An enjoyable book for kids with a large dose of fantasy included.

I liked how the telling of stories is what keeps the shadows at bay.

Overall, an easy read that leaves you wondering what happens next.

Teens and YA's will enjoy this story. It has great storytelling and is the beginning of a series. The characters are strong and teens will relate to them. I like the creatures and mystery of the tale, and I think teens will, too. could likely be a good book for reluctant readers as it's plot is engaging and it's a pretty quick and easy read.

Thank you so much for the opportunity to read this book. I loved the blurb and the illustrations but unfortunately I couldn’t get into the story.

This was a Good book in general and promising series overall. Really promising
Thanks for the opportunity by letting me have this book

I appreciate having had an opportunity to read and review this book. The appeal of this particular book was not evident to me, and if I cannot file a generally positive review I prefer simply to advise the publisher to that effect and file no review at all.

I just had a really hard time getting into this one. I couldn't relate to any of the characters, and the writing felt a bit clunky to me, so I ended up DNFing it. I appreciate the chance to read it, but this one just wasn't for me.

I was drawn to this book by it’s cool cover listen on Netgalley, and the description looked pretty promising, too. Soon after beginning this book, I found it to be about on a middle grade reader’s level.
As I continued the book, there were many grammatical errors and a couple plot holes. For example, at one point in the book, some characters are talking when the main character hasn’t arrived yet, yet the main character has a line of dialogue with them, though he doesn’t arrive for the next three pages!
I felt that the characters had unrealistic emotions, were flat, and nothing drew me to like any of them, like a good book should. For example, when the main character and his friend are whisked away through a magic portal, they’re kinda just like, “I wonder where we are...” hardly amazed at the supernatural thing that just happened to them.
There was a forced romance in the book I was not a fan of. Two characters just met and were together, dating, for about a month, and they had only just met, as I had said before. There was no relationship or character development between them, just BOOM-ROMANCE. And yes, the characters are only 14, so I’ll give them that, but the boy describing the girl as the one he’d love for eternity, though they’d have to be apart, was pushing everything too far.
I felt the author overused some words and phrases like ‘he wondered aloud’ or ‘he said ominously’, so much that the author even used the phrases inappropriately. There were other out of place words I found also in the book that need to be exchanged with words that actually fit the meaning the author is looking for.
The one thing I kind of enjoyed about the book was the potential for a good plot. The book never really took a boring side, which was good. Yes some things in the plot were a bit forced, like the unnecessary romance that added nothing to the story, but overall, I think a middle grade reader wouldn’t be bothered by the current plot holes and grammatical errors and forced plot, just because of the adventure plot.
I feel like the author could do so much more if he looks over his story and writes a second draft. Overall, I don’t think the story is ready for publishing, but, with a bit of work, it is an enjoyable story for middle grade readers.

Thank you Netgalley and Smith Publicity for sending me the digital arc of this book.

Aaron Anderson is a ordinary boy whose life consists of hanging out with his best friend Jake and listening to his grandfather's stories. But his life changes forever when one day his grandfather goes missing and Aaron and Jake set out to find him. Soon Aaron learns that he is a folkteller, someone who has to collect and share stories to keep the dark shadow creatures at bay. The shadow people wants to destroy the folktellers along with the Folkteller's Guidebook which they have been after for ages. Suddenly Aaron has to fulfill his destiny and save his grandfather's legacy and the world itself from these sinister shadows while travelling through dimensions.

The premise of this book is very intriguing. It strongly based upon myths and folklore. While this book had loads of potential, most of it was wasted due to lack of proper writing and character development. Most of the book felt like info dumps which I understand is common for a first book but I feel that information could have been relayed in a different way so that it felt more natural. The characters and the relationships were not developed at all. I would have liked to know their inner conflicts, their though process, their mindset. I failed to connect to any of them or even understand their motivations and actions. We were given a lot of information without any explanations or backstory. The book would have been a hundred times better if only the writing style was a little different. However, the plot continues to intrigue me, so I would very much like to continue with the series and look forward to the second installment.

I received an ARC of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The story was interesting and different from what I've read recently. Though, I felt this book lack in character development.

I think the problem was that I couldn't relate to any of the characters. I didn't actually like them. I could not care about them in the slightest.

Finally got around to reading this. These characters were so relatable and loveable and the plot was so great. This story is set in the modern times but has a hint of fantasy to it which just made it even better! Aaron, Jake, and Wendy had moments of drama, danger, and preteen appropriate romance.

I really enjoyed reading this! A wonderful story about mystery and magic. As this is the first in a series, I'll be interested in seeing what happens next!

I tried. So hard. For some reason I couldn’t really get into the book. I don’t know if it’s the writing style or the characters but something is off that kept me from full enjoying the story.

**** I was given a copy of this book by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review ****



I love to give glowing reviews to books I have invested time and, more importantly, pieces of myself. I would especially love to gush and rave about each and every book I am gifted BUT that's not realistic. I dread giving less than stellar reviews when an author has graciously asked for my criticism of their hard work BUT while I am reticent to speak ill of the fruits of their labor and love, I also have to be honest so here we go.



The most obvious aspect of this book is its slightly sophomoric, repetitive and succinct writing style. It has an interesting premise but it feels forced to fit, crammed tightly into a middle grade mold when it could have easily been a much more robust YA fantasy. The character interactions were stilted, awkward and flat to boot. All of the characters suffered from an overabundance of genre cliches and an underdeveloped, nondiverse cast. This is especially noticeable with the female characters. It was extremely offputting because my young reader happens to be a strong, willful impressionable young lady and I prefer that she sees her gender (and by extension herself) depicted in capable, dynamic, fully developed, positive, diverse characterizations. Is that a lot to ask? I think not but sadly this 2d depiction of females is a common tropy trend that alienates and disregards the girls that, like most readers, are looking for something of themselves in everything they read. Am I being rough? Yes! After reading the synopsis I went into this fully prepared to fall in love and unfortunately I fell into dissapointment.


Now granted, I am most likely not the targeted demographic here BUT not only have I read MANY a gripping MG & younger end of YA books, I am always on the hunt to find interesting (yet age appropriate) novels to share with my precocious child. Sadly this isn't going to be one of them.

A fun filled adventure for children. When Aaron's grandfather goes missing he must solve the mystery. Armed with his best friend and a grandfather clock that creates a portal between dimensions, Aaron fights Shadows and learns how to become a Storyteller. Although the writing style was easy and approachable, I found it a little under developed and repetitive. I'm hoping that future books in this series will be more polished.

I think that I was the wrong audience for this book. It read too young for me and I didn't like the writing style. Perhaps for a younger reader.

In brief this is an amazing book for children and for older people.


I have been reading teen and NA books lately, and I hadn't read a book in third person in ages so at the start it felt a little weird to me. This book is really well written though and even if it seems to be more dedicated to younger people it's really nice to read and does a great job on keeping you interested till the end. This is clearly the start of a longer story that was really well introduced in this book.
The characters are simple but really nice, as you can know how they feel you get to like them more and the relationships between them seem pretty real. This book has a lot of adventure, mistery, family and even a little of romance which is really sweet and innocent.

This is a very good fantasy book regardless of the age of the reader. It's fast paced, with a lot of world building and a great plot.
I hope to be able to read the next instalment soon.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC

This book was soooooo good! I’m not sure why there has been bad reviews. It starts with this kid goes to his Paps house every day after school. Pap always tells him stories. One day when he gets there he realizes Pap is missing! There is a note in his handwriting with one word Grandfather. He runs home and tells his parents Pap is missing. His parents makes him promise that he won’t go back just in case the police needs to be called. So what does he do? He goes back with his best friend. This is such a wonderful book for children about the power of words and good vs evil. Highly recommend and thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to review this!

So magical! This book was amazing to read and fun to try and figure out what would happen! Thank you netgalley for the free arc in exchange for an honest review!

This was a really fun adventure. I loved reading it. The characters were well thought out and the plot was amazing.