When we begin the story, Neryn is a poor vagrant travelling with her father, and alcoholic with a severe gambling addiction. Her situation quickly changes, however, and she is thrust into a mysterious man’s protection, only to run away to the North, where she expects to find a refuge that may or may not exist known as Shadowfell. Little does she know that her penchant for communicating with the Good Folk, fae persecuted by the King of Alban, could lead her to much more than the life of subsisting that she is used to. The premise of this book is really interesting. I don’t read much fantasy, and so I was excited to pick this up, but for the first 150 pages I was couldn’t get past the author’s style to actually immerse myself in the book. The writing was very simple and very redundant. I can’t tell you how many times Neryn states that she learned simple survival skills from the years she spent on the road with her father, when the reader honestly could have inferred that, at least after the first fifty times she says it. Furthermore, all of the plot points were rather predictable and unoriginal. I probably would have put down the book early on, but I pushed on and about half way through I found myself invested in the characters. They weren’t all that original and occasionally their dialogue, which was spelled phonetically, making it very difficult to decipher, set my teeth on edge, but in the end I did care about them enough to enjoy the rest of the book. Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I loved the world of Alban, and most of all I loved the Good Folk--how each one was different and very unique. I loved the incorporation of Scottish myths and legendary creatures into the tale. This was not the fastest moving story, and there is a lot of walking and traveling from place to place. But the characters, especially the characters of Neryn and Flint, were strong enough to grip me and pull me through the story. Sometimes Neryn was not as courageous or steadfast as she could have been--she did doubt a little too often, and too intensely, her ability to succeed in her mission to reach Shadowfell, or even to survive the night. It was hard to rally behind someone who was constantly fretting about her certain impending failure. She could also have been more proactive and took stronger charge of her own story. Too often, she is simply being carried along from event to event. But overall, those character weaknesses were overpowered by the beautiful writing and fascinating world of this story, as well as the deepening relationship between Neryn and Flint. I look forward to reading the sequel.
What do You think about Shadowfell (2012)?
Good for a YA book. Not as good as her books for adults, probably because of the genre conventions.
—Christine
Different than any other YA fantasy novel I've come across in a long time. Highly recommend
—joanw
I need the sequel!! What happens to Neryn and Flint?!?! Gahhhh!!!
—megannerobertson
