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A review by rjandersonwriter
Shadowed Summer by Saundra Mitchell
4.0
If I had seen this book in the bookstore I would probably never have picked it up. A ghost story? A graveyard on the cover? Looks like horror/occult -- so very not my thing.
And then I would have missed out on a beautifully written, fantastically characterized, gripping, suspenseful, and touching book.
Saundra Mitchell's writing is rich and sensuously evocative, yet so easy and natural to read -- a rare combination. Her dialogue sparkles, and the heroine Iris and her friends are absolutely believable young teens. Mitchell creates an amazing sense of atmosphere in this book that will make you feel as though you are right in the heart of a steamy Louisiana summer while reading it. Rather than being a morbid and horrific tale of a vengeful ghost, this story is about the secrets that haunt people and drive them apart, about Iris's relationship with her father and the people she loves, and her growing realization of what it means to leave childhood behind and begin to become an adult. So much more than I would ever have guessed just by looking at the (beautiful, but spooky-looking) cover.
And then I would have missed out on a beautifully written, fantastically characterized, gripping, suspenseful, and touching book.
Saundra Mitchell's writing is rich and sensuously evocative, yet so easy and natural to read -- a rare combination. Her dialogue sparkles, and the heroine Iris and her friends are absolutely believable young teens. Mitchell creates an amazing sense of atmosphere in this book that will make you feel as though you are right in the heart of a steamy Louisiana summer while reading it. Rather than being a morbid and horrific tale of a vengeful ghost, this story is about the secrets that haunt people and drive them apart, about Iris's relationship with her father and the people she loves, and her growing realization of what it means to leave childhood behind and begin to become an adult. So much more than I would ever have guessed just by looking at the (beautiful, but spooky-looking) cover.