シャドーハウス
Summary
[from Amazon]
貴族の真似事をする、顔のない一族「シャドー」。その“顔”として仕える世話係の「生き人形」。来客のない奇妙な館には、今日も煤と黄色い声が、舞う――。
[From AniList]
Faceless shadow nobles living in a vast mansion, attended by living dolls who spend much of their time cleaning up the soot endlessly emitted by their mysterious masters.Follow the story of Emilico, a young and cheerful living doll, as she learns her duties serving as the attendant for Kate Shadow-sama. What dangers and dark secrets will she and Kate encounter, as they become more deeply involved in the inner workings of the shadows’ society?
Availability
Physical: Amazon | CD Japan
Digital: Amazon | Amazon Color Version | Bookwalker | Bookwalker Color Version
Personal Opinion
I’ll quote my review of the series overall from Natively:
Shadows House is a really interesting series. It starts off almost as a slice of life comedy about a servant and her master, with a little mystery and intrigue thrown in. However, as the series progresses the comedy is toned down and the mystery elements become the focus. There’s a lot to love about this series, but the story and characters are really where it shines.
For the book club in particular, it doesn’t have much furigana, but the language overall is relatively simple (especially in the first volume), so it might be a good opportunity to practice without furigana. Also, if you happened to see my gradings on Natively, know that those gradings are for the overall series, since some content in later volumes is a little more complicated. The first volume is easier overall.
As a side note, I don’t plan on rereading the first volume if it wins with the book club (and would prefer someone else run the club as well). I just wanted to nominate the book to try to share what I consider a great series. I will of course follow along with the book club threads and help answer questions that pop up.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Short chapters (about 12 pages each)
- Relatively simple language
- Good practice for reading with minimal furigana
- The first volume is a good introduction to a more complex world and story, easing the reader in and not overwhelming them.
- Full color digital version!
Cons
- Some might see the lack of furigana as a bad thing
- Some might find the first volume a bit slow since it only teases the bigger world and story (though personally I found it very entertaining)
Pictures
I’d recommend checking out both the black and white and full color previews from the Amazon links above to compare the two versions.
Difficulty Poll
How much effort would you need to read this book?
- 1 - No effort at all
- 2 - Minimal effort
- 3 - Moderate effort
- 4 - Substantial effort
- 5 - So much effort my head might explode
- I don’t know