Book Review: 'Shadow of the Bear' by Regina Doman

Book: 'SHADOW OF THE BEAR'
Author: Regina Doman
Genre: Modern Day Fairy Tale Retelling

Excerpt:

"Do you know, I always imagine that the subway trains are dragons," Rose said to Bear as they clung to his coat for support in the swaying car. "Tearing back and forth across the city in their underground caves, devouring people and spitting them out at random destination."

"Well, they certainly are as loud as dragons," Bear said. He winced as another train passed them in a deafening roar.

"Hey, weirdo," someone said to Rose, poking her in the back. She went pale, her eyes flashing green. But when she turned, she gasped and the color came back into her cheeks. "Rob!"

--Shadow of the Bear page 43

Synopsis:

'Once upon a time in New York City, there lived two sisters who loved books, poetry, music, and fairy tales. They lived with their widowed mother in a brownstone with two rose bushes in front of it. One winter night, a Bear came to their door and they let him in, even though he could not tell them his real name or his real mission. He became their friend, protector, and constant companion.

'They never dreamed that his friendship might cost them their lives.'

[Oh, and I did not write the above book description. I took it from the book sleeve. I thought it sounded much more dramatic and exciting than one I would think up that didn't flat out copy their description].

Good Things:

1. The book was very action packed and exciting, with a great plot. It was a real page-turner!

2. The writing style is excellent. The characters are extremely strong and Regina Doman paints a very clear picture.

3. It was stuffed with positive examples and morals (introduced in a way that you don't notice they're morals =). The author is a Christian (or, at least, Catholic) and God is revered and honored.


Bad Things:

1. There was nothing particularly bad about the book, although there were a lot of mature themes. Rose discovers why it's not wise to date. There's a fair amount of drug content (definitely note that the book clearly represents drugs as dangerous and wrong--it's just that they have a large part of the plot).

2. I first read the book when my dad was going through cancer treatment. The fact that Mr. Briar and Bear's mom both died of cancer probably had a more dramatic effect on me than was intended.

Conclusion:

The positives WAY outweigh the negatives! Definitely read this book! It's a great example of basically everything you should strive for in writing: good plot, strong characters, and descriptive writing style. I came away from the book wanting to read more about the new friends I had made. Sometime, I'll hopefully review the next book in the series, Black as Night.

Age: at least 13+

Rating:

***** (5) out of ***** (5) stars

Age Suggestion:

I would suggest this book for age 13+ because of the mature themes.
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Although my review is now officially over, I would like to bring something to any writer's attention--how important it is to have strong characters! One of the reasons I loved 'SotB' so much was because I could relate to all of the characters.

I took a personality quiz, and I ended up being most like Bear, which I think is pretty accurate. But, like Rose, I can get myself into sticky situations and get really ticked when someone picks on my siblings/friend. Ticked enough to get into a fist-fight. Although I rarely show it, my inside personality is very much like Blanche's (not to mention I don't get many zits ;). And I could relate to Fish also (I picked up that Fish can be a little sarcastic. I sure can be).

See? When someone can relate to your characters more, they tend to also feel like they're the ones IN the story ('Wow. I can imagine myself in that EXACT situation! That's cool!).

Okay, there's my little rant on characters.

Yours without wax,

Izori