General Review:
Shadowholde is a solid, independent, self-published book. Keith B. Gall did a good job writing something that is a quick, engaging, and enjoyable read that I think any nerd (of any kind) can find something to latch onto with constant allusions that even a youngster like me was able to grasp if not understand entirely. I’d hand this book off to anyone who is a fan of “Stranger Things”. Much of the characters and interactions seem similar, especially the small-town D&D nerd vibes. There’s LARP, magic, some comedy (pg 119 I think is still my favorite even if it is a little unrealistic), love, and there were a few scenes that had my heart racing out of concern for the characters.
The formatting really annoyed me and can take getting used to, but some of it makes sense because he was trying to do something a little more artistic with the placement of his words on the pages, a privilege he has because he self-published. Some scenes felt rushed, and I would have liked to see more context, but, as mentioned before, there were also quite a few that were amazing. There is also heavy use of profanity.
All that said, I reiterate, it’s a solid book.
Characters:
The characters I would say are pretty realistic and much of it was surely drawn from real-life experiences. Boys being goofy and more insightful than most give them credit for is always nice.
There are a couple of problems I think with some characters being a little underdeveloped leading to some emotional payoffs being lacking.
I also really did not see the twist reveal coming at all, but there were others I expected. It kind of felt like Gall was setting up a bunch of potential suspects and then pulled someone else out of the blue, but maybe I just wasn’t paying enough attention. I’ll use a 10-point scale for this and put characters at 7/10.
Plot:
Overall, I thought the plot was engaging, you see from the prologue that there is something that will be a big threat and seeing the threat almost toy with our protagonist throughout the story was fun. There’s a bit of back and forth between the past and “the present.”
The story is set in 2021 with Covid still going on… kind of, it is a small town, so as expected they didn’t really care. It follows the main character Espen as he navigates the re-introduction of his powers of empathy.
I liked the way Gall used the powers of both the villain, The Maw, and of the main character, Espen, to showcase that it is the individual who chooses how their power will be used: whether that’s selfish gain or selfless care.
Plot, I think was its strongest point, but with the twist not really being expected, I’d call it maybe an 8/10. It kept me engaged for sure.
Writing:
The writing style Gall uses is mostly short paragraphs and mostly simple sentences which is then thrown completely for a loop when fancy words are introduced that I felt the need to look up. He paces the story well and the short sentences and paragraphs help the story feel like it is moving along quickly. The chapters are all a good length.
Additionally, there are not a few poetic elements with how he decided to place words on a page with the formatting (and some straight-up poems that I thought were okay since the words were coming from impromptu poems or song lyrics).
As I mentioned in the general review, some places needed more context, but, for just one example, chapter 4 had my heart racing with genuine fear even though it was a flashback.
There is a heavy use of allusions to TV and Music, so do be ready for that. Did he need to point out every reference? Maybe not, but I think it fits Espen as a character.
This is a nitpick and I am not letting it affect the score, but there is a moment where he calls attention to the punctuation he uses and I did not like that, it pulled me out of the reading experience and reminded me I was reading a book.
Writing was a solid 7.75/10.
David J. Neumaier 