What do you think?
Shelving Magic #0·5
Shadow Origins
A mysterious note. A simple job gone wrong. Will the tragic turn end a librarian’s life?
When paranormal librarian Reed Moore received a strange note hinting at a problem within the world’s supernatural library network, she’s concerned. And when a routine asset retrieval goes wrong, she’s not only frightened for her life, but convinced something nefarious is pervading every library in the world.
Tracking down the thief will take all her wits and threatens to rob her of everything. With a ticking clock and threats from all sides, will Reed track down the culprit or will this be her last investigation?
Shadow Origins is the spell-binding prequel novella in the Shelving Magic series.
Buy now and immerse yourself in a magical new world.
When paranormal librarian Reed Moore received a strange note hinting at a problem within the world’s supernatural library network, she’s concerned. And when a routine asset retrieval goes wrong, she’s not only frightened for her life, but convinced something nefarious is pervading every library in the world.
Tracking down the thief will take all her wits and threatens to rob her of everything. With a ticking clock and threats from all sides, will Reed track down the culprit or will this be her last investigation?
Shadow Origins is the spell-binding prequel novella in the Shelving Magic series.
Buy now and immerse yourself in a magical new world.
142 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2024
About the author
Nellie H. Steele
125 books595 followersNellie H. Steele lives in the South Hills of Pittsburgh with her family and her many fur-babies. When she isn't writing, she enjoys teaching Statistics at a local university or watching her dogs and cats play in the yard.
Nellie is the author of the Cate Kensie Mystery Series, a cozy mystery series following the adventures of Dr. Catherine Kensie, a history professor turned Scottish Countess, and her beloved dog, Riley, as they navigate their new lives in their quirky Scottish highlands castle, solving mysteries along the way! She is the creator of the Shadow Slayers series, a suspenseful series with a supernatural twist! Follow the Shadow Slayers through time as they fight to banish darkness from the world. Nellie also writes an adventure series, Maggie Edwards Adventures. Follow Maggie Edwards as she travels the world solving mysteries and finding unique treasures!
Check out all Nellie offers at www.anovelideapublishing.com/novels, sign up for our newsletter to get the latest news about book releases or like us on facebook (facebook.com/anovelideapublishing) to keep up with us!
Nellie is the author of the Cate Kensie Mystery Series, a cozy mystery series following the adventures of Dr. Catherine Kensie, a history professor turned Scottish Countess, and her beloved dog, Riley, as they navigate their new lives in their quirky Scottish highlands castle, solving mysteries along the way! She is the creator of the Shadow Slayers series, a suspenseful series with a supernatural twist! Follow the Shadow Slayers through time as they fight to banish darkness from the world. Nellie also writes an adventure series, Maggie Edwards Adventures. Follow Maggie Edwards as she travels the world solving mysteries and finding unique treasures!
Check out all Nellie offers at www.anovelideapublishing.com/novels, sign up for our newsletter to get the latest news about book releases or like us on facebook (facebook.com/anovelideapublishing) to keep up with us!
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Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
February 6, 2026
Disclaimer: I haven't read the sequels. Maybe this book makes more sense if you knew the books that came after it.
The book: The only way to describe it is manic. It's only 140 pages but it jumped around. Is it a book about libraries? Mysterious phone calls? Burglars? Gypsies? The undead? Angels? Isekai? Wizards? Dragons? The Matrix? Valkyries? Conspiracies? The Mafia? Vampires? The book is all over the place, and not in an integrated way. It seems like a bunch of throw away stuff. "The dragon army has been sent to conquer the world... Meh, moving on, what do you think about time travel?" What on earth was going on?
The book: The only way to describe it is manic. It's only 140 pages but it jumped around. Is it a book about libraries? Mysterious phone calls? Burglars? Gypsies? The undead? Angels? Isekai? Wizards? Dragons? The Matrix? Valkyries? Conspiracies? The Mafia? Vampires? The book is all over the place, and not in an integrated way. It seems like a bunch of throw away stuff. "The dragon army has been sent to conquer the world... Meh, moving on, what do you think about time travel?" What on earth was going on?
July 14, 2026
I went into this prequel hoping for a fun fantasy setup, but I ended up completely agreeing with the lower-star reviews on Goodreads. While the magic system has potential, the execution totally killed any excitement I had for this world. The biggest issue is the FMC—she is supposedly a highly experienced, smart professional, but she is completely unlikeable and repeatedly makes the most mind-bogglingly stupid decisions.
My Reactions & Emotions
Unhinged Isekai Logic: The actual portal fantasy element didn't even bother me—honestly, if someone made a magic teapot to pull people into the last book they read, I can suspend my disbelief for that. What I couldn't get over was the FMC's pure insanity after she crossed over. Instead of playing it safe and pretending she had a prophetic "vision" to explain her knowledge, she constantly drew target after target on her back. She literally tried to argue people into believing they weren't real and that she was. Who does that?!
Ignoring Massive Warnings: Her recklessness is especially baffling considering she was just warned by a fortune teller that her future daughter was incredibly important, only to immediately find out she was pregnant. Despite knowing the stakes, she still chose to act loudly, dramatically, and completely recklessly.
Wild Post-Birth Decisions: The medical logic in the latter half of the book was crazy. Leaving her newborn's safety and her own recovery completely up to chance is wild—especially when, from what we are shown, she didn't even deliver the placenta!
A Confusing Dynamic with Dru: Dru was the only memorable character for me (mostly because I actually liked her, unlike the FMC), but her dynamic was a total contradiction. She was clearly caring, but she also didn't give a singular fuck what the FMC actually wanted or thought was best, repeatedly ignoring her and doing whatever she wanted anyway.
What Worked
Solid Audiobook Narration: The narrator was actually pretty alright. She did a good job of keeping the audio engaging and gave the characters distinct, recognizable voices, which kept the performance from falling flat.
Ultimately, this prequel was a massive disappointment. I tried giving the first book in the main series a fair chance, but I only made it about three or four chapters before I had to hit DNF. I'm definitely not wasting any more of my reading time on this series!
My Reactions & Emotions
Unhinged Isekai Logic: The actual portal fantasy element didn't even bother me—honestly, if someone made a magic teapot to pull people into the last book they read, I can suspend my disbelief for that. What I couldn't get over was the FMC's pure insanity after she crossed over. Instead of playing it safe and pretending she had a prophetic "vision" to explain her knowledge, she constantly drew target after target on her back. She literally tried to argue people into believing they weren't real and that she was. Who does that?!
Ignoring Massive Warnings: Her recklessness is especially baffling considering she was just warned by a fortune teller that her future daughter was incredibly important, only to immediately find out she was pregnant. Despite knowing the stakes, she still chose to act loudly, dramatically, and completely recklessly.
Wild Post-Birth Decisions: The medical logic in the latter half of the book was crazy. Leaving her newborn's safety and her own recovery completely up to chance is wild—especially when, from what we are shown, she didn't even deliver the placenta!
A Confusing Dynamic with Dru: Dru was the only memorable character for me (mostly because I actually liked her, unlike the FMC), but her dynamic was a total contradiction. She was clearly caring, but she also didn't give a singular fuck what the FMC actually wanted or thought was best, repeatedly ignoring her and doing whatever she wanted anyway.
What Worked
Solid Audiobook Narration: The narrator was actually pretty alright. She did a good job of keeping the audio engaging and gave the characters distinct, recognizable voices, which kept the performance from falling flat.
Ultimately, this prequel was a massive disappointment. I tried giving the first book in the main series a fair chance, but I only made it about three or four chapters before I had to hit DNF. I'm definitely not wasting any more of my reading time on this series!
August 26, 2026
Great Premise, Terrible Execution, and Somehow It Gets Worse
Full disclosure: I only listened to this series because it was available for free on Audible for a while, and I wanted some cozy fantasy/cozy mystery fluff between more intellectually challenging reads. Had I paid for these books, I would have been even more disappointed. I would not recommend spending money on this series.
I am giving each book one star. Had the series gradually improved, I probably would have landed somewhere around 1.5–2 stars overall. Unfortunately, the things that annoyed me in Book 1 did not disappear or improve. In many cases, they became more pronounced and more irritating.
For readers who love the immersive world-building and character development of authors such as Sarah J. Maas, Rebecca Yarros, Matt Dinniman, Leigh Bardugo, Jennifer L. Armentrout, Neil Gaiman, and She Who Is a TERF and Shall Not Be Named, this series may be especially painful to get through.
I do not recommend these books. I am posting the same review on each installment because my criticism applies to the series as a whole. And yes, I listened to all 8.5 books, fueled almost entirely by sheer, unadulterated hope that the next book, or eventually the series as a whole, would somehow get better.
It did not.
So Much Potential, So Little Done With It
The premise had the potential to be fantastic. A magical library filled with dangerous artifacts? A tiny dragon sidekick? Supernatural mysteries and adventures? Sign me up.
Unfortunately, that promising idea is buried beneath stagnant plots, underdeveloped characters, lackluster world-building, simplistic and repetitive writing, and an increasingly formulaic storyline.
Instead of becoming more immersive as the series progresses, the books recycle the same handful of conflicts, jokes, character traits, and plot devices over and over again.
Eight and a Half Books With Very Little Growth
This entire 8.5-book series could probably have been condensed into three well-written, immersive books with stronger character development, tighter plotting, better world-building, and significantly less filler.
The writing is simplistic and painfully repetitive. The same descriptions, adjectives, mannerisms, jokes, phrases, reactions, and conflicts are recycled so often that they become distracting. Why expand the vocabulary or find a new way to describe something when the same one or two descriptors can apparently carry you through eight books?
The library puns also wear out their welcome quickly. I like a good pun. I do not need eight books of them.
But the repetition goes far beyond the prose. The biggest problem with this series is that nothing meaningfully changes.
I can forgive a flawed protagonist. I can forgive an inexperienced protagonist. I can forgive characters making terrible decisions.
What I cannot forgive across an eight-book series is characters who repeatedly make the same mistakes without ever meaningfully learning from them.
Paige begins immature, reckless, argumentative, clumsy, and inexperienced. Eight books later, she is still immature, reckless, argumentative, and clumsy, and somehow behaves as though most of her previous experiences never happened.
Dewey begins sarcastic and irritating. Eight books later, he is sarcastic and more irritating.
The plot begins formulaic. It stays formulaic.
The world begins shallow. Throwing more creatures, magical objects, portals, curses, and supernatural problems into it does not make it deeper.
That's not character development. That's hitting the reset button at the beginning of every book.
And that's what makes the series so frustrating: there really was a good story buried in here somewhere. A magical library protecting dangerous artifacts is a genuinely fun premise. With tighter writing, stronger world-building, actual character growth, less repetitive banter, and about five fewer books, this could have been an entertaining and immersive cozy fantasy adventure.
Instead, I finished all 8.5 books because I had already come this far and kept thinking, Surely this gets better.
It did not.
Paige Is a 34-Year-Old Woman Who Acts About 13
Paige is supposedly a competent, intelligent, 34-year-old professional woman who becomes a super-special magical librarian.
Unfortunately, she has the emotional maturity of a spoiled middle-schooler.
She throws fits. She pouts. She whines. She cries. She stomps her feet. She bickers with literally everyone. Her reactions are so wildly disproportionate that there were times she seemed less like a woman in her mid-30s and more like an overtired toddler who had just been told she couldn't have a cookie.
I have three daughters. None of them were ever as whiny, immature, or ridiculous as Paige.
And this isn't simply an early character flaw designed to give her room to grow.
That's the problem.
She doesn't grow.
The same behavior continues book after book after book.
Paige Is Also DUMB
And I mean capital D.U.M.B.
This is especially frustrating because the story repeatedly tells us Paige is intelligent, capable, increasingly experienced, and uniquely qualified for her magical role.
Her actions tell us something entirely different.
Nearly every book follows some variation of the same pattern:
Paige receives information or a warning. Paige ignores it. Paige makes an obviously terrible decision. Paige ends up in a dangerous or life-threatening situation because of that decision. Paige escapes through some combination of dumb luck, someone rescuing her, or an incredibly convenient solution.
Then she does it again.
And again.
And again.
Repeat seven or eight times, end the book, and start the exact same cycle in the next one.
Her recurring incompetence never turns into mastery. Despite supposedly gaining experience, she continues ignoring explanations, walking into obvious traps, failing to communicate critical information, and behaving recklessly in situations where she absolutely should know better by now.
Eventually, it becomes difficult to believe this woman should be trusted with a library card, much less magical artifacts capable of destroying the world.
And then there's the clumsiness.
Good grief, the clumsiness.
We get it. Paige is awkward.
But seriously, how many times can one person's glasses fly off their face and leave them practically blind because they tripped over something?
What starts as a quirky character trait becomes another joke beaten so thoroughly into the ground that I wanted to bury it there permanently.
Dewey Somehow Gets More Annoying, Too
Paige's "partner," Dewey, is a teacup-sized dragon whose character arc appears to have been built around the challenge of making him progressively meaner and more insulting toward Paige.
The two of them bicker constantly.
And I mean constantly.
Their exchanges can go on for pages. Paige says something. Dewey makes a sarcastic comment. Paige gets offended. Dewey doubles down. Paige tells him to stop. Dewey says something else. Paige snaps back.
Repeat indefinitely.
Archie Bunker would eventually tell these two to knock it off.
The sarcasm stops being funny very early because the "snark" keeps circling the same handful of arguments. Instead of witty banter between characters who genuinely care about one another, they frequently sound like two people who simply cannot stand each other.
Most stories use a sidekick or secondary character to complement the protagonist, offer another perspective, contribute a useful skill, or help drive the story forward.
Dewey mostly exists to screw up magical concoctions, insult Paige, make sarcastic comments, and behave as though he's intellectually superior to everyone around him.
After eight books, I still couldn't tell you why these two supposedly enjoy spending time together.
Every Fantasy Creature Ever Invented Apparently Lives Here
The world-building is another enormous missed opportunity.
Rather than choosing a smaller number of supernatural creatures, magical systems, cultures, or threats and developing them into something interesting, it feels like the author looked up "List of Fantasy Creatures" and started checking boxes.
Dragons? Sure.
Vampires? Throw them in.
Witches? Obviously.
Ghosts? Why not?
Time travel? Absolutely.
Portals? Yep.
Some other supernatural creature we haven't used yet? Toss that in too.
Instead of making the world feel expansive, it makes it feel random.
There is an enormous difference between building a rich fantasy world and simply filling one with fantasy things.
Full disclosure: I only listened to this series because it was available for free on Audible for a while, and I wanted some cozy fantasy/cozy mystery fluff between more intellectually challenging reads. Had I paid for these books, I would have been even more disappointed. I would not recommend spending money on this series.
I am giving each book one star. Had the series gradually improved, I probably would have landed somewhere around 1.5–2 stars overall. Unfortunately, the things that annoyed me in Book 1 did not disappear or improve. In many cases, they became more pronounced and more irritating.
For readers who love the immersive world-building and character development of authors such as Sarah J. Maas, Rebecca Yarros, Matt Dinniman, Leigh Bardugo, Jennifer L. Armentrout, Neil Gaiman, and She Who Is a TERF and Shall Not Be Named, this series may be especially painful to get through.
I do not recommend these books. I am posting the same review on each installment because my criticism applies to the series as a whole. And yes, I listened to all 8.5 books, fueled almost entirely by sheer, unadulterated hope that the next book, or eventually the series as a whole, would somehow get better.
It did not.
So Much Potential, So Little Done With It
The premise had the potential to be fantastic. A magical library filled with dangerous artifacts? A tiny dragon sidekick? Supernatural mysteries and adventures? Sign me up.
Unfortunately, that promising idea is buried beneath stagnant plots, underdeveloped characters, lackluster world-building, simplistic and repetitive writing, and an increasingly formulaic storyline.
Instead of becoming more immersive as the series progresses, the books recycle the same handful of conflicts, jokes, character traits, and plot devices over and over again.
Eight and a Half Books With Very Little Growth
This entire 8.5-book series could probably have been condensed into three well-written, immersive books with stronger character development, tighter plotting, better world-building, and significantly less filler.
The writing is simplistic and painfully repetitive. The same descriptions, adjectives, mannerisms, jokes, phrases, reactions, and conflicts are recycled so often that they become distracting. Why expand the vocabulary or find a new way to describe something when the same one or two descriptors can apparently carry you through eight books?
The library puns also wear out their welcome quickly. I like a good pun. I do not need eight books of them.
But the repetition goes far beyond the prose. The biggest problem with this series is that nothing meaningfully changes.
I can forgive a flawed protagonist. I can forgive an inexperienced protagonist. I can forgive characters making terrible decisions.
What I cannot forgive across an eight-book series is characters who repeatedly make the same mistakes without ever meaningfully learning from them.
Paige begins immature, reckless, argumentative, clumsy, and inexperienced. Eight books later, she is still immature, reckless, argumentative, and clumsy, and somehow behaves as though most of her previous experiences never happened.
Dewey begins sarcastic and irritating. Eight books later, he is sarcastic and more irritating.
The plot begins formulaic. It stays formulaic.
The world begins shallow. Throwing more creatures, magical objects, portals, curses, and supernatural problems into it does not make it deeper.
That's not character development. That's hitting the reset button at the beginning of every book.
And that's what makes the series so frustrating: there really was a good story buried in here somewhere. A magical library protecting dangerous artifacts is a genuinely fun premise. With tighter writing, stronger world-building, actual character growth, less repetitive banter, and about five fewer books, this could have been an entertaining and immersive cozy fantasy adventure.
Instead, I finished all 8.5 books because I had already come this far and kept thinking, Surely this gets better.
It did not.
Paige Is a 34-Year-Old Woman Who Acts About 13
Paige is supposedly a competent, intelligent, 34-year-old professional woman who becomes a super-special magical librarian.
Unfortunately, she has the emotional maturity of a spoiled middle-schooler.
She throws fits. She pouts. She whines. She cries. She stomps her feet. She bickers with literally everyone. Her reactions are so wildly disproportionate that there were times she seemed less like a woman in her mid-30s and more like an overtired toddler who had just been told she couldn't have a cookie.
I have three daughters. None of them were ever as whiny, immature, or ridiculous as Paige.
And this isn't simply an early character flaw designed to give her room to grow.
That's the problem.
She doesn't grow.
The same behavior continues book after book after book.
Paige Is Also DUMB
And I mean capital D.U.M.B.
This is especially frustrating because the story repeatedly tells us Paige is intelligent, capable, increasingly experienced, and uniquely qualified for her magical role.
Her actions tell us something entirely different.
Nearly every book follows some variation of the same pattern:
Paige receives information or a warning. Paige ignores it. Paige makes an obviously terrible decision. Paige ends up in a dangerous or life-threatening situation because of that decision. Paige escapes through some combination of dumb luck, someone rescuing her, or an incredibly convenient solution.
Then she does it again.
And again.
And again.
Repeat seven or eight times, end the book, and start the exact same cycle in the next one.
Her recurring incompetence never turns into mastery. Despite supposedly gaining experience, she continues ignoring explanations, walking into obvious traps, failing to communicate critical information, and behaving recklessly in situations where she absolutely should know better by now.
Eventually, it becomes difficult to believe this woman should be trusted with a library card, much less magical artifacts capable of destroying the world.
And then there's the clumsiness.
Good grief, the clumsiness.
We get it. Paige is awkward.
But seriously, how many times can one person's glasses fly off their face and leave them practically blind because they tripped over something?
What starts as a quirky character trait becomes another joke beaten so thoroughly into the ground that I wanted to bury it there permanently.
Dewey Somehow Gets More Annoying, Too
Paige's "partner," Dewey, is a teacup-sized dragon whose character arc appears to have been built around the challenge of making him progressively meaner and more insulting toward Paige.
The two of them bicker constantly.
And I mean constantly.
Their exchanges can go on for pages. Paige says something. Dewey makes a sarcastic comment. Paige gets offended. Dewey doubles down. Paige tells him to stop. Dewey says something else. Paige snaps back.
Repeat indefinitely.
Archie Bunker would eventually tell these two to knock it off.
The sarcasm stops being funny very early because the "snark" keeps circling the same handful of arguments. Instead of witty banter between characters who genuinely care about one another, they frequently sound like two people who simply cannot stand each other.
Most stories use a sidekick or secondary character to complement the protagonist, offer another perspective, contribute a useful skill, or help drive the story forward.
Dewey mostly exists to screw up magical concoctions, insult Paige, make sarcastic comments, and behave as though he's intellectually superior to everyone around him.
After eight books, I still couldn't tell you why these two supposedly enjoy spending time together.
Every Fantasy Creature Ever Invented Apparently Lives Here
The world-building is another enormous missed opportunity.
Rather than choosing a smaller number of supernatural creatures, magical systems, cultures, or threats and developing them into something interesting, it feels like the author looked up "List of Fantasy Creatures" and started checking boxes.
Dragons? Sure.
Vampires? Throw them in.
Witches? Obviously.
Ghosts? Why not?
Time travel? Absolutely.
Portals? Yep.
Some other supernatural creature we haven't used yet? Toss that in too.
Instead of making the world feel expansive, it makes it feel random.
There is an enormous difference between building a rich fantasy world and simply filling one with fantasy things.
July 26, 2023
Shadow Origins is a great prequel to the Shelving Magic series. Not only readers understand the mfc Paige's background, but the story is steeped in mystery and magic.
This was a quick little read that packs a punch. There's a magic library, creepy entities lurking, I can't tell friend from foe, there is the mystery of the missing objects, threats, murder and more. Shadow Origins has done its job and piqued my interest, I can't wait to read Shadow Beasts, the first (full length) book in the series.
This was a quick little read that packs a punch. There's a magic library, creepy entities lurking, I can't tell friend from foe, there is the mystery of the missing objects, threats, murder and more. Shadow Origins has done its job and piqued my interest, I can't wait to read Shadow Beasts, the first (full length) book in the series.
February 26, 2026
Ok, takže Reed má dceru Paige. Nic moc jiného jsem si z tohohle mismase nestihla odnést. Ale mám v audible celý set, tak holt posloucháme dal a uvidíme, jak se ten kouzelný knihovnicky svět rozvine. 😆
May 27, 2026
I wanted to like this more. I'll still check out the main series as this prequel book features Reed Moore, a weirdly unlikable magical librarian, whereas the main series has her daughter Paige Turner (yes, a pair of awful pun names, I agree). Why didn't I like Reed? Well, I suppose it's because when the author implies that a character is smart and competent, I expect them to behave that way, and not constantly make me say things like, "Why the fuck would you do that?!" out loud at the grocery store. (I was listening to the audiobook version.)
Typical Scenes With Reed:
DANGEROUS PERSON: why should I not murder you?
REED: Because you're fictional and I'm real! Also this teapot I have is magic and I hope you don't take it from me even though I am completely defenseless! Also blah blah blah more stuff I shouldn't tell anyone in this situation!
DANGEROUS PERSON: uh, what? now that you've foolishly piqued my interest, tell me more!
REED: Even though I already told you pretty much everything on my own, I refuse to say more now that you are threatening me with literal death!
Or how about:
FRIEND: it's dangerous to be at your house, a place we are pretty sure is compromised by the enemy! Not only can they apparently get inside any time, they also are obviously watching it and likely have it bugged! We should leave and go literally anywhere else!
REED: okay, that makes sense.
**They leave, then she has a baby on the side of the road**
REED: never mind, I want to go back to my house and not somewhere safer! Even though I now have this baby with me and want to protect her! I also mistrust everyone I know and am very obvious about it, even though if they REALLY are against me, I should probably hide my suspicions better, but I suck at that!
** Bad guys immediately threaten the baby overnight, and she is shocked by this for some reason**
And who could forget:
DOCTOR: You've just recovered from a 6-month coma, stay here in the hospital for at least 1 day
REED: I fear for my life in this busy professional atmosphere. That's not totally unreasonable after what happened, but what I've decided to do instead is literally rip out the IV and flee the hospital back to my house where I'll be almost completely alone and totally vulnerable while 8 months pregnant, and where the enemy obviously KNOWS I live since they have called me on the phone there. Why are you looking at me like I am the dumbest person alive? Also, I should be as rude and unpleasant as possible to almost everyone I interact with throughout this entire story, since I am suspicious of them and therefore, treating them like total crap will help me somehow!
The funny thing is I empathized with her in general, and the story was interesting enough that I'll try out the first book or two of the actual series, but Reed's actual behavior and dialogue just left me wondering if I'm even supposed to like her... (I've gathered that the answer is "yes" but all I can hope is that Paige takes after her father.)
Typical Scenes With Reed:
DANGEROUS PERSON: why should I not murder you?
REED: Because you're fictional and I'm real! Also this teapot I have is magic and I hope you don't take it from me even though I am completely defenseless! Also blah blah blah more stuff I shouldn't tell anyone in this situation!
DANGEROUS PERSON: uh, what? now that you've foolishly piqued my interest, tell me more!
REED: Even though I already told you pretty much everything on my own, I refuse to say more now that you are threatening me with literal death!
Or how about:
FRIEND: it's dangerous to be at your house, a place we are pretty sure is compromised by the enemy! Not only can they apparently get inside any time, they also are obviously watching it and likely have it bugged! We should leave and go literally anywhere else!
REED: okay, that makes sense.
**They leave, then she has a baby on the side of the road**
REED: never mind, I want to go back to my house and not somewhere safer! Even though I now have this baby with me and want to protect her! I also mistrust everyone I know and am very obvious about it, even though if they REALLY are against me, I should probably hide my suspicions better, but I suck at that!
** Bad guys immediately threaten the baby overnight, and she is shocked by this for some reason**
And who could forget:
DOCTOR: You've just recovered from a 6-month coma, stay here in the hospital for at least 1 day
REED: I fear for my life in this busy professional atmosphere. That's not totally unreasonable after what happened, but what I've decided to do instead is literally rip out the IV and flee the hospital back to my house where I'll be almost completely alone and totally vulnerable while 8 months pregnant, and where the enemy obviously KNOWS I live since they have called me on the phone there. Why are you looking at me like I am the dumbest person alive? Also, I should be as rude and unpleasant as possible to almost everyone I interact with throughout this entire story, since I am suspicious of them and therefore, treating them like total crap will help me somehow!
The funny thing is I empathized with her in general, and the story was interesting enough that I'll try out the first book or two of the actual series, but Reed's actual behavior and dialogue just left me wondering if I'm even supposed to like her... (I've gathered that the answer is "yes" but all I can hope is that Paige takes after her father.)
June 10, 2023
Shadow Origins
By
Nellie H Steele
Shadow Origins is a prequel novella to the new Shelving Magic Series by Nellie H Steele. In this book, we are introduced to Reed Moore, a paranormal librarian whose task is asset retrieval, or retrieving magical objects and returning them to the library for proper and secure storage. Reed receives an assignment to retrieve the Magician’s Teapot from a tarot card reader’s shop in another town. The assignment level is considered a low danger and should be uncomplicated, but Reed soon learns that there is much more to the mission than she, or anyone expected. The teapot also holds many secrets including the magic power of the tea brewed in the pot and the effect on anyone who drinks it. Dark forces are soon determined to claim the pot and will do anything to succeed. Reed must recruit help with her retrieval assignment and get she gets it from her friend Drucinda. Reed also learns that she is pregnant and will do anything to protect the child.
I enjoyed reading the prequel to the new series. It is action-packed, fast-paced, cleverly written, and has some fascinating twists that fans of this author will appreciate. The suspense in the storyline continued to build with each turn of the page and the character development was amazing. I found the story very clever and the world-building outstanding. I would definitely read this again and suggest Shadow Origins to anyone looking for a supernatural fantasy story. As I mentioned, this is a prequel to the Shelving Magic Series and well worth the time to become familiar with. I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy.
By
Nellie H Steele
Shadow Origins is a prequel novella to the new Shelving Magic Series by Nellie H Steele. In this book, we are introduced to Reed Moore, a paranormal librarian whose task is asset retrieval, or retrieving magical objects and returning them to the library for proper and secure storage. Reed receives an assignment to retrieve the Magician’s Teapot from a tarot card reader’s shop in another town. The assignment level is considered a low danger and should be uncomplicated, but Reed soon learns that there is much more to the mission than she, or anyone expected. The teapot also holds many secrets including the magic power of the tea brewed in the pot and the effect on anyone who drinks it. Dark forces are soon determined to claim the pot and will do anything to succeed. Reed must recruit help with her retrieval assignment and get she gets it from her friend Drucinda. Reed also learns that she is pregnant and will do anything to protect the child.
I enjoyed reading the prequel to the new series. It is action-packed, fast-paced, cleverly written, and has some fascinating twists that fans of this author will appreciate. The suspense in the storyline continued to build with each turn of the page and the character development was amazing. I found the story very clever and the world-building outstanding. I would definitely read this again and suggest Shadow Origins to anyone looking for a supernatural fantasy story. As I mentioned, this is a prequel to the Shelving Magic Series and well worth the time to become familiar with. I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy.
April 2, 2024
I really enjoyed this novella and read it after book #4 in the series, Shadow Moon. I thought it fitted in really well here as some of what was revealed in this book had been mentioned in Shadow Moon as well and it all made sense!
In this one, Reed Moore, Paige Turner's mother from the main books in the series, is the librarian of Shadow Harbour and after being send out on a green-level asset retrieval job, i.e. the easiest one there is, everything goes to pot! This book basically explains what happened to Reed and gives us the background story to her disappearance, which Paige has been haunted by for her entire life!
It was a fun, quick read and now we understand a lot more about what happened from Reed's point of view, rather than what Drucinda, Devon and Ronnie can remember.
Can't wait to read Shadow Omens soon to see if Paige and Drucinda can find out anything more about what actually happened to Reed after the events in this book!
In this one, Reed Moore, Paige Turner's mother from the main books in the series, is the librarian of Shadow Harbour and after being send out on a green-level asset retrieval job, i.e. the easiest one there is, everything goes to pot! This book basically explains what happened to Reed and gives us the background story to her disappearance, which Paige has been haunted by for her entire life!
It was a fun, quick read and now we understand a lot more about what happened from Reed's point of view, rather than what Drucinda, Devon and Ronnie can remember.
Can't wait to read Shadow Omens soon to see if Paige and Drucinda can find out anything more about what actually happened to Reed after the events in this book!
September 13, 2026
Quirky and intriguing yet annoying and cringy at the same time. So you mean to tell me she gave birth- in a car-to a baby that’s one month early and no one checked her or the baby out? That’s very premature for the babies’s lungs and I know this is a fiction story but it’s just stupid lazy writing. And she went on a quest to defeat shadow monsters the same day as giving birth naturally, not stitched back up after the equivalent of a small watermelon popped out? Oh! And just five-ish days after waking up from an eight month long coma? Has anyone ever heard of muscle atrophy? I’ve had four kids, and there ain’t no way in hell I’m doing ****anything**** let alone questioning just after giving birth.
October 21, 2023
I received a copy of this book from the author.
Reed Moore is on a quest to retrieve a green level artefact when things go horribly wrong.
This story comes as a prequel to the Shelving Magic series and fills in some of the blanks in Paige Turner’s life.
If you haven’t yet read any of the series then this is as good a place to begin as any and I would recommend you read them all as they are such good reads.
Reed Moore is on a quest to retrieve a green level artefact when things go horribly wrong.
This story comes as a prequel to the Shelving Magic series and fills in some of the blanks in Paige Turner’s life.
If you haven’t yet read any of the series then this is as good a place to begin as any and I would recommend you read them all as they are such good reads.
June 1, 2025
the first Shelving Magic book and this show how Paige is born and how her Mom Reed Moore goes missing also intrduces us to Devon the vampire and Drucinda Van Helsing a Librarian friend of Reed's brings together the story up to where I had gotten good book quick read since it is a novella...can't wait to finish the rest of the series.
April 19, 2026
I don’t often read .5 in a series - but this was included kindle unlimited. I am still torn. I am 4 chapters in to book 1 and I may not have stayed with it this long had I not had the back story provided by book 0.5, but it was also a humongous spoiler. It prevented some of the tension that may have been there had it not been read first.
August 24, 2026
I realise this was a novella, but there were a lot of bits glossed over and things that were skipped, I assume because plot and pacing.
Unfortunately unlike the Throne of Glass novella's it doesn't encourage me to read or listen to the series.
Unfortunately unlike the Throne of Glass novella's it doesn't encourage me to read or listen to the series.
September 15, 2023
I absolutely loved it! Amazing concepts! I live the characters! This is a must read! I can’t wait to read the next book!
March 25, 2025
Love this series so far. Read this book so fast.
February 11, 2026
This is a prequel of a series I have not read yet. Without the knowledge about the series it is confusing. Will still give the series a shot.
March 2, 2026
Interesting plot… can’t wait to see where this takes me…
March 30, 2026
Bits were interesting but I struggled to connect to the main character and the plot felt a bit chaotic
April 15, 2026
Fast passed and intriguing
April 24, 2026
Short but part of a series so can't wait to start the next installment
May 2, 2026
Love the names - Reed Moore, Paige Turner!
Audiobook
Audiobook
May 6, 2026
Interesting and easy read.
June 9, 2026
Liked it and looking forward to know what has happened to Reid Moore
June 16, 2026
Rounded up to 4 stars
Pretty interesting, I'll have to look up what happened since I DNF'd book 1.
Pretty interesting, I'll have to look up what happened since I DNF'd book 1.
July 8, 2026
An interesting start to a new series. I'm looking forward to see what happens next
September 11, 2026
Interesting
September 17, 2026
Interestin, a few details are a little far fetched but will not point them out as they would be spoilers
August 13, 2025
Shadow Origins is the spell-binding prequel novella in the Shelving Magic series. A great way of being introduced to the series!!
August 26, 2023
Shadow Origins is a prequel to the Shelving Magic Series by Nellie H. Steele. In this book we are introduced to Reed Moore, Paige's mother, a librarian also tasked with retrieving magical items. She was in search of a Magician's Teapot when things don't go as planned and Reed goes missing.
I thoroughly enjoyed this prequel and found it to be entertaining as well as intriguing. The characters are quite likeable and leave you wanting to know more about them.
I thoroughly enjoyed this prequel and found it to be entertaining as well as intriguing. The characters are quite likeable and leave you wanting to know more about them.
October 2, 2025
Prequel to Shadow Beast.
Good series to work on this month.
Good series to work on this month.
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