The Shadow Mouse of Everjade

E. A. Machado
Robert D. Reed (2008)
ISBN 9781931741903
Reviewed by Dylan James (age 11) for Reader Views (11/07)


“The Shadow Mouse of Everjade” is about a powerful wizard with no beard (Armas), a wandering elf (Jep), Armas’s cousin who is a traveling herbalist (Winston), and a shy 15-year-old kitchen helper with a pure heart (Ethan). After Armas finds Ethan and Winston, he thinks Ethan is destined for something better than a kitchen hand.  The three of them travel to a dwarf city to train Ethan in the art of the swords. Then Armas gets a troublesome letter from his sister, a witch who lives in a nearby kingdom called Sarvia. The letter was asking for him to help the king of Sarvia defeat an evil witch and her army. Immediately they set off for Sarvia. When the four get to the kingdom, they find the king and his army in an all-out war against the witch to rescue the king’s beloved daughter.

My favorite part of the book was the final dual at the end of the book between the evil witch and Ethan, because there was so much action. 

I think because there was a lot of flirting and kissing, multiple references of sensuality, one reference of a brothel, and even a birth page, some parents will not want their kids reading this book.  Because of all of this, a couple of gory pages, and a sad ending, I think this is a book that only teenage boys and girls who like adventure books will enjoy. 

If sensuality would have been less and there was a little bit more action, I would have rated it 5 stars.  The storyline in the beginning of the book was slow, saved by some of the best characters I have ever read about. There was little storyline until almost the end of the book. Though the storyline at the beginning was not the best, the end was really good, combining just the right amount of action and suspense.  The only thing for the writer to improve on is less flirting (etc…), more action, and a better story line in the beginning of the book.

Overall, though, “The Shadow Mouse of Everjade” is one of the top magical action adventure books that I have ever read.

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