A review by additionaddiction
He Who Walks in Shadow by Brett J. Talley
3.0
The sequel to [b:That Which Should Not Be|11876043|That Which Should Not Be|Brett J. Talley|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1309323608l/11876043._SX50_.jpg|16833928]. This book followed (a much older) Carter Weston, his friend Henry Armitage, and Carter's (now adult) daughter Rachel.
While I generally still liked the IDEA of this book as well as the general plot, I didn't enjoy it as much as the original. While both books were sort of a series of smaller stories rolled up into a larger narrative, the first book seemed to pull it off while the second struggled. The different tales in [b:He Who Walks in Shadow|25329621|He Who Walks in Shadow|Brett J. Talley|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1428614058l/25329621._SY75_.jpg|45064849], while describing related events, felt disjointed from a character-perspective and didn't have the same gravity as they did in the first book.
While [b:That Which Should Not Be|11876043|That Which Should Not Be|Brett J. Talley|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1309323608l/11876043._SX50_.jpg|16833928] was told (mostly) from the point-of-view of Carter, this book alternated between the journals/diaries of Carter, Rachel, Henry, and occasional a few others. Though I was fine with this writing style, it didn't feel like there was enough delineation between the "voices" of the main characters. I would often forget whose point-of-view I was being presented with, as there wasn't much difference in how each character spoke/thought/wrote.
This was my biggest disappointment with the book; the lack of separation between characters. Since I was already familiar with Carter and Henry from the first book, they didn't suffer from this blurriness too much. Unfortunately Rachel and later Margot, who were the only two female characters, just felt very generic and forgettable. I really wanted to like them much more than I did but I felt like they weren't well-written or well-realized.
It seems like there could be a third book in the series that would set Rachel as the main character. If so, I hope that she's developed better, with both more individuality and less "damsel"ing.
While I generally still liked the IDEA of this book as well as the general plot, I didn't enjoy it as much as the original. While both books were sort of a series of smaller stories rolled up into a larger narrative, the first book seemed to pull it off while the second struggled. The different tales in [b:He Who Walks in Shadow|25329621|He Who Walks in Shadow|Brett J. Talley|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1428614058l/25329621._SY75_.jpg|45064849], while describing related events, felt disjointed from a character-perspective and didn't have the same gravity as they did in the first book.
While [b:That Which Should Not Be|11876043|That Which Should Not Be|Brett J. Talley|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1309323608l/11876043._SX50_.jpg|16833928] was told (mostly) from the point-of-view of Carter, this book alternated between the journals/diaries of Carter, Rachel, Henry, and occasional a few others. Though I was fine with this writing style, it didn't feel like there was enough delineation between the "voices" of the main characters. I would often forget whose point-of-view I was being presented with, as there wasn't much difference in how each character spoke/thought/wrote.
This was my biggest disappointment with the book; the lack of separation between characters. Since I was already familiar with Carter and Henry from the first book, they didn't suffer from this blurriness too much. Unfortunately Rachel and later Margot, who were the only two female characters, just felt very generic and forgettable. I really wanted to like them much more than I did but I felt like they weren't well-written or well-realized.
It seems like there could be a third book in the series that would set Rachel as the main character. If so, I hope that she's developed better, with both more individuality and less "damsel"ing.