The story follows Eugene,
a teenager in 1980s America
abandoned by his father and with a less than model mother. His reasonably
normal little sister is the only real plus in his life until Penelope Ember, a
rather tasty and well-heeled woman, takes an interest in Eugene.
Desperate to earn Penelope's approval, Ace (as she calls him) works hard to
improve himself only to discover… that the next few lines would give the plot
away.
The author does a good job of capturing that certain period
of a young man's life when he's both desperate to please but can flip that need
to bitterness in an instant. However, my favourite parts of the book were when
there was frenzied violence, which were very well-written and enjoyable.
Generally, the quality of the writing was very good and the
story was immersive. Although it's not the longest book in the world I did read
it in a couple of days and often found myself reading for longer than I'd
intended.
Downsides are harder to think of. It is, I believe, planned
to be the first part of a 12 part series, and as a rule I prefer short series
and stand-alones. However, I certainly plan on
giving book 2 a look.
It's slightly on the short side, but to be honest I'd rather
read a somewhat short book than one padded with waffle.
So, if you like real-world fantasy then you may well enjoy
giving House of Shadows a crack.
Thaddeus
No comments:
Post a Comment