Herbie Brennan's Shadow Project is unique and intriguing, but it simply lacked the depth I felt it needed to earn a higher rating. However, I did really enjoy it!

Hmmm...I'm not quite sure what to think of Herbie Brennan's Shadow Project. I felt it was like a roller-coaster ¹; but overall, despite its flaws, I quite liked it.

¹The beginning started off well - with fair writing and an exciting premise, but the middle dropped and became preachy and somewhat average. However, the ending revived the story - being fairly solid and interesting.

The plot is pretty interesting as well and should captivate a multitude of sci-fi fans. The story starts off interestingly as readers follow young Danny Lipman, our protagonist - who just so happens to be a thief. Until one day he attempts to steal from from a top-secret spy agency... (Just his luck, right? Luckily, the agency directors choose to give him a choice: join the agency or go to jail.

Sounds interesting enough, right?

        And it is. The plot isinteresting, it's simply the writing and characterization that I personally didn't enjoy.
        The writing is fairly average for YA sci-fi; the book is written in simple sentences with a fair range of vocabulary. However, the author seems more focused on the plot than polishing the writing ¹ - as the quality of the writing doesn't quite match the creativity of the plot.

¹ It seems as if the author had so many great ideas in his head, but he struggled to write them on paper fast enough - thus neglecting other (vital) literary elements.

Another concern I had with Shadow Project was the lack of characterization. I felt all the characters were one-dementional, and that they lacked the depth I needed to emotionally connect with them. I never really felt for them, and this disappointed me. Even the supporting characters didn't seem quite likeable enough for me to truly say I liked them.

Yet, with all these critiques, it may seem I despised this book. On the contrary, I didn't. I really did enjoy it - especially the beginning and the end. I just simply wouldn't call it one of my "favorites." I'd still highly recommend it to fans of sci-fi / fantasy. ( )

Read this book through an online pre release from Harper-Collins and was entranced from beginning to end. The mix of the supernatural and spies made for an entertaining, if not exactly believable, story. The switches between the different characters points of view kept the story moving without being abrupt. ( )

Read this book through an online pre release from Harper-Collins and was entranced from beginning to end. The mix of the supernatural and spies made for an entertaining, if not exactly believable, story. The switches between the different characters points of view kept the story moving without being abrupt. ( )

Little Kid Reaction: This book is very short, but packed with adventure and sci-fi. The blend of multicultural psychic beliefs is very interesting, and the characters go to interesting places. I would recommend this book as a gift to anyone who would not get scared by the thoughts of monsters wreaking havoc on Earth. In addition to this book, I would recommend the books in the Alchemyst series by Michael Scott.

Pros: Lots of action and plenty of fantasy keep readers turning the page to see what happens next.

To read our full review, go to The Reading Tub®.

Judith says: This was an interesting change from all the vampire, zombie, werewolf, etc stuff. Just an old fashion astral projection and occult novel.

I kind of enjoyed the change but it was a bit slow in the beginning. This probably won't be as 'sexy' as the other stuff currently being read but it might still appeal to young adult readers.

The three main characters are all teens and attractive. There is a little bit of innocious romance. The are really the only ones, with the exception of Danny's grandmother, who have the ability to travel on the astral plane and fight the evil could be loosed upon the world.

The story is based on actual experiments which have been performed in Russia and the United States. Based on that it might be of interest to some teen readers. I could not tell if the author planned on more novels with these three young people, but I think it would be interesting to read more. ( )