A review by enchanten
The Shadows: The Books of Elsewhere: Volume 1 by Jacqueline West

3.0

Books of Elsewhere Shadows starts out in a compelling way, and Olive makes for a fantastic character. Jacqueline West does well to portray our young protagonist as a strong minded individual and not just an immature naive child.



When Olive is forced to move into a deceased old lady's house that her new neighbours consider weird and whisper about, she doesn't feel she quite fits in anywhere until she discovers a pair of spectacles that allow her to travel into the strange and creepy pictures that seem to be glued to the walls.

What olive doesn't realize is that danger lurks in some of the artworks left by the old lady and soon she ends up struggling to escape.


Shadows is a alright read, I found that after the first few chapters I began to lose interest and eventually put the book down and forgot about it. I didn't find the read to scary and I believe the story itself will appeal to many readers who, unlike me enjoy a good mystery.
I found Jacqueline West's portrayal on Olive's parents quite worrisome as they seem to have little to do with Olive and much more concern with maths, making them very flat and unbelievable.
I did realize the twists to this story early in but as an older reader I find this is to be expected when reading a book aimed towards younger people.