Review by britcott30 -- The Shade of Highfall

[britcott30]

[Following is a volunteer review of "The Shade of Highfall" by Mark O'Dell.]

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4 out of 4 stars

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The Shade of Highfall: The Tale of Shrew by Mark O’Dell is a fantasy novel that revolves around Shrew, a teenage orphan who struggles to survive her life. This novel is set in Highfall, year 5121 until 5124.

The world is not easy for Shrew, who must steal and be a slave to live. One day, one of the sylvan: a race of fey, comes to her by creating deceptions and illusions. The spirit has its own plan and Shrew takes this advantage to escape from the slave. The spirit is trapped in a dagger that has to be taken everywhere Shrew goes. Since she has the dagger, she becomes a strong young woman who fights and hides very well. Through many adventures ahead, she has to prevent the evil that will come to the world. Along her journey, she also finds someone important who thought she was already dead at first.

What I like most about this book are the curses used by the characters. “Sirra’s breath”, “Kurell’s bones”, “Mother of Midir”, are examples of the curses in the book. I don’t know why, but these curses get my attention, and I always excited to find out what are the upcoming curses from the characters. I instantly smiling when the curses words showed up in the novel, not because it is funny since this novel is actually a thriller, but shows my amazement at how the author has creative ideas on the story so that the names and the terms in the book are imaginative. Not only his creativity, but I also praise his excellent choice of words. The details of the settings of this story are exceptional.

The thing I like less about this book is the plot feels slower at first. I feel the tension is rather lacking in the first part of this book. But this doesn’t make me stop reading it. The book is hard to put down after the author starts narrating Shrew’s actions to execute Silent Knife’s plans.

In conclusion, I will rate this book 4 out of 4 stars. I found minor grammar errors, and the book seems professionally edited. The author adds a glossary at the end of the book that clarifies some terms for the readers. I recommend this book to people who love fantasy, adventure, thriller novels. There are some violent and worship/cult scenes in the book, so in my opinion, this book is suitable for adults.

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The Shade of Highfall
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