Shadows House, Vol. 1

by Somato, Taylor Engel (Translator)

Overview

In the depths of a murky mansion lives a group of enigmatic nobles known as...the Shadow family. With no visible features to speak of, these mysterious aristocrats employ living dolls to act as their “faces.” Kate and Emilico are one such pair of mistress and servant, dwelling in their own little world and learning from each other bit by bit with every new day. But in a house of locked doors, living according to rules from no apparent source—how long can their blissfully peaceful existence truly last...?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781975345921
Publisher:	Yen Press
Publication date:	07/12/2022
Series:	Shadows House Series , #1
Pages:	160
Sales rank:	129,195
Product dimensions:	4.90(w) x 7.40(h) x 0.60(d)
Age Range:	13 - 18 Years

Editorial Reviews

06/30/2023

Gr 6 Up—Shadows House has an excellent premise: there exists a mansion filled with mysterious, faceless shadow nobles who must use living dolls to express themselves. It promises a creepy atmosphere stuffed with lore. Unfortunately, it does not deliver on that premise. The book's tone is all over the place but frequently settles on slice-of-life comedy with the occasional horror-adjacent interlude. Tragically, even the comedy doesn't land. This largely comes down to the cast. For almost the entirety of this first volume, there are only two characters: a single shadow noble and her doll. The former has no expression, due to her blacked-out character design, and speaks about herself in the third person. The other is the young, silly maid stereotype. There's no depth to either and no story or lore beyond their flat antics. The art is more successful than the story, but the all-black design of the shadow nobles, which looks cool in standalone images, doesn't work for the lead character. Additionally, excessive cross-hatching in the backgrounds comes across as muddy and overworked more than ominous. VERDICT Despite a cool premise, this is difficult to recommend with its flat characters, inconsistent tone, and lack of story.—Nate Hipple

School Library Journal