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Read The Shadow Thieves (2007)

The Shadow Thieves (2007)

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Author
Genre
Rating
3.78 of 5 Votes: 4
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ISBN
141690588X (ISBN13: 9781416905882)
Language
English
Publisher
atheneum books for young readers

The Shadow Thieves (2007) - Plot & Excerpts

I'm a little disappointed with the book. I had heard good things about it before ordering and the synopsis was interesting to me so I was extremely keen to read it.The cover is a bit simple and when I saw it I said to me "This is not a typical YA cover, this does not show nothing about the book and it is so simple, I do not like it but the sypnosis is good enough to give it a chance".The writing style is ideal for a young adult novel and the book is written in third person with some paragraphs that make you part of the novel (I like this).Pay attention. Watch carefully, now. Look at the sidewalk, there. See that girl—the one with the bright red hair, overstuffed backpack, and aura of grumpiness? That’s Charlotte Mielswetzski (Say it with me: Meals-Wet-Ski. Got it? If not, say it again. Meals. Wet. Ski. There. You thought your name was bad?).The book is divided into four parts, with the first we know about the life of Charlotte and her family and friends. This is only 70 pages of the book but we need it to go into the story and life of the girl slowly. In the second part we find Zee, Charlotte's cousin, and his life. In this part you can see some action and it is essential to understand what comes next and some things from the beginning.Last two parts the writer does focus on action and some points that were blur now are clear.About what I like so much from the book I have to say that it comes loaded with high doses of Greek mythology which I love and encourage me to carry on until the end of the book. Important characters like Charon, Hades, Zeus and Persephone were found and described for do not lose us between the pages of the book.The best: Greek mythology.The worst: the lack of intrigue / action to keep you eager to devour every word.

It took me quite awhile to get interested in this one; the wittiness got in the way a bit for me, especially in the beginning. It seemed like everything was described not in just ONE witty way, but in SEVERAL witty ways, and it ended up just feeling too tedious and like...well, just too much. However, once Zee finally made it into the picture things got a little more compelling. Comparisons to Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson series are probably inevitable, as they both deal with modern day Greek mythology, but I found little similarity between them other than that (although, interestingly, quite a few similarities between this and Riordan's The Red Pryamid). I found Charlotte fairly irritating at first, but she gradually grew on me a bit through her relationship with her cousin. I found Zachary and his back story much more intriguing than I did Charlotte. The story as a whole was pretty simple, but quite inventive, and I enjoyed it somewhat it once it finally got going. But I didn't ever feel really involved or invested, and it seems like the pacing was a little off--flowing along nicely for a bit and then suddenly stilted and stiff. I probably won't bother with the next book in the series; there just wasn't enough character development or plot intricacy to keep me connected. I can see middle-graders having fun with it though...

What do You think about The Shadow Thieves (2007)?

All right, so here's another Percy-Jackson-copy-cat. The back cover is intriguing. It starts off as a typical grumpy redhead finds a cat. Yawn. Then, randomly, her cousin comes for a "vacation," during the school year, and apparently he has magical powers to kill people, and one time she falls in love with someone only to discover he's a bloodthirsty Greek monster. The writing doesn't flow, and the story winds on and on without ever coming to a complete climax: the whole time "shadow monsters" are waiting outside the door of Charlotte's house, and then she has to escape to the underworld where some minor ghost god wants her blood. Literally. To make himself human, he wants Charlotte's blood. Not worth the paper it's printed on.
—Natalie

This was my favorite book for years and even reading it today, I still like it.The first thing that attracted me was the tone. It always seemed a little dark to my younger self, and it's definitely sarcastic, irreverent and fun. It ties Greek myths to the modern day very well - Hades no longer leaves his palace to tour the Underworld, but runs everything as the CEO of a really complicated bureaucracy, the heroine bribes Charon with Fruit Roll-Ups, and the main villain is an Underworld garbageman. It also takes some myths and runs with them into fun darkness, without veering from accuracy, as in the case of the Shadow Thieving itself.And then, there's what always sticks out in my mind when I think of The Shadow Thieves. (Bit of a spoiler.) (view spoiler)[ Near the end of the novel, Charlotte has to fight off two of the villain's creepy clay minions, who are trying to kill her. After successfully killing them instead, she sits down on a rock and starts to cry. As a character, Charlotte is independent, mouthy and brave, but she sits down on a rock and starts to cry. Because...wouldn't you? If you just had to fight for your life against two humanoid golems? And then, when she's had her cry, she gets back up and goes to save the world. Bravery and realism. (hide spoiler)]
—Annabel Thompson

At first I fell in love with the type of voicing this story had, with its intense sarcasm and all, but it grew a little old when the story didn't have more to offer. In the really intense, dark parts, the humor could have been more well-crafted. It brought me right out of the tension, and so later I had to think "Oh yeah, this is a scary part, I forgot!" and had to place myself back in, which shouldn't be.The villain was also a bit cliche, and I would've liked more motive on his part. And character. Sure, he's a bad guy who acts like a gentleman, gets angry at all the right times, but he's just another cardboard villain.There were some good scenes, though, and I did like the mystery of everyone getting sick in the beginning (although I was a little angry when the reason was just told to us, instead of letting the audience try and figure it out for themselves.Anyway, a decent book. I can understand why some people would love the action and the voice, but it didn't really do it for me.
—Nannah

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