Why "Shadow Spinner" Is A Dumpster Fire ("Shadow Spinner": Review and My Thoughts) - T.E.C.

DISCLAIMER: This review contains mild spoilers for "Shadow Spinner." If you really want to read the book without any information, do not read this review before the actual book. Enjoy!

Summary

I will begin with a brief summary of the book. A quick summary of the book from theliteratemother.org reads, “Marjan is a storyteller, so when Shahrazad begins to save all of the young girls in the city from certain death by telling the sultan stories, she becomes Marjan’s hero. But after almost 1000 nights, Shahrazad has run out of stories. A chance meeting between the two “shadow spinners” brings Marjan to live in the harem. Shahrazad then sends her on a dangerous errand to find an old story the sultan heard as a boy and now longs to hear again. This quest takes her out of the palace and into the city where she discovers many things, only one of which is the story she is searching for.” I know this review makes the book seem great and all, but wait until I get into my review, because I have some different opinions on this book.

Parts I Liked

To begin this review, I will get the few things I did like out of the way. Trust me, this won't take long. For one thing, I really liked Zaynab. Though I only liked her in the first half of the book, she absolutely stole each 'scene' she was in. She felt gentle and homy, like a mother. I liked her. I also really liked the scenes with the Khatun. Though the Khatun sucked and I didn't like her character, I really felt the anger, fear, and suspense that she carried with her from scene to scene. Chilly. Last but not least; I thought that Marjan was an alright protagonist. Surprisingly, her leg had lots of significance later in the book, which I did not expect. I thought it would turn out to be some random side plot, but I was proved wrong. She felt real and relatable. I liked her. Those are basically the only good bits, so let's get into the parts I didn't like.

Parts I Disliked

To be honest, not much happened in "Shadow Spinner." I felt like the beginning was very slow, and the part in the middle where Marjan was looking was looking for the storyteller dragged on far too long, and wasn't very interesting. I also think that the whole storyteller part transitioned too roughly and quickly into the ending of the story. I just think the book was poorly paced. It felt both too short and way too long. To be honest, I didn't really like the Soraya side-plot. I felt it was a bit unnecessary, and the author didn't really flesh her out as a character enough. I also feel like her death was kinda sudden, and it felt like the author just wanted to get rid of her character. I . actually completely forgot about some of the characters, especially the little girl who is Marjan's friend and the gold eunuch guy. Of course, that could just be me, since I didn't read the book in one sitting. I also felt like Marjan's gaurdians, (Auntie Chava and Uncle Eli) were kind of forgettable. I wish they would have come back later in the story, but I can honestly see why the author chose to leave them out. I just thought the whole book was redious and uneventful.

Final Thoughts/ Summary

Basically, the book was kind of trash. I would probably not read it again, nor recommend it to a friend. The only parts I enjoyed were few and far between. I would personally rate it a 2/5, or I guess a 4/10. I personally think that's a fair score for such an average/bad book. Finally, if I had to describe it in two words, they would have to be, "You Tried." That is my complete review of the calm dumpster fire that is "Shadow Spinner."