Shadow of the Spider: A Quest to Save A Queen
by Marianne E. Burgess (Goodreads Author)

A set of triplets are separated as babies to protect them from a danger that lurks around their family. Two of them are sent to the modern world and they grow up leading normal lives. As teenagers, they are magically transported back to the land of their birth- a fantasy world where people have magical abilities, and satyrs, elves, and dwarves populate the land. A mysterious wizard launches them on a quest to save their mother.

The main plot of this book looks like it’s pretty good, but the writing got on my nerves so badly that I DNF’d the book at page 76. Multiple POVs is already one of my pet peeves, but this book took head-hopping to a whole different level of annoyance. Sometimes there are multiple POVs in the same paragraph!

The story introduces way too many characters too quickly, so that the reader doesn’t have a chance to emotionally connect with any of them. We bounce around between character’s POVs so often that the reader doesn’t get a chance to identify with any one character.

The characters are sort of flat. The world-building is lackluster. The writing is not terrible, but not great either. The plot is slow to get started. I lost interest really quickly, but forced myself to read at least the first thirteen chapters so that I could say that I gave it a chance.

The ideas in the plot could be good, but this book needs an editor to polish it up.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a free and honest review. All the opinions stated here are my own true thoughts, and are not influenced by anyone.