Book Review -- The Shadows of Atlantis: The Emergence of Engi by Donsha Hatch

As a request by Donsha Hatch herself, I recently finished reading the book, The Shadows of Atlantis: The Emergence of Engi.



Here's a quick summary of the book:

Eiris is a normal teenager, or at least he thought so. Until weird things started happening, such as his iris' glowing a bright purple, or always having the sensation that someone was watching him. Then everything changes. Eiris discovers that he isn't really as normal as he thought...

This book was an okay read. The ideas of the book were well thought up. Although the ideas were great, they weren't always presented in a manner that made complete sense, but I managed to get the idea of the book over some time. This book was interesting!

To start off, I'll start with the characters of the book. To be specific, the character named Eiris.

Eiris is smart, witty and brave. In fact, he had a handful of good qualities. Even though he seemed like a character that one could relate with, I couldn't relate with him or connect with him at a deep level. Perhaps this was because he reacted strangely when he discovered that he was not only royalty, but alien too. Usually, a person would be shocked, confused, and bewildered, but Eiris seemed too calm. The way he acted was unrealistic, it was as if he knew he had been a royal alien from birth. One thing that I like about Eiris was that he exemplified a bit of moral courage. When the characters were supposed to choose their guild's, Eiris chose one that he wasn't really supposed to choose because of stereotypes, but he chose it anyways. Eiris is also very bold, and leaves a mark wherever he goes.

At the beginning of the book, I was quite confused. The writing style could've been improved and I found it difficult at times to completely understand what was going on. The flow of events could've also been written differently to help the reader understand the plot line more clearly. Punctuation wasn't used properly either, and sometimes, the book wasn't completely enjoyable. The book bored me at times. The pace was slow, and sometimes, I had to force myself to keep reading until it got enjoyable again.

I enjoyed the characters of the book and the fact that everyone on the planet got to find themselves a guardian animal! I love animals and this warmed my heart. :)

Overall, I give this book 2.3 stars. This book wasn't exactly my book type, but it was alright. It was a decent book, but also impressive, because it was the author's first novel! Congratulations! ;)

Have a great day!