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A review by caitlyn
The Shadow by Marianne Curley
1.0
I really enjoyed the Guardians of Time trilogy when I was younger, so I was very excited to step back into this world again.
However, this book was not up to the standard of the previous three. It is self-published by the author and there were often times when I felt that parts required further editing. Some of the dialogue was clumsy and character reactions either seemed too extreme or too passive given the situation.
Something I really enjoyed and was a crucial part of the previous books was when the characters visited different time periods on their missions. Yet in this book, the first time they visit another time period doesn't happen until page 146 (almost halfway through the story!) At about this point the story did get more interesting and I was eager to see how the plot would unfold.
Another issue I have with this book is the spoilers in the character list at the front of the book. Given the amount of time that has passed since the publication of the original trilogy, it was helpful to have a list of names reminding me of who was who. However, descriptions written next to some of the names gave away plot spoilers about information that came later in this book. The character list either needed to be printed at the back of the book or not contain this information. If it's at the front, I'm going to assume it's safe to read before the story.
For most of the book, I had planned on giving it 2 stars, as there were some good parts. Unfortunately, there were two things that I read that left me no choice but to give it 1 star. I don't know if these are the views of the author or if they are her characters' opinion but either way, I totally disagree with them. I understand that sometimes authors will put forward unpleasant opinions because it is important to the persona of a character and hopefully, where it is a negative viewpoint, the author will go on to show how this is challenged by others. In the two instances I will mention, these views are not challenged. I also feel that they both cover such sensitive subjects that, particularly as a writer of YA fiction, the author should be challenging these stereotypes rather than perpetuating them.
The first issue I have is the way that the author makes a distiction between girls and boys crying, reinforcing the ridiculous and dangerous stereotype that it's ok for girls to cry but boys/men must hold in their emotions. On page 107 we get, 'you had all the girls and more than half of the boys crying'. Whilst on page 273 we have this quote, 'For a guy, I've cried more than my fair share this year. These could have quite simply been written as, 'You had everyone crying' and 'I've cried more than my fair share this year' without affecting the character's journey or the plot but staying away from making it sound like a bad thing for boys to cry. In a time when suicide, particularly in young males, is on the rise, we should be doing all we can to encourage those who are hurting to share their feelings and not be ashamed of them.
The second is on page 332, where Lorian's decision to not identify as male or female is mentioned. Ethan thinks to himself that although Arabella believed Lorian was her true love, she couldn't be with Lorian due to this decision. Surely if someone is your true love and you are theirs, it shouldn't matter if they identify as male, female or gender neutral. Furthermore, Ethan's thoughts imply that it's not Arabella who is unwilling to enter into a relationship. Instead, the thought is put forward that Lorian cannot have a relationship with someone who is female due to not identifying as male (or possible female, but I think this is less likely as the author has not included any same sex relationships in this story). I disagree with the idea that if you can't identify as a specific gender, you can't have a relationship.
However, this book was not up to the standard of the previous three. It is self-published by the author and there were often times when I felt that parts required further editing. Some of the dialogue was clumsy and character reactions either seemed too extreme or too passive given the situation.
Another issue I have with this book is the spoilers in the character list at the front of the book. Given the amount of time that has passed since the publication of the original trilogy, it was helpful to have a list of names reminding me of who was who. However, descriptions written next to some of the names gave away plot spoilers about information that came later in this book. The character list either needed to be printed at the back of the book or not contain this information. If it's at the front, I'm going to assume it's safe to read before the story.
For most of the book, I had planned on giving it 2 stars, as there were some good parts. Unfortunately, there were two things that I read that left me no choice but to give it 1 star. I don't know if these are the views of the author or if they are her characters' opinion but either way, I totally disagree with them. I understand that sometimes authors will put forward unpleasant opinions because it is important to the persona of a character and hopefully, where it is a negative viewpoint, the author will go on to show how this is challenged by others. In the two instances I will mention, these views are not challenged. I also feel that they both cover such sensitive subjects that, particularly as a writer of YA fiction, the author should be challenging these stereotypes rather than perpetuating them.
The second is on page 332, where Lorian's decision to not identify as male or female is mentioned. Ethan thinks to himself that although Arabella believed Lorian was her true love, she couldn't be with Lorian due to this decision. Surely if someone is your true love and you are theirs, it shouldn't matter if they identify as male, female or gender neutral. Furthermore, Ethan's thoughts imply that it's not Arabella who is unwilling to enter into a relationship. Instead, the thought is put forward that Lorian cannot have a relationship with someone who is female due to not identifying as male (or possible female, but I think this is less likely as the author has not included any same sex relationships in this story). I disagree with the idea that if you can't identify as a specific gender, you can't have a relationship.