4 out of 4 stars
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Everything Solid Has a Shadow by Michael Antman is a fiction novel set mainly in present-day Chicago. Charlie Alessandro is a successful marketing executive and aspiring musician with a tendency to lean towards the negative in life. Having suffered from an extremely traumatic childhood experience that he was never quite able to overcome, Charlie is psychologically disturbed and forms relationships with a bit of unease. As if still suffering from the traumatic experience during his youth wasn’t enough, Charlie begins to have unfavorable apparitions while he sleeps about a woman he seems to know little about.
There was so much about this book that I enjoyed, but I was immediately impressed by the author’s vocabulary throughout the entire novel, even bringing it about within the character dialogue. Showing Charlie as an intellectual individual made the story even more compelling. Told in the first-person perspective of Charlie, readers are introduced to an exclusive set of characters that were all unique in their own ways. Ranging from the three beautiful women in his life, his alcoholic parents, an unethical boss, and a strange but beneficial psychologist, this list of characters each bring their own story to the table and only enhance the novel from the beginning.
The depth within the plot is much deeper than I imagined it would be upon the start of the story, which elaborated into a significant set of events that continued to change who Charlie is as a person. His character’s development progressed continually, advancing Charlie from a psychologically damaged and unsecure man to a prudent character proving worthy of recognition.
I am pleased to say that I found no grammatical errors while reading, but was not surprised by that with how well-written and elaborate Michael Antman’s writing is. With Everything Solid Has a Shadow being his second novel, Antman is no rookie to the literary world, and has proven his worth in the aspect of writing compelling stories that will pull readers in from the very beginning. This story taught me a lot regarding the state of mind while dreaming, which also proved that the author did a significant amount of research on the topic of dream interpretation.
As a huge fan of psychological mystery novels, I was certainly not disappointed with Everything Solid Has a Shadow, and would highly recommend it to readers who enjoy pacing their reading experiences with an equal balance of dialogue and events that lead to the climax. I am pleased to rate this story a full 4 out of 4 stars and would hope that other readers are able to take away even half of what I have from this novel. I’m looking forward to experiencing other novels by the author, and his work will certainly be added to my reading list.
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Everything Solid Has a Shadow
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