A review by veganmariposa
Girl in the Shadows by Gwenda Bond

3.0

I’m once again torn with writing a book review. The book was full of great ideas; it just felt like some weren’t all completely fleshed out. For once there was a female hero that’s wasn’t completely wrapped up with thoughts of another man constantly. Now that’s not to say there is no romance in the book. But I honestly wish there wasn’t. It wasn’t very good in the least. I felt like I was reading romance written from someone who was young or someone trying too hard to make it feel young. In my opinion the story suffers from too much clutter and I feel as if this could be one of the things forgotten. Also I didn’t really get to build a bond with the supporting character like I’m used to. Every time I started to care or have feelings for one of them, they are thrown to the side. It was a bit frustrating. Now I don’t want to sound all negative, I did like the book. I really liked the slight feminist touches the author brings to the story. Moira(main character) is a strong woman who doesn’t quit and won’t let people get in the way of what she wants. She grows up with a father, a magician, who tells her magic is not for women. His words hurt her but they don’t stop her. She struggles from a young age to learn and teach herself in secret just to prove him wrong and follow her dream to being one of the greatest female performers. She hitches a ride with a traveling circus practicing and performing when some unexpected things fall into her life. She’s then must try to put all the puzzle pieces together to save herself, her family and her new friends. One of the things I loved was when Moira was performing she would give out bit of information about past female magicians. I’m really curious to look it all up. It’s really interesting. As I myself have never heard of any female magicians, I can see where the frustrations of the main character trying to make a name for herself in a male dominated industry might ring a bit of truth. The ending of book felt rushed, disappointing and anticlimactic. I was expecting a lot more action and instead got more of a fairy tale ending. It was too clean and easy for my tastes. Over all this was an ok book and I did enjoy it. I would recommend it to someone looking for an easy weekend or beach read. Also on a side note while there is magic beyond sleight of hand magician things; just know that there really isn’t much. If you looking for magic, spells and fantasy, this really isn’t it.

*~ARC kindly provided via Net Galley in exchange for a honest review~*