Goose Reads 2023! (Closed)

Chapter 40 - Dana Ilic and the Shadow Door

Week Forty - October 1st - October 7th

Title: Dana Ilic and the Shadow Door

Author: EvelynHail

Genre: Paranormal 

Number of Chapters: 19

Completed? Yes

Link (Added as an in-line comment):

Blurb:

What if your middle school cleaning lady told you you're destined to prevent a war between two gods and the total destruction of the world as you know it?

 Would you believe her? Neither did I. 

But then, a glowing halo showed up around my head, marking me as the daughter of Belobog, the White God. 

Despite the special light manipulation power I got, which might just be the coolest--or scariest--thing ever, I let the gods know about a complication: I'm to return home asap, or child services might take me away from my mom. 

However, when monsters from the shadow plane make an appearance, I find myself whisked away to another realm, trying to stop them with all my might. 

But traveling with my childhood-best-friend and potential crush Max and adapting to a fantastical new world is nothing compared to learning how many dark secrets the shadow plane hides. 

Oh, and did I mention that the fates of both, my world and the gods', rest on OUR shoulders?

Goose's Thoughts:

It's another week, and we're going on a magical quest full of ups and downs to take down the evil shadows!

As a lover of Percy Jackson, this story is honestly incredible. Evelyn manages to capture the drama, excitement, and overall chaos of going on a quest at a young age in a short word count. Each chapter had me on the edge of my seat and I can firmly say that Evelyn is the master of plot twists, especially in the final few chapters where each twist came out of left field but made so much sense when looking back at the story as a whole. The twists and turns really added to the chaotic nature of the story. 

Dana is an awesome main character. For someone so young, she has such an interesting view on the world and I loved seeing her come into her own throughout the story. We see her grow from someone who hides in the shadows and seeks comfort in an imaginary friend, to someone willing to stand up to the darkness and accept who she is. I loved that there were slithers of doubt in her narrative and moments of weakness that made her such a realistic character.

Likewise, Max is another interesting character that ended up leaving me with a lot more questions. What I loved about Max was that whilst Dana was more than willing to accept her life as a demi-god, Max wasn't. He was reluctant about all of it so it was nice to see him grow into his powers and become a little more accepting of the life he now leads. I enjoyed seeing his acceptance, and also the panic, at the beginning when the truth comes out.

Evelyn does an incredible job at contrasting the events of the quest and the pressure they're under to the fact that they are just children. There are moments where we forget that they're just fourteen due to the harsh nature of the quest and the situation they find themselves in. Then, within a moment they go back to being children who argue with each other, enjoy the magic that they get to experience, and just giggle and run around like the children they're supposed to be.

If you're looking for a Percy Jackson style story with an adventurous, chaotic quest, and so many twists and turns you'll get whiplash, then this is the story for you. The quest is absolutely awesome and our two main characters really add to the chaos of the story. The journey they go on, both through the quest and within their own characters, are something to be hold and Evelyn really does a masterful job.

Thank you for writing such an amazing story, Evelyn!

-Goose