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Book Review of The Book of Air and Shadows

The Book of Air and Shadows
BaileysBooks avatar reviewed on + 491 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 14


What an absolutely deplorable waste of my time. Only because I am stubborn about finishing books did I continue to read it.

There are 3 main voices that narrate the book.
1. Jake: He is the main narrator and writes in a first-person, random, stream-of-consciousness style that reads like an internet blog. He rambles. He veers off point and then tells you about how he veered off point. He is also a completely unlikable character.

2. Bracegirdle: His contribution are letters from the 1600s written entirely in Jacobean shorthand, ie: really hard to read Olde English. For example: If you enjoye reedinge thys sentynce theen you myte bee able too get throu the multyple paiges of letters that are spreade throuowte thys booke.

3. Another group of characters is followed in semi-omniscient third person. Their stories are slightly more interesting just as they are only slightly more likable.

There is also a surprising amount of sex in this book, expressed both in thought and in deed to the point of being gratuitous. I found that I cared absolutely nothing for any of the characters, the suspense of the plot was weak at best, and the entire story was, for the most part, unbelievable and unconvincing.

If you have not read this book yet, please save your time, money, and/or credit. It is not worth the hype nor the time you will have to spend reading it.