The Shadow of Seth by Tom Llewellyn — A Review

Seth Anomundy is sixteen, and you find out right away his life hasn't been easy. It's him and his mom, living above a boxing gym in a small apartment. He loves his mom, but is easily frustrated with her carefree ways in what doesn't seem a carefree situation. She was young when she had him and continues to be young. She loves her son, but can't quite be that suburban mom next door. The pull of drugs and drink is often too strong.

She goes out to work one evening, cleaning businesses in the area, and never returns alive. All signs point to murder. It seems the cops don't care, no one really cares, so Seth feels it's up to him to figure out what happened to his mother, and why.

I appreciate this as a YA novel. The underlying premise is honest and Seth and his neighborhood friends and caregivers have an aura of authenticity. Despite the premise of this book being a murder mystery, I felt deeply the connection between Seth and his mother. It reminded me of my own childhood, the anger and love you feel towards a parent who isn't what you think parents should be. Growing up too fast, and others not understanding how your early life has shaped your perspective.

Azura, Seth's love interest, was vague, a bit too blind, and her actions silly and not at all the way a rational person should act. I feel like she wasn't as well defined because the author himself couldn't speak to her manner of life except as an outsider, so her character was written as someone looking at her through a lens of a different sort of situation. She was almost a caricature, not a character.

While the mystery was gripping at certain parts, and led me to turn the page on occasion, it fell a little flat at the end. What I found more engaging was Seth and his neighborhood, Ms. Eye and Choo-Choo, the world that was built. I hope that if there are other novels in this series, they build on Seth and his world even more.

*This book was received as a free ARC via Shelf-Awareness from Poisoned Pen Press.