A review by octavia_cade
Shadowland by Peter Straub

3.0

This had a great start, but it lost me after about the first third. I mean, I finished the book and it was well-written but that early appeal sort of petered out. That initial third, set in a school in the American southwest, was almost more literary than horror. I suppose for some readers it's the long and boring introduction before they get to the creepy magician in Vermont, but I had no interest whatsoever in the creepy magician in Vermont, and everything he did had the flavour of histrionics. I do not find histrionics at all attractive, and although young Tom Flanagan did his best to balance out all the melodrama by being a solidly sensible kid, it was all just a bit too over-the-top for my taste. Had it not been for that wonderful long opening, this would probably have been a two star read for me - not because there's anything wrong with it, it just isn't my thing - but that opening third drags up the entire rating as far as I'm concerned.