I don't remember when I downloaded this freebie from Amazon to my Kindle so I don't remember if it was listed as a childern's book or not. The obvious guess is that it is for kids because the story is of a community of rats that go through a war. And yet some of the themes were pretty intense for kiddos. Fairly violent scenes, including a strangling, and ripping out an eyeball. The bad leader is a heavy drinker and uses the lady rats against their will. This is spoken of in pretty indirect terms, but it's interesting to find those themes. I guess you can get away with a little more with talking animals than you would with people. The plot is of a brutal dictator rat who has taken over a city and the plot to overthrow him and build a new city. There's a pretty scary second in command. Though the first guy is disgusting, the second is worse. Which is how I often feel about the current president, so I could relate on a level.All in all, not a bad read. But more for young adults than little ones. Seemed like it was a longer book too. I read this over a fairly long period but maybe because I'm not reading as much as listening to audio books these days. This book reminds me a great deal of Brian Jacque's Redwall series or Erin Hunter's Warriors series and especially Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh by Robert C. O'Brien. The detail allows the reader to almost be in the story, which is not necessarily a comfortable thing (I don't particularly relish the idea of living underground). The setting is beautifully realized, there is just enough detail, but not so much that it bogs the story down. The plot keeps moving with holes being filled in smoothly enough not to pull the reader out of the story. This is a story with clear cut right and wrong, good versus evil. The book is plot-heavy with not so much character development. The characters grow, but there is no real change in character, they stay on the path they started on at the beginning. With so many characters there just isn't room for a lot of character development. The plot is the focus here and it is an entertaining one of a society of rats trying to regain their freedom, certainly an appropriate plot considering current world events.The illustrations add a nice touch, although the eyes of the rat on the cover are kind of strange and creepy looking, but that might just be me. I appreciated the authors choice of animals for her characters, rats and are not usually the first choice for 'good' characters, they are more often the villains in this type of book (this is the first time that I can recall reading about earthworms as real characters). There are a couple of things I want to mention that take away from the story somewhat. First, the book does have scenes of graphic violence, involving the loss of eyes, torture, and severe scarring, there is also an attempted rape. Second, the ending is too pat. As can be seen today, revolutions of this kind don't happen overnight and usually end with a lot more bloodshed and continued bad feelings and conflict, at least in the human world. I'm not sure though that children and young adults will think much about this, most likely they will simply take the story for what it is, a rousing fantasy.This book is for readers who like animal fantasy and straightforward stories of good versus evil.
What do You think about Nightshade City (2010)?
I got this for my birthday. Read it in 2 days! I loved this book.
—didahilman
