I got this book as part of Goodreads First Reads a while back but didn't have a chance to finish it until now. The book is in 3 parts, and the first two are very slow. I almost gave up with the book, and I'm glad I didn't because the final section was fantastic. ( )

Setting aside at page 90. Sadly, just not for me. An interesting world with interesting magic, but the book itself has not enough attention to the details, not enough grace in the telling, and not enough happening that I found really compelling.

This is a rough book to fairly rate, but my review falls somewhere on the lower side of the 3-star range. It's just that this book is all over the place, and that makes it hard to really 100% comprehend everything that's laid out. McCulloch should get credit for creating a magic system that is actually fascinating. The concept of promise knots, and the events that unfold if you break one, are solidly interesting. The execution and explanation of this magic system? Not so much. For as long as it took to set things up, and all the info dumps that were present, I really felt lost for a long time in this story. The magic system is there, but it's not well explained, and that's frustrating.

The other part of this book that was rough for me was the lack of character development. I'm a very character driven reader, and I like to feel like my protagonists are learning and growing. I didn't feel that way during my read, although I admit that I did like Raim overall. I just felt like he spent so long trying to find the secret behind his knot, and then right when he was close the book went on all sorts of tangents. It just didn't flow, and Raim just didn't grow, and that made it hard for me to really connect with this story.

I think there's a lot of good things in The Oathbreaker's Shadow. I think that the premise overall is solid and that, with a little bit more love, this book could have been great. I am actually interested to see what happens next, to be honest. ( )

Raim has waited all his life to become a member of the elite patrol called the Yun and dedicate his life to protecting the Khan and the kingdom of Darhan. He does not know his parents since he was abandoned and fostered by Loni, a man who has become like a grandfather to Raim. The only memento he has from his early life is a promise string tied around his wrist, but Raim has no memory of making a promise to anyone.
Something disastrous happens on the day Raim should becoming a Yun, and he is forced to flee Darhan and seek some answers.
I enjoyed this book, and will definitely read the conclusion (The Shadow's Curse). I especially liked the originality of a promise sealed with a knot, and having powerful magic protect that promise from being broken. (Imagine if such a thing really existed! People might take their promises more seriously) ( )

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On one hand, I wanted to say I haven't quite read a book like this one before. The magic is really complicated and different from usual. On the other hand however, a lot of the critical plot points were not so original at all.

In this clan-based nomadic society promises are for real. For as you break a promise (and thus the knot that binds you to the person you promised to) you'll be tormented by that person's shadow (a piece of their soul) and exiled. So, better to keep your promises.

Raim is best friends with the heir to the throne and besides training to be his bodyguard. When a promise is broken he has had since he was a baby (although that's impossible since a promise made by a child is not binding) with dead parents, he has to flee as everyone thinks he's betrayed the heir.

The first part of this book was really boring, it just couldn't keep my interest. And I tried. But there is so much exposition thrown at you that I felt at the same time overwhelmed by the infodump and underwhelmed by the story. Not everything made sense to me either. Afterwards there is more action and the story moves forward a bit, but still nothing came as a surprise. Well, perhaps one person's transformation into the great villain of the story did come completely out of the blue.

All this said and done, near the end I was actually quite enjoying myself with the book even though I can't put my finger on why exactly. I did really like the idea of the promise knots even though I didn't completely understand why so many people were gambling with their lives. Even if you plan to keep your promise, people in this book make promises (with this kind of consequences) far too easily. So much so, that I might even check out the second book some day.

The Oathbreaker's Shadow is the first book in the Knots Sequence series. The second book is The Shadow's Curse.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review! ( )