Audio Review: The Shadows by Jacqueline West

Title: The Shadows (The Books of Elsewhere Vol 1)
Author: Jacqueline West
Narrator: Lexy Fridell
Publication: June 15, 2010
Publisher: Penguin Audio
Source: Purchased
Genre: Children
Length: 5 Hours 26 minutes
Format: Unabridged Audio
Rating: 5 of 5

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Synopsis: 
When eleven-year-old Olive moves into a crumbling Victorian mansion with her parents, she knows there's something strange about the house - especially the odd antique paintings covering the walls. And when she puts on a pair of old spectacles, she discovers the strangest thing yet: She can travel inside the paintings, to a spooky world that's full of dark shadows. Add to that three talking cats, who live in the house and seem to be keeping secrets of their own, and Olive soon finds herself confronting a dark and dangerous power that wants to get rid of her by any means necessary. It's up to Olive to save the house from the dark shadows, before the lights go out for good.

My Thoughts: Jacqueline West does an amazing job of developing unique characters and bringing them to life. I absolutely love Olive she feisty, curious and brave. Moving into an old mansion does not scare Olive it's a new adventure. Olive knows something is different about her new home, and it's not just the talking cats, she is determined to find out what it is. Olive's curiosity sends on a wild ride of discovery and secrets. The cats give her cryptic clues and warnings that Olive fails to heed. She ends up putting her life and the lives of those she loves in danger. In the end new friendships and adversaries are forged.

This story is an excellent platform for an audio production. This is a single voiced production. Lexy Fridell does an astonishing job of differentiating each character and their accents. Fridell gives each character a little something extra that makes them memorable and fits each character perfectly. I was able to experience characters feelings during Fridell's  narration.