Review: Follow the Shadows

Follow the Shadows

Written by: Rosemary Drisdelle

Sparkpress

2023

An unfortunate DNF, Follow the Shadows, failed to hold my attention, making dragons and wicca dull.

Follow the Shadows should have been a book I would love. It has Wicca and dragons, two things I am very passionate about. Unfortunately, the book turned me off right from the beginning.

Characterization

Let me start by saying I DNF’d this book. I think I got about a quarter in and then shut the book down.

The first turn off about this book was Marise. Oh my god, she was so annoying and awful and, in general, the worst character in the world.

Here we have a young girl practicing wicca who believes this crystal ball belonging to her teacher is the key to enlightening her mind. As if it works that way. No one, not even someone who practices Wicca, believes one crystal ball will magically make everything make sense and make the user more powerful. It was stupid.

Then there is the fact that the crystal ball belongs to her missing teacher. Marise does not care one lick that her teacher is missing. He is missing and presumed dead, and all she cares about is getting her hands on the crystal ball because he said one day it could be hers.

I mean, she’s awful.

I understand this is a middle-grade novel, but come on, having a character start as self-centered is an instant turn-off. She is not likable in the slightest.

I don’t know if she develops as a character because I did not finish this book.

Poor Story Development

I agreed to read this book, or at least try, because the dragons and wicca element are two things I’m passionate about.

Unfortunately, the dragons were poorly developed. The way they communicate with Marise is way too complex. Marise has to hold a specific crystal belonging to each dragon to communicate with them. I understand the author trying something different, but even for the plot, it seemed highly impractical and just didn’t make sense.

Now, as for the Wicca element…there was none. Other than the beginning, the novel has little to no magic. Again, I don’t know if more pops up later in the story, but it did not exist here. When you tell me she has to use her “Wicca skills to survive,” I expect some magic in the story.

Again, maybe it pops up later in the story. Still, after 25%, I expect more than convoluted and impractical dialogue with dragons and a self-centered persona.

Final Thoughts

Follow the Shadows was just an utter disappointment. There’s nothing else to say but that.

Cynthia Ayala

Cynthia Ayala-Bujnicki majored in Writing and Publishing from Emerson College. Editor-in-chief of Cyn's Workshop, she loves to read and write while tending to her pepper plants. She currently lives in South Florida with her husband, two kids Dante and Selene and two furbabies Mr. J the Kitten who Thinks He's Batman (yes, that is his full name) and Nyx.