The Shadow Hunt Book

The Shadow Hunt is a book which I feel fairly conflicted about. There were some things about the novel that I really enjoyed, and I'm actually wondering if there's going to be a sequel to it, because I felt that the author left enough room for one by the end of the story. I liked this book, but had some problems with it along the way.

I found the premise and setting of this book to be very original. I liked that Langrish made some of her characters and over arching themes Christian, because sometimes I feel that sometimes people tend to criticize religion without a lot of good reason or logic behind why they're doing it, and are often doing so for the sake of being critical. A lot of the mythology behind the elves and how they and their surroundings came into being was exceptionally well thought out and woven into the story. There were, however, times throughout the story when I felt that the plot slowed a bit too much for my liking.

One of the things which I didn't like so much at first was the human characters, particularly Wolf and Nest. As I was reading, I got a vibe from both of them which I felt said, "I want to be a strong-willed character, but will be glad to overreact and stalk off angrily if you upset me." My problem wasn't so much that this particular trait could get annoying, but that it didn't feel very original to me. While I couldn't quite put a finger on it, I felt like I'd read characters very similar to Wolf and Nest before. However, I felt that they grew much more original and complex towards the end of the novel. Of all of the characters, Elfgift may have been my favorite!

Even though I liked the ending for the most part, I did find myself questioning its feasibility. I'd ultimately really like to continue with these characters and the world Langrish has created, so I hope that a sequel is in the works.