Review: Shadow Weaver by MarcyKate Connolly

I have been so excited to read this book for ages now. I adored the other books by MarcyKate, and couldn't wait to read more books by her. So happy to have been able to read an eARC of this book early. It's so stunning. I wish I could say that I loved this book like I wanted to, but oh, I sadly had some issues too.

There are parts of this book that I loved a lot. Found the story pretty incredible. But because of some issues that I had with some things, I couldn't fully love it all. Which makes me a little sad, because I really did want to love it like crazy. Aw. But I did enjoy it a lot, and I am super excited that there will be a sequel.

I did find this book to be an easy one to finish, as I felt like it was super short, but there was a lot happening. And I did not really want the book to end, because I did grow to care for the characters. Shadow Weaver tells the story of twelve year old Emmeline. She has had magic ever since she was born. She's able to control shadows. Which was all kinds of awesome. And I loved reading about what she could do. Emmeline is able to talk to her own shadow, as it's almost a person. Which was so complicated and a bit creepy, to be honest. Because of the things that Emmeline can do, people and her parents are afraid of her. So she does not have any real friends, or good people in her life. Which was so sad. Aw. As Emmeline is pretty adorable.

This book tells the story of how she runs away from her home, after her parents are planning on sending her away, to cure her of her magic. And Emmeline does not want this at all. So she runs into the forest. But she's not the best planner, and she has lived a pretty sheltered life, so it doesn't go all that well. Her shadow, Dar, is always with her, and she has just shared with Emmeline that it is possible to make her human. Which they are working on doing. And oh, I wish Emmeline had been a bit more careful and wary.

There are a lot of interesting things happening in this book. The reason for why Emmeline had to escape was pretty exciting to get to know more about. There are some bad people around, looking for children, looking to take their magic. There aren't that many people in this world that have magic, as they got it in a special way. Which I liked a lot. But I wish there had been more about the world, as there really wasn't much described, and I wanted to know more. But still, I liked reading about where this book took place.

I really enjoyed reading about Emmeline. Though at times she could be a lot of stupid, and not seeing things that were obvious, about her shadow. And I didn't like how she lied a lot. Aw. But she was still an awesome girl to read about. Though I did feel that she felt a lot younger than twelve years old. Hmm. But then again, she had been really sheltered. And she was adorable. Anyway. I liked the plot a lot, learning about shadows and magic and more stuff like that. Just wishing that the book had been longer, though.

The reason for why I had issues with this book was mostly the writing, sadly. I had so many issues getting through it. Aw. I found it to be a little bit weird, and hard to read most of the time. Especially with the way Emmeline was thinking all the time. She kept repeating herself the whole book too, and that was super annoying. Grew tired of reading the same small parts again and again. I also just had issues connecting with the writing, as I had more issues with it. Just, aw. I'm pretty sad about it. But I didn't dislike the story.

Because the plot in this book is pretty good and I enjoyed it at all times. I loved the magic that Emmeline has. I loved reading about her playing with the shadows, and I wanted more of that so badly. I loved it so when she met Lucas, and started spending time with him. Their growing friendship was awesome to read about; just wishing there had been more details about it. And oh, Lucas was pretty incredible, and I truly adored reading about him. And his magic too. Eee. It was beyond stunning and so so interesting as well.

Even though I didn't love it, you really should give this book a try. Shadow Weaver is a stunning middle grade book with an incredible lead girl and such an exciting magic story. Huge thank you to the publisher, Sourcebooks, for letting me read this book early via Netgalley. Means the very most to me. I shall now be hunting for a print ARC too, eee. Which are so gorgeous. I'm thrilled that I got to read this book early. I'm just sad that I couldn't love it like I wanted to. Aw. But I still liked it a lot, and I am really happy about that.

Goodreads - The Book Depository - Amazon