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3.51 AVERAGE
3.51 AVERAGE
Shadow by Jenny Moss is good in a homey perfect fairytale style, but the writing isn't AMAZING. The only bad thing about the story was that the main character annoyed me a lot sometimes. She can be extremely selfish while all the while judging other people and thinking of herself as perfect. But all in all it is a very cozy, fun fairytale.
I only gave this book three stars because I'm thinking I might have enjoyed it more when I was in my early teens, which is the audience this book is directed at, otherwise, I would have given it two. This book is definitely in the chic-lit category, but the romance in the story is very awkward. The hero and heroine are constantly bickering about rank and duty and no depth in their relationship is ever built. There are a couple of twists in the book, but I knew what they would be chapters before we reached the twists' actual revealings. The story itself is not bad, but the stagnant characters and weak relationships wrecked the book for me.
After reading the jacket copy for this book I was all prepped for the subject matter. However, it feels like the entire book was efficiently summed up in that jacket copy. The plot was very simplistic and it annoyed me how large the font was on the page to make the book seem longer than it was. All the characters kept accusing each other of being selfish while they were never fully fleshed out and acted horribly to each other. It is very very young adult (say younger than 8) for the utter simplistic, and obvious, nature of the plot. It would have been better crafted as a tightly wound short story.
Meh, I didn't particularly enjoy this book. It was predictable and when it showed some signs of cleverness or originality, it quickly grew boring. The author attemps to make her writing poetic and beautiful, but it frequently felt contrived. It was a meh book.
[b:The Swan Kingdom|2124206|The Swan Kingdom|Zoë Marriott|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1320421543s/2124206.jpg|2129646] has a semi-similar plot, and is much better.
[b:The Swan Kingdom|2124206|The Swan Kingdom|Zoë Marriott|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1320421543s/2124206.jpg|2129646] has a semi-similar plot, and is much better.
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A fun find at the library, I actually didn't like the front cover much, but the blurb hooked me, and I jumped into reading. This book is a wonderful tale, with an intriguing heroine who must forgive to save her land. However, after sixteen years of neglect, can she forgive, or allow herself to even care?
I remember reading this book in 4th grade because I saw it in my school library and thought the cover looked cool.
I can remember it very clearly actually. I devoured this book. I was walking down the hallways reading it, taking it out to recess, sneaking peeks at it while the teacher was talking, rushing through my math so that I might get an extra minute to read it, and was just completely obsessed with it. I was lying in my twin bed in my room at my old house, and I stayed up until midnight (my bedtime was 8:00, so that was somewhat impressive) reading it under the covers with a flashlight.
Because I was so young, I had never read a book with an actual romance in it. Yeah, I had seen little flashes of it in the books I read before, but this was the real deal. Like, there was kissing in it.
That being said, this book opened me up to a completely new literary universe. Romance was a genre! Up to that point, I basically read Mary Downing Hahn ghost stories and Harry Potter over and over again. I had never read a book that made me feel so fluffy! So light! When the characters first kissed I felt like I was going to explode with giddiness!
I'm not sure how good this book was, seeing as I read it 6 years ago, but I do know that it was an extremely influential story in regards to my taste in literature. Without this book, who knows how long it would have taken me to read something similar? Because of that, this book will always have a soft spot in my heart from the pure nostalgia of it. I think I might reread it just for that.
So thank you, Jenny Moss, because little Maddie in 4th grade had the time of her life reading this and you made a little girl pretty happy.
I can remember it very clearly actually. I devoured this book. I was walking down the hallways reading it, taking it out to recess, sneaking peeks at it while the teacher was talking, rushing through my math so that I might get an extra minute to read it, and was just completely obsessed with it. I was lying in my twin bed in my room at my old house, and I stayed up until midnight (my bedtime was 8:00, so that was somewhat impressive) reading it under the covers with a flashlight.
Because I was so young, I had never read a book with an actual romance in it. Yeah, I had seen little flashes of it in the books I read before, but this was the real deal. Like, there was kissing in it.
That being said, this book opened me up to a completely new literary universe. Romance was a genre! Up to that point, I basically read Mary Downing Hahn ghost stories and Harry Potter over and over again. I had never read a book that made me feel so fluffy! So light! When the characters first kissed I felt like I was going to explode with giddiness!
I'm not sure how good this book was, seeing as I read it 6 years ago, but I do know that it was an extremely influential story in regards to my taste in literature. Without this book, who knows how long it would have taken me to read something similar? Because of that, this book will always have a soft spot in my heart from the pure nostalgia of it. I think I might reread it just for that.
So thank you, Jenny Moss, because little Maddie in 4th grade had the time of her life reading this and you made a little girl pretty happy.
This was an impulse grab at the local library, on a day when I needed fun reading to distract me from life, and all my novels were packed already. It was a good choice. Not brilliant, but oddly compelling and hard to put down. Shadow had some serious emotional/ psychological issues, probably of the attachment kind. then again, it would be hard not to have those kind of issues, given her life thus far. Her relationship with Sir Kenway is odd, tentative, annoyed, fond, concerned, and lots of other contradictory (and therefore human) characteristics. Kenway himself was a bit of a stiff character sometimes. It wasn't for lack of development. He was just a boy/ man obsessed, and it made him a bit hard to know. The writing in general was good, although the story dragged a bit after the conversations with Kendra and Erce, until back at the castle. reminded me a bit of Eclipse, where the characters just kept rehashing the same emotions and opinions over and over and over and over. but it picked back up, for a fairly satisfying ending. No, no huge surprises in the story, but still enjoyable. I don't know if this is meant to begin a series or stand alone, but I'd read more if there were sequels. It may have been a little Harry Potter, a little Percy Jackson, and a lot teen fantasy romance, written in a fairy tale style, but the sum of the parts ended up much greater than the individual parts would seem to suggest.
lots of side thoughts, though:
I think Jenny Moss is a great name for a fantasy writer. or a history writer. Just has a good sound to it.
Is Kendra the new go-to name for writers, especially YA fantasy? I just read Beastly, which had a major character named Kendra, and saw the name in some other book (that I can't remember) too. Funny, because before a few years ago, I'd only ever met one or two Kendras. I really hope it's not all due to some gross Playboy bunny. ick.
Also, this book, and the Percy Jackson books, and any others dealing with dogs and/or demi-gods, does make me awfully glad to be a Christian. Dealing with a weak, selfish, human-like god and/or goddess as your only resource would seem awfully discouraging. My God is an awesome God, and I appreciate that more all the time.
lots of side thoughts, though:
I think Jenny Moss is a great name for a fantasy writer. or a history writer. Just has a good sound to it.
Is Kendra the new go-to name for writers, especially YA fantasy? I just read Beastly, which had a major character named Kendra, and saw the name in some other book (that I can't remember) too. Funny, because before a few years ago, I'd only ever met one or two Kendras. I really hope it's not all due to some gross Playboy bunny. ick.
Also, this book, and the Percy Jackson books, and any others dealing with dogs and/or demi-gods, does make me awfully glad to be a Christian. Dealing with a weak, selfish, human-like god and/or goddess as your only resource would seem awfully discouraging. My God is an awesome God, and I appreciate that more all the time.