Shadow of Doubt (The Potentate of Atlanta, #1) in SOS: Serious Overload of Series

Apr 25, 2020 Katyana rated it really liked it

Shelves: kindle-unlimited, uf

It took me a really long time to pick this book up, even though the series it is spun off from is one of my favorites.

The reason for that is because I hated the character of Amelie, who becomes Hadley to give her a chance at a new life in this series. I didn't think I would like this book, because Amelie did some shit, awful things - hurting people who cared about her and killing people - but never really (imo) took responsibility for it. She likes to hold herself up as a victim, as if she isn' It took me a really long time to pick this book up, even though the series it is spun off from is one of my favorites.

The reason for that is because I hated the character of Amelie, who becomes Hadley to give her a chance at a new life in this series. I didn't think I would like this book, because Amelie did some shit, awful things - hurting people who cared about her and killing people - but never really (imo) took responsibility for it. She likes to hold herself up as a victim, as if she isn't responsible for her choices. She was bitter and envious towards Grier - who had her whole life ripped away and spent years being tortured in a hellhole prison - and even when Grier bent over backwards to help
Amelie/Hadley, she was still a bitter, whiny bitch about it.

I also didn't like that she did all the shitty things to gain power, and now she had it and was being rewarded with a powerful position. That was repugnant to me.

So I didn't think I would like this at all. And for the first 20% or so, she was still that same whiny "my life has been so hard, it sucks, why are things so unfairly hard for me" asshole ... bitching about people watching her like parole officers, her having a small apartment (for free), etc. This bitch should be in jail or dead. The whining was not impressive.

Fortunately, after that, the murders and her need to do work took prominence ... and we got a lot less whining. The story was awesome, and I like Midas and Ford. And when Hadley had something to focus on, she stopped wallowing in bullshit and I liked her quite a bit. And by the end, I was fully invested - I liked the new her, the one trying to work for justice. I liked the rest of the characters in this book. And I'm interested to see where this goes.

Plus, the glimpses of Linus are always welcome... I love Linus and Greer forever.

Re-read June 2025
It was nice doing this re-read and NOT also doing a re-read of TBGTN before (i.e., reading the whole run from Grier/Linus to Hadley/Midas), because my utter hatred of Amelie wasn't re-fired before starting this book. Because let's be clear, in TBGTN Amelie is a complete piece of garbage. As I said in my original review, it took me years to read this series because I hated her so much that I was offended at the thought that she'd get everything she wanted (power, position, respect) after the horrors she committed.

I see that even now, years after this series has wrapped, it sits surprisingly low on Hailey Edwards book list when sorted by number of ratings, despite TBGTN being by far the highest on that list. I have to figure that, like me, a crapload of readers were put off by the same thing as me.

And it's too bad, honestly, because I love this spin off series. I don't know that Amelie deserves the grace she gets in it, but she takes that second chance and runs with it, and turns herself into someone that deserves respect. And to a large degree, the position itself is penance. It is requiring her to take her stolen strength and use it to protect innocents, and it can be grueling at times. Amelie truly remakes herself into Hadley, and she doesn't flinch from punishing fights when someone needs her help. In fact, she runs at them full tilt, because it isn't only penance ... she's trying to use this role to earn forgiveness not just from the world, but also forgiveness for herself. Her self-loathing in this first book is pretty sharp and suffocating, but easy to miss when you walk into it hating her. This is the first time - since I haven't re-read TBGTN in 3 years - that I saw it so clearly.

For fans of TBGTN that haven't given it a try, I think you should. Especially if it has been awhile since you last read TBGTN, so that edge of Amelie-hate is maybe a little less sharp. You won't regret it, imo. ...more

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Aug 12, 2019 Steph rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites-all-years, series-book1, series-spinoff-or-same-world, series-i-love, author-웃, series-ongoing, year-read-2019, favorites-2019

I’m so happy about this same world series spinoff. I wasn’t ready to say goodbye to Hailey’s world of necromancers, vamps and shifters in BGtN. I didn’t expect I’d like Hadley right outta the gate, but I did. Her remorse is evident and, so far, she’s killing it as Atlanta’s Potentate in training. I’m anxious for more.

(4.5 stars)

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