The Shadows That Listen by Louisa Carmody
Author: Louisa Carmody
Series: Angel Ruin #1
Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group UK
Format: eBook / ARC
Genre: Dystopian Fantasy | Romantasy | Urban Fantasy
Publication Date: August 18, 2026
Rating: ⭐ 3.5/5
Synopsis
Five years after angels and daemons arrived and changed the world forever, humanity is barely holding on. Strict rules keep the remaining population relatively safe, including a 6 p.m. curfew that no human wants to break once darkness falls.
Amara works for the Angel Intelligence Agency and knows better than most what waits outside. But when her longtime boyfriend, Jeremy, fails to return home before curfew, she refuses to simply wait for answers.
Her search brings her face-to-face with Nathaniel, a powerful and infuriating archangel who reluctantly agrees to protect her in exchange for something he needs. When they discover they're searching for the same mysterious man, the two are forced into an uneasy alliance that takes them beyond the relative safety of the city.
But the deeper Amara searches for Jeremy, the clearer it becomes that almost nothing about his disappearance, or the world she thought she understood, is quite what it seems.
My Thoughts
Oh boy, I have slightly complicated feelings about this one.
The world immediately caught my attention. Five years after angels and daemons arrived, humanity is essentially trying to survive in a world that no longer belongs to them. Humans live under strict rules, including a 6 p.m. curfew, because once darkness falls... well, you really don't want to be wandering around outside.
Amara works for the Angel Intelligence Agency and is well trained to handle herself in this new reality. She also has a longtime boyfriend, Jeremy, who proposes to her one morning. She turns him down, not because she doesn't love him, but because marriage simply isn't something she wants; and they both head off to work.
Except Jeremy never comes home.
As six o'clock approaches, Amara knows something is seriously wrong. Her search eventually takes her outside after curfew, where she fights her way through daemons and crosses paths with Nathaniel, an extremely powerful and equally infuriating archangel.
Nathaniel agrees to protect her because he wants something in return, and after accessing surveillance footage, they discover they're apparently searching for the same man: the person who “supposedly” took Jeremy.
And I'm emphasizing supposedly because absolutely nothing in this book is quite what it seems. Aaaand I MEAN IT!
From there, Amara and Nathaniel venture beyond the city searching for answers, and poor Amara is absolutely not prepared for some of the things she's eventually going to discover.
There was a lot I enjoyed about the story. The dystopian setting was interesting, I liked the mystery surrounding Jeremy's disappearance, and the combination of angels, daemons, danger, and Amara's uneasy partnership with Nathaniel gave the story plenty to work with. There are also some genuinely interesting revelations as everything begins to unravel.
My biggest issue, however, was the pacing. At times, it felt like the story was going around in circles. We'd get an intense sequence or an interesting discovery and I'd be completely invested again, only for the momentum to drop shortly afterward. It happened often enough that the book eventually started feeling longer than it needed to be.
I should probably also admit that I'm a HUGE fan of Nalini Singh's Guild Hunter series, so apparently I have very strong opinions about my fictional archangels. 😂 I tried not to compare the two because they're obviously very different stories, but I do think being so attached to that series made it a little harder for me to completely fall into another world involving powerful angels, humans, danger and romance.
That said, I didn't dislike The Shadows That Listen at all. When the story was at its most intense, I genuinely enjoyed it, and there are some very good ideas behind this world and its mysteries. I just wish the momentum had been more consistent and some parts had been tightened up.
Final Thoughts
The Shadows That Listen is an interesting start to the Angel Ruin series, with a fascinating dystopian world, angels and daemons, an uneasy alliance, plenty of secrets, and some revelations I definitely wasn't expecting.
The pacing prevented me from becoming as immersed as I'd hoped, but the world and larger mystery have plenty of potential. And if there's one lesson to take from this book, it's probably this: don't assume you know what's actually happening.
Because you probably don't. :D
⭐ 3.5/5
ARC Disclaimer
I received an advance reader copy of The Shadows That Listen in exchange for an honest review. Receiving this copy did not influence my opinion of the book.
Thank you to NetGalley and Little, Brown Book Group UK for the opportunity to read and review this ARC. All opinions are my own.
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