Shadowland - The Mediator

Free (slightly used) copy available. See bottom for details.

Title Shadowland

Author Meg Cabot

Genre Young Adult, Paranormal Fantasy, Urban Fantasy

Pages 287
Stand alone or series Book 1of 6

My Average 24 pages/day

Reading Difficulty 2

(on a scale of 1-5 5 = dictionary vernacular)

Shadowland - Bright and Sunny California

Suze Simon is your average sixteen-year-old, except for one thing... she can see and speak to ghosts. After her mothers marriage, Suze and her mother move from New York to California. The problem is, Suze's new home is not so new, and houses at least one ghost who  pops up anytime he pleases in Suze's room. To top it off, there's a ghost haunting her new school with revenge in mind, and suze happens to be in the way. 

"Back in New York, we used to sit in the park and watch the undercover cops arrest drug dealers."

Hit The Mark:

This fast pace novel is choked-full of sarcasm. The main character has a seriously sarcastic personality. I only wish some of the things she thinks she would have said instead. I would have loved to read the reaction from other characters to Suze's sarcasm. This saucy sixteen-year-old has a unique way of taking care of unruly ghosts... physical violence.

I am all for scene development, but sometimes it can drag down the pace of a novel. This novel doesn't disappoint. There is just enough scenery developed, not to hot, not to cold-- just right. 

There is also amazing character interaction. I really got a sense of each character, so much so that the author didn't have to nickname the brothers (Sleepy, Dopy, and Doc). I had a good understanding of each character without the nickname. 

Needs Improvement:
On the same subject of the stepbrothers, when their real names appeared in the novel, I had no idea who they were. Some of the other characters, like Adam, could have been in the story a little more. He and CeeCee really showed up near the middle of the novel and seemed like much closer friends than they should have been after only a few days in California. 

I really didn't see any character who resembled a native New Yorker. The main character needed to be a little more tough if she really wanted to represent New York. 


WHAT HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT WEARS CASHMERE? Who buys cashmere sweater-vests for someone they are "in love with" that is a gift you buy your self... I wouldn't wish that gift on anyone (unless they specifically said they wanted it)

Suze - "but I was wondering whether, back when you and Heather were going out, did she ever, um, give you anything?"
...
Bryce - "Well yeah, she got me a cashmere sweater vest for Christmas."

Rating: B

If you like Don't Die, Dragonfly, Prom Dates From Hell, The Summoning, Born at Midnight & City of Bones, you might like this novel.

                                                                                       My first attempt at a video review. 

                            

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About the Author

Meg Cabot

Cabot is a #1 New York best selling author for both adult and young adult novels. She has published over 50 books,  two of which, Avalon High and the Princes Diaries series, have been made into the movie format. She currently lives in Florida with her husband and two cats (you might be able to hear my two cats in  my video blog... sorry they wrestle a lot)

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