A review by kblincoln
Shadow by Jenny Moss
3.0
Shadow is the servant of a the queen of Deor, forced to "shadow" the queen by the elders of the kingdom because of a prophecy about the queen's death.
Treated badly by all, Shadow nurses her grudges in silence until one day she awakes...and the queen is dead.
Of course Shadow isn't the lowly servant she has seemed all these years, and her actions will determine the fate of a kingdom.
Shadow was great. Her foil, Lord Kenway, was refreshingly unperfect (he's classist and alternates between being looking down on her and wanting to help her). The story of Shadow's escape from the castle and then subsequent quest to get away from her pursuers hung together well, and the characters came alive for me.
And that's it. It's a well done story but nothing I haven't seen before.
I suppose if I haven't read a whole bunch of YA about the lowly servant who isn't actually a lowly servant questing in a Western Medieval Society, then this might have been more compelling for me.
However, competently told as it was, the story didn't reach out and grab me.
This Book's Food Designation Rating: A wholesome ham sandwhich on white bread for the straight-forward goodness of the story, but slight blandness.
Treated badly by all, Shadow nurses her grudges in silence until one day she awakes...and the queen is dead.
Of course Shadow isn't the lowly servant she has seemed all these years, and her actions will determine the fate of a kingdom.
Shadow was great. Her foil, Lord Kenway, was refreshingly unperfect (he's classist and alternates between being looking down on her and wanting to help her). The story of Shadow's escape from the castle and then subsequent quest to get away from her pursuers hung together well, and the characters came alive for me.
And that's it. It's a well done story but nothing I haven't seen before.
I suppose if I haven't read a whole bunch of YA about the lowly servant who isn't actually a lowly servant questing in a Western Medieval Society, then this might have been more compelling for me.
However, competently told as it was, the story didn't reach out and grab me.
This Book's Food Designation Rating: A wholesome ham sandwhich on white bread for the straight-forward goodness of the story, but slight blandness.