Story: 3/5 
 1: Being Vague, rambling plot with no little believable storyline 
 5: Ripping yarn, clever, thought provoking 
 I needed something different to read after 4 books of Malazan series, something with excitement, good plots, twists but light to read. Brent Weeks gave me all that in Way of the Shadows. It was a nice step to one side. There is a solid storyline here, not much in the way twists and turns, a predictable flow, but not overly so. You can easily tell that Weeks is influenced by GRR Martin as he has absolutely no qualms about killing off characters at anytime during the story. 
 There are some parts to the story that I didn't quite get, I do not know if it is from an editing perspective or my lack of retaining the details. But there were times when I would be reading and I would have to look back and see if I had missed a couple of pages. There were times, where something happened so far out of the blue, or where it just did not flow with the story, that I felt I had missed something. This happened at least 3 or 4 times in the book. Leading me to believe that there was some editing work done, to shorten the book, and some setting you up with knowledge was removed. There was some large leaps within the story that had me scratching my head, this kind of leap reduces the believability of the story. 
 But overall the story flowed well and built to a climatic ending as you had come to expect. I wasn't disappointed in the ending, considering the fact it was a trilogy, and I look forward to reading the second book. 
 Characters: 3/5 
 1: Unrealistic/unbelievable. Feel nothing for these characters 
 5: Fully engaged with the characters, believable. Researched. 
 The characters in book are reasonably well done, you certainly get a great feel for the lead 2 characters, and Weeks really makes sure you understand their points of view and feelings. I think the character builds falls off quite dramatically after the 4 main roles, which was fine. There are a couple of characters I wanted to know more about, but am assuming they will play a bigger part in book 2. 
 Solid: 
 Fluffy, Light, Solid, Heavy, Struggle 
 Sits perfectly as a solid read. You need to concentrate on the story, but it never bogs down in details. 
 Engagement: 4/5 
 1: Not fussed about finishing 
 5: Could stay up all night 
 Recommend: 3/5 
 1: Would advise you to read something else 
 5: Go read it now. It is THAT good 
 This is a strange one, as I haven't read that much directly in common with this. I could see myself recommending this to people who enjoyed the Noble Dead series. Dhampir Yes, I know its a vampire book, but it feels similar to me, with the characters and whilst the theme is different, I think you like this.