Review of The Shade of Highfall

[hacrapo]

[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 follows the adventures of Shrew, a young girl abandoned at a young age. Living in the slums of the city of Highfall and stealing food as a means of survival, Shrew is eventually caught by the City Guard. Waylan, Captain of the Guard, recognizes something special in Shrew and helps her begin life anew as a barmaid. Shrew’s new life is not without consequence, however. In exchange for the kindness of Waylan and her new adoptive parents, Shrew is required to take lessons to learn herblore and combat skills and eventually joins the Silent Knife organization. As a result of her lessons, Shrew becomes the Shade of Highfall, the ultimate weapon for stopping a plot to bring eternal darkness to the world.

I really liked how everything in this story is packaged in a way that the tale comes full circle at the end. Events that happened in the beginning of the book that triggered Shrew’s way of life ended up being incredibly important at the end of the story. For example, at the beginning of the book, Shrew finds an enchanted dagger by chance. Without the help of this dagger, Shrew never would have discovered her own origins in the latter half of the book. The structure and sequence of events exhibit excellent storytelling.

I did not like how the chapters from the antagonist’s point of view proceeded. At first, it seemed as if there were multiple enemies trying to conquer the city. Towards the end of the book, one of the enemies turns out to be an ally. I found myself confused about this turn of events as it was unclear in the story about how this had happened.

The Shade of Highfall: The Tale of Shrew has been professionally edited. I found no errors in the entire novel. There are no instances of profanity or sexual content. I found no prevailing religious themes. Even so, this book is suitable for adult readers.

I would recommend this book to fantasy enthusiasts that love tales of far-away lands rules by mythical races. The story is well written and highly detailed; the author’s descriptive language makes it easy for the reader to visualize characters and places. As a result of the beautiful writing style and imagery sparked while reading the book, as well as its professional editing, I give The Shade of Highfall: The Tale of Shrew a rating of 4 out of 4 stars.

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The Shade of Highfall
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[NancyDrew12]

I like the name Shrew it is very unique and creative. I'm interested in how Shrew handles and navigates her new life. Nicely done review!