Shadows of the Dark Realm‘s first chapter opens with an interrupted investigation and a mystery of its own. It’s almost all dialogue. There’s a lake. An inn. A town hall. It’s a village. There must be houses. But it’s difficult to orient yourself. I began to wonder why it was a book, not a screenplay. It does become more descriptive as it goes on but the sparseness of setting is a problem that Parisia doesn’t quite recover from. 

There’s so much emphasis on the kingdom. How idyllic. How perfect. This view is presented both uncritically and critically. I wanted to be more torn – if not by the country itself, but for the way the characters see it. The threat of its destruction is a core concern but caring at all is difficult. I compared the writing here to a screenplay. Reading it is like watching a play where the only prop is a chair. It works on stage, but on page? 

The characters are archetypical but well-drawn right from the moment of introduction. This portion doesn’t hamper their characterisations greatly. Combat was easy to follow even with the five of them and displayed their personalities and their relationships to one another (and was so fun!). Beyond that were moments sprinkled through where the characters shone – Azalea’s bag, for example. They were always easy to know. Their cohesion less so. 

Following an attempted inter-party murder by a day’s travel I found frustrating. I didn’t need them to do it but to go from yelling at each other to having no interest in discussing – or screaming – it. For some the presence of another was akin to rubbing salt in the open wound of their greatest trauma. How had they not fractured – multiple times? And while I enjoyed the early heart-to-hearts, they still hadn’t come to like each other. I think Edwards was aware of that but twice forcing a rain check is a tad clumsy. 

Though delaying the resolution felt forced the culmination of such prolonged conflict was utterly fantastic. The tension. The grief. I was just about bouncing when I read it. For as much as I love reading it’s not that common for me to react physically – and I did several times. I loved it. Once it finds its feet conflict is so well-wrought and it balances the growing of its cast with developing their characterisation so well. And in doing so it also demonstrates a great ability to craft mystery, to drop hint after hint. Even when you know what’s coming it’s still so affective. One deed in particular had me flailing. 

I was utterly and absolutely invested in, and compelled by, its characters. But I love the world too. I am an absolute sucker for dragons and their homes were so fun to explore. But monsters I love with my whole heart. And there are so many monsters to love. The Skellar I love especially. Shadows of the Dark Realm isn’t afraid of be horrifying with them and to them and the stakes always felt high in confrontations. 

A little clumsy at times, this is a marvellous book and I adore it wholeheartedly. I can’t wait to see what else the author will go on to do. 

Thanks to Tyler Edwards for the advanced reader copy. 

 The illustrations are lovely. Its beautiful colourful pastel palette that reminds me of candy and the sparkles lend it a fairytale feel that suits the mundane magic of Vivienne’s day. And there really is a strong sense of it with the way it focuses on sensory explorations of her day. I love Paris and though while reading it made me long to be back it’s not particularly tied to the city. I did enjoy the section in Fifi’s Fleurs where Vivienne and Fifi talked about the Fleur-de-lis.

I’m not personally a fan of italicising foreign words. However this is an example I think it does it well. Only doing so in the first instance that the word appears. It’s fantastic that a children’s book is encouraging French and it’s done so well. The words come up in ways that can be contextually understood either in-text or with an illustration. Or, if more than a few words, a bracketed translation. Those only start to be included after having built up a little vocabulary already.

It’s a sweet story and one I see many people enjoying it. For the beauty of its art. For the bilingualism. For its lovely descriptions.