Shadow Weaver

Shadow Weaver Series, Book 1

By: MarcyKate Connolly

Narrated by: Rachel L. Jacobs

Fans of Serafina and the Black Cloak and The Night Gardener will devour Shadow Weaver, the first in a dark middle-grade fantasy duology that's filled with shadows, danger, magic, and has the feel of a new classic.

Emmeline's gift of controlling shadows has isolated her from the rest of the world, but she's grown to be content, hidden away in her mansion with Dar, her own shadow, as her only company.

Disaster strikes when a noble family visits their home and offers to take Emmeline away and cure her of magic. Desperate not to lose her shadows, she turns to Dar who proposes a deal: Dar will change the noble's mind, if Emmeline will help her become flesh as she once was. Emmeline agrees but the next morning the man in charge is in a coma and all that the witness saw was a long shadow with no one nearby to cast it. Scared to face punishment, Emmeline and Dar run away.

With the noble's guards on her trail, Emmeline's only hope of clearing her name is to escape capture and perform the ritual that will set Dar free. But Emmeline's not sure she can trust Dar anymore, and it's hard to keep secrets from someone who can never leave your side.

©2018 MarcyKate Connolly (P)2020 Tantor

I loved this book!

I didn't ever laugh or cry, but it was still an outstanding story! I read it on June 15th, 2022. I thought Rachel L. Jacobs did a fantastic job performing this story! I thoroughly enjoyed her narration.

In this story, Emmeline has a shadow, Dar, that talks to her and is her best friend. But when the Zinnians arrive at her home, she comes under threat from them and runs away from home!

She soon finds a boy, Lucas, who has light magic! Dar wants her to perform a ritual that will restore her to human life, and she does, but not before Lucas discovers her tools and discards her.

When Dar is human again, she reveals that she wants revenge on Lady Aisling - her sister! - and that she was just using Emmeline to restore her.

Emmeline frees Lucas and his parents from where they were captured by the Zinnian soldiers and she and Lucas trap Dar inside a cage made from both light and shadow magic.

The book ends when Lucas, Emmeline, Dar, and Lucas's parents are at the edge of the ocean, in Abbacho. Emmeline thinks that they'll be ready to prevent Lady Aisling from capturing them again.

A real page "listener"!

Absolutely loved the story
The narrator was superb at expressing characters. It kept us on the edge of our seats, chapter after chapter. I am excited to read the next one!

interesting, spooky MG

ghostly, magical, kept me on my toes. Slightly scary, somewhat simple, world felt a bit too gray sometimes, without enough detail to keep me going, but did feel for the main characters.