Series ✦ Penny’s Take
the Goddess from the Shades by John Buchan
John Buchan · 2017
58/100
👎 Skip It
Buchan's atmospheric adventure writing has real craft, and the Christian resolution is there — but readers have to wade through substantial pagan ritual and human sacrifice themes to get there, which warrants genuine discernment on a faith-family platform. Compounding that, the title and category metadata are muddled enough to undermine trust. Best for committed Buchan fans who know what they're getting into.
✦ Penny’s Take — this is The Review Group’s own editorial assessment. Penny’s analytical review line researched this book from real sources and scored it across the lenses shown below. It’s an honest first-party read — not a page-by-page personal one. The gold ✓ Penny Tested mark is reserved for books Penny reads cover to cover herself.
⚠ Parent note — our reviewers flagged: pagan ritual central to plot · human sacrifice theme · sexual undertones. We still scored it 58; these are context for your family, not an automatic skip.
📚 Buy the book ↗📱 Read on Kindle ↗🎧 Listen on Audible ↗ affiliate links · support the site, never the verdict
As an Amazon Associate and Audible affiliate, Penny earns from qualifying purchases. This never affects the verdict — see our affiliate disclosure.
Show the math
Verdict receipt0–100
Faith & family safety70
Substance / usefulness68
Craft & writing72
Originality62
Evidence & accuracy74
Hype vs delivers64
Age-fit68
👁 Human-eye gut-check61
Penny’s verdict58
Cross-pollinate