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Jacob Proffitt's Reviews > Shadowland
Shadowland (The Mediator, #1)
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by
Jacob Proffitt's review
bookshelves: owned, romance, young-adult, favorite
Jul 21, 2008
bookshelves: owned, romance, young-adult, favorite
Read 2 times. Last read July 10, 2022 to July 11, 2022.
It has been a really long time since I've read this, but it crossed my path recently and I thought it was about time. It was a good thought.
This is an introductory book where we establish some of the paranormal rules Suze is facing. And we meet the core secondary characters and community. Rereading this, I remembered how much I loved Father Dominic and his steady kindness and good sense. Catholic priests tend to get such short shrift in fiction that it's refreshing to see one standing tough when needed, but never losing his core kindness along the way.
And I immediately remembered why I liked Suze so much. She's such a straight-forward paladin that she was bound to end up close to my heart. I particularly liked her interactions with her new step-brothers, most notably the youngest, Dave. He's such an earnest little guy and having someone notice and engage with him is obviously thrilling. And Suze takes that with a little teen negligence, but a lot of kindness as well.
In this one, Jesse is still mostly mysterious. He's his own version of kind and he's very attractive, not least as he doesn't brood (as his type of hero would otherwise be prone to do).
This is still a solid five stars, though the plot is thinner than I remembered. I can't wait for the next, only, I think we start getting the rich idiots and I'm definitely not looking forward to that upcoming nonsense.
A note about the Audiobook: The audiobook was workmanlike, though it's sad the narrator, Johanna Parker, seemed uninterested in accents. There should have been a broad mix with Suze and her mother native New Yorkers, the surrounding cast are upper-class California coasters, and Jesse should be dipped lovingly in nineteenth-century Spanish. A real missed opportunity, I think.
A note about Chaste: Suze is only sixteen and a transplant at a new school. And while she consciously projects tough-girl vibes, she isn't the kind of tough-girl who is interested in sexual conquest. There isn't any dating, or kissing, or anything more than some mild noticing of hot guys. So this is the extreme end of the Chaste category.
This is an introductory book where we establish some of the paranormal rules Suze is facing. And we meet the core secondary characters and community. Rereading this, I remembered how much I loved Father Dominic and his steady kindness and good sense. Catholic priests tend to get such short shrift in fiction that it's refreshing to see one standing tough when needed, but never losing his core kindness along the way.
And I immediately remembered why I liked Suze so much. She's such a straight-forward paladin that she was bound to end up close to my heart. I particularly liked her interactions with her new step-brothers, most notably the youngest, Dave. He's such an earnest little guy and having someone notice and engage with him is obviously thrilling. And Suze takes that with a little teen negligence, but a lot of kindness as well.
In this one, Jesse is still mostly mysterious. He's his own version of kind and he's very attractive, not least as he doesn't brood (as his type of hero would otherwise be prone to do).
This is still a solid five stars, though the plot is thinner than I remembered. I can't wait for the next, only, I think we start getting the rich idiots and I'm definitely not looking forward to that upcoming nonsense.
A note about the Audiobook: The audiobook was workmanlike, though it's sad the narrator, Johanna Parker, seemed uninterested in accents. There should have been a broad mix with Suze and her mother native New Yorkers, the surrounding cast are upper-class California coasters, and Jesse should be dipped lovingly in nineteenth-century Spanish. A real missed opportunity, I think.
A note about Chaste: Suze is only sixteen and a transplant at a new school. And while she consciously projects tough-girl vibes, she isn't the kind of tough-girl who is interested in sexual conquest. There isn't any dating, or kissing, or anything more than some mild noticing of hot guys. So this is the extreme end of the Chaste category.
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Reading Progress
2008
–
Started Reading
2008
–
Finished Reading
July 21, 2008
– Shelved
July 21, 2008
– Shelved as:
owned
July 21, 2008
– Shelved as:
romance
July 21, 2008
– Shelved as:
young-adult
July 21, 2008
– Shelved as:
favorite
July 10, 2022
–
Started Reading
July 11, 2022
–
Finished Reading
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by
Kate
(new)
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rated it 5 stars
Jul 14, 2022 11:55AM
Terrific review. I'm definitely due to re-listen to this entire series. I like to listen to the audiobooks every couple of years. My daughter loved this series when she was a teenager. It sure would be nice if they would re-record the audiobooks and even do it through GraphicAudio. That would be wonderful.
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Kate wrote: "My daughter loved this series when she was a teenager. It sure would be nice if they would re-record the audiobooks and even do it through GraphicAudio. That would be wonderful."Oh man. That would be awesome! I doubt it makes business sense as we're in the long tail of the revenue for the property. But I'm sure a lot of fans would love having more deliberate narration.
Very true sadly. I understand that GA actually approaches the author's and/or publishers for the books they want to record and so far I haven't seen any YA like this. I should write to them about this series as a possible project. Nothing ventured nothing gained.
