A Kingdom of Shadows
Lightseekers #1
by Emily Bain Murphy

My rating: 3.5 / 5
Genre: Middle grade fantasy

The light is disappearing and shadows are increasing in the world that 12-year-old Finn inhabits, along with his best friend Adrion and little sister Lydia. They have a plan to escape their town and try to make their way in the dimming world, but that plan is derailed when they meet Ehrit, an older teen who promises that he can take them to a lake of light. It won’t be an easy journey, but just maybe it will be worth it.

This book is stated to be similar to both The Wingfeather Saga and The Chronicles of Narnia, which is a tall order on both counts. The first is one of my favorite series (and a big deal in my family in general) and though the latter series isn’t as meaningful to me, it’s obviously a well-loved classic series. And unfortunately, to me at least, it doesn’t really live up to any of that hype. The story isn’t bad, but it felt like it rambled along to me and things that happened were kind of random. I didn’t get into the story very much, at least partly because of the lack of cohesion, so it wasn’t as enjoyable as it might have been. The characters overall were fairly bland, except Finn himself, who at least had a decent arc. 

A lot of people see this as a Christian (or at least generally religious) allegory, and I can see why they do, especially considering the 2 series it’s compared to. However, I don’t see any indication that it’s meant to be such. I don’t see it listed as Christian fiction anywhere (except on Goodreads, but I’m pretty sure those labels aren’t official), and the author hasn’t written other Christian fiction that I can see. It has obvious themes of good vs. evil or light vs. dark, but felt much more mystical than faith-based to me, maybe even bordering on New Age, especially considering the bizarre “inner forest” sensing that Finn has. If it is supposed to be a Christian allegory, I can’t say I care for it. The expectation of any Christian themes aside, the book was decent enough to make me interested in continuing the series. I think that readers around the age it’s meant for (maybe 12-14) will probably enjoy the adventure more than I did, too. (For anyone like me with arachnophobia, be aware that there is a scene that might be an issue. I survived, but it wasn’t fun.)

Thank you to Netgalley and WaterBrook Children’s for providing me a copy of this book to review.

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