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A review by mrsthrift
Shadowcry by Jenna Burtenshaw
3.0
I can only think that I must have picked this book up because it was on a list of "Things to Read While You Wait for the Hunger Games Movie" because I don't know how else I would have found it. Also, I don't want to start any more series because I already have too many dangling, unfinished trilogies out there. But I read it anyway.
There are plenty of bad things you can say about this book - the "good guys" are boring, the young female heroine is kind of simpering and dumb, the world-building is insufficient, the writing lacks a certain sophistication, the magical elements are too exciting, and most of the promise of the book remains unfulfilled at the end. However, I enjoyed this book for two main reasons:
1. The "bad guys" are interesting. I thought Silas and Da'ru were some of the most interesting, compelling villains I've read in YAF in a while. I really wanted to know more about Da'ru, like, how in tarnation did she get to be so thoroughly evil through every bone in her body? That woman is a seriously bad person! How did she turn out like that?? And Burtenshaw did something interesting with the Silas character, letting him be bad for a good reason; he is forgivable but still rotten enough to be held at arm's length.
2. The setting is the city of Fume. This is a graveyard city that was built only for the dead and the bonemen (a mythical profession like a crypt keeper, the bonemen tended to the graves and maintained the city). Fume is full of weird, magical things, a secret library, tunnels, stairs, layers of generations of dead stacked on top of each other. But modern day Fume is a gated community of rich people. They exploited the sacred high walls of Fume and turned it into a seat of power and money, home of the High Council.
So, this book isn't extraordinary, but it is a fun romp with some exciting turns. If you're interested in female protagonists, magical elements, creepy setting and fascinating bad guys, you could do worse than to read this book. It's a solid debut, and a refreshing departure from vampires, werewolves and zombies. And, of course, there is a young girl who has extraordinary powers that she doesn't believe in, then she learns to believe in, and then she surpasses anyone's expectations of her abilities in order to save the world. It's always nice when a girl can believe in herself for the sake of the greater good.
There are plenty of bad things you can say about this book - the "good guys" are boring, the young female heroine is kind of simpering and dumb, the world-building is insufficient, the writing lacks a certain sophistication, the magical elements are too exciting, and most of the promise of the book remains unfulfilled at the end. However, I enjoyed this book for two main reasons:
1. The "bad guys" are interesting. I thought Silas and Da'ru were some of the most interesting, compelling villains I've read in YAF in a while. I really wanted to know more about Da'ru, like, how in tarnation did she get to be so thoroughly evil through every bone in her body? That woman is a seriously bad person! How did she turn out like that?? And Burtenshaw did something interesting with the Silas character, letting him be bad for a good reason; he is forgivable but still rotten enough to be held at arm's length.
2. The setting is the city of Fume. This is a graveyard city that was built only for the dead and the bonemen (a mythical profession like a crypt keeper, the bonemen tended to the graves and maintained the city). Fume is full of weird, magical things, a secret library, tunnels, stairs, layers of generations of dead stacked on top of each other. But modern day Fume is a gated community of rich people. They exploited the sacred high walls of Fume and turned it into a seat of power and money, home of the High Council.
So, this book isn't extraordinary, but it is a fun romp with some exciting turns. If you're interested in female protagonists, magical elements, creepy setting and fascinating bad guys, you could do worse than to read this book. It's a solid debut, and a refreshing departure from vampires, werewolves and zombies. And, of course, there is a young girl who has extraordinary powers that she doesn't believe in, then she learns to believe in, and then she surpasses anyone's expectations of her abilities in order to save the world. It's always nice when a girl can believe in herself for the sake of the greater good.