Customer Reviews

Spirits That Walk in Shadow

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Jaime Locke was a minor character in The Thread That Binds The Bones, but Spirits is more like a direct sequel to the short story 'Exact Change,' which appeared in the 2 Hoffman anthologies Common Threads and Courting Disasters and also in Weird Tales #299. In that story Jaime starts to question the morality she's being taught by her magic teacher and starts to try to figure out her own destiny and how she wants to use her magical powers. In 'Exact Change,' Jaime is an elementary school kid; now she is an adult, shortly after The Thread That Binds The Bones, and decides to go to college in the Outside, away from her magical family, and see how she does.

Once in college, she meets her roommate Kim, who has a recent history of depression no meds will help. They find out Kim is a victim of a being called a viri, a sort of vampire that feeds on emotions instead of blood. The pair then encounter a viri who claims Kim's viri is a rogue viri, whom he is chasing, and two cousins of Jaime's who have had a very different magical education and have different attitudes about interacting with normals. These five people from different backgrounds interact, sometimes conflicting with each other, and search for Kim's viri to make it stop feeding on her. I love Nina Kiriki Hoffman's work and wonderful writing style, and found this book very satisfying. Hoffman writes about magic very well, sliding it between the threads of the fabric of everyday life, and often writing about the souls of everyday objects, like trees and (in Past the Size of Dreaming) garbage cans.

A few characters from Hoffman's other novel The Silent Strength of Stones also appear in this book, but it isn't necessary to read that, or The Thread That Binds The Bones, to enjoy Spirits.

It's also an interesting coincidence that both Nina Kiriki Hoffman and PC Hodgell released (very different) books about a character Jaime/Jame going to college in the same year.

Jaimie Locke is a character from The Spirit That Binds the Bones. Anyone who enjoyed that will definitely want this book. Hoffman at her best, and one of the best writers in the fantasy field, yesterday or today. The only way to make this book better would be to make it longer.

Nina Kiriki Hoffman is back to what she does best in 'spirits that walk in shadow".She beguiles us with her simplicity and enchantes us with her world that is only a step away from where we are now. The magic is the glue but the characters draw us in.Kim who starts out without the magical spark and Jaimie, whom we have met in a past Hoffman book ,who is trying to control the magic she has.Starting University and sharing a room together the girls havr to face lossing all magic and being helped by a family snake.Well presented and easy to read this book fits in well with Hofman's other work.

A sequel to THE THREAD THAT BINDS THE BONES, this book is long overdue but well worth the wait.

Jaimie Locke is a marvelous character that brings the magic into this magical tale, while the other point of view character is her room-mate Kim, who brings the drama. Like the first reviewer commented, the book's only flaw is that it ended all too soon.

If you like contemporary tales of magic, this book is for you.
If you like well-developed characters and plots, this book is for you.
Heck, if you can read, this book is for you.

I, for one, cannot wait for Nina's next Chapel Hollow story. They're always a treat.

I loved this book!! I've heard of " energy vampires " - a term used when talking about people who unknowingly
" take" other peoples energy! This a great story about an "emotion vamp"! I love Rugee!
Very creative story! Well written and loved the " attitude of Jaime"!
The two roomates are definitely a great example
Of how opposites do attract and how friendship can heal even the deepest scars!!!

Long written reviews that tell you the whole book is a waste. Nina Kirki Hoffman has a great imagination, can write to all ages, and is fun as well as a pleasure to read.

Jamie and Kim are freshmen in college and roommates. This is Jamie's first time away from her magical family and living in the real world with regular humans. Kim is looking forward to putting her past behind her, and she thinks college will be the outlet just for that. But there is something wrong with Kim. She can't seem to control her emotions and her depression at moments is so bad that she can't do anything but curl into a ball and cry. With the help of Jamie, her cousins, and spirit guide Rugee she finds out that there is something causing and then feeding off of her depression. Can Jamie and Kim figure out who it is before Kim is sucked dry emotionally?

I was immediately drawn to this book because of the cover. I had no clue what it was about, but was determined to read it. I was happy to not be disappointed! Jamie and Kim are funny, skeptical, and strong. With alternating points of view you get a really good feel for each character. I like the idea of the witch who never lived amongst humans going away to college. Talk about culture shock! She doesn't understand a lot of things people do, but Kim is there to teach her and her cousins are there to have her back. Spirits That Walk In Shadow has a interesting take on the emotional vampire, and it was good to have so many characters working towards one goal: find out who the hell this bad guy is!

The characters in this book are all freshmen in college, but I would still consider this book fine for young adult readers. I know there have been debates on whether college characters can be considered young adult or not, but I think that with this book's lack of sexual content (that most adult books include) it's perfectly fine for YA. I also think this may be why this book is lost in the shuffle.

I was hoping there would be more books with these characters, but Hoffman's website doesn't show that. Oh well!

I like Hoffman's fluid writing style, fun characters, and interesting plot line. Nice YA exploration of depression and emotional vampirism

Sometimes just the comfort of reading a book is bibliotherapy enough. Author Hoffman describes this comfort herself when her character Zilla explains how one of the viri, or mind parasites, tranced her so he could suck off her in safety: "I felt like I was reading a very exciting book, and I didn't want to put down," Zilla whispered. "I still want to find out what happens next."
But Spirits That Walk in Shadow's delivers up more than just the pleasure of a good read. It also offers a rather brilliant analogy for the dual griefs of depression and co-dependence. Perhaps the real reason why your depression can't be touched by those pills your doctor gives you - or even a very exciting book - is that a mind parasite or emotion vampire is feeding off you. Or, the real reason you obsess so about your manipulator is not because you are an idiot, but because he/she/it is an emotion vampire and you are the victim of its skills. This is what art does; it explains us to ourselves, and Hoffman is to be congratulated for doing it so well.
Not a perfectly constructed book, Spirits That Walk in Shadows offers some wonderfully bright new material, and Hoffman's magical world is rich in gracefully casual detail. "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy." I would say that her characters are wonderfully human, but most of the more interesting ones, happily, aren't. Human. Note to self: Read all Hoffman's earlier works.

I adored The Thread that Binds the Bones, even if it wasn't as polished as it might have been. I liked The Silent Strength of Stones, which seemed a little darker and more introspective. But I LOVED this one. It had all the polish that her first Chapel Hollow novel lacked, and a lot of the darker, more introspective aspects of her second. Her writing gets tighter and better with each installment. Somehow I just like the characters and the premise of Chapel Hollow better than her other series.