyed the first book and in some ways I loved this book more. I think that there is a lot of good lessons that can be learned if you look between the lines and sometimes they are right at the surface.

Eda is the Empress of half the world. She has everything she wanted but it all came with a price. Even though she did terrible things in the first book and we learn more about those things in this book, I couldn’t help but feel sorry for her. She loses her parents and everything seems to spiral after that and where love once was, revenge has now replaced it. The one word that always came to mind for her and even the god Tuer, was selfishness. Of course, there was a lot of pride, but it all still boiled down to being selfish. I think that is one reason why she was so relatable. We have all been there wanting it all and more, then reality slaps us in the face. Eda struggles throughout and becomes like an onion. So many layers are removed by the end and then we finally see Eda for the person she truly is.

There are other characters in this book that are just as memorable as Eda. Ileem, who is a prince, and his sister also come from a harsh background of loss. Even though they are related they each deal with grief in different ways. One becomes so consumed by revenge that they will do anything to satisfy their need for it. This can even be seen as a lesson as it is always important to know when finding peace is really more important than hurting more people in the process of seeking revenge.

Just like in Beneath the Haunting Sea, the gods and goddesses are back. Along with that, there are new stories for the ones that are important like Tuer, who is the driving force for the plot. I loved learning about him even though he was super selfish and I just wanted to punch him a couple times. The mythology was interesting and definitely kept me intrigued.

As for the plot, it was fast paced and kept my attention. I didn’t want to put the book down and picked it back up any chance I got. The plot twists were definitely unexpected and had me gasping out loud. The ending was a bit better than the first book and didn’t feel as anti-climatic. I also thought the writing was much better.

Overall, I really enjoyed this one. It is such a compelling read told by a girl that had done terrible things but was looking for a way to redeem it all.