Shadow (The Paper Gods, #0.5)

by Amanda Sun

I looked down at the paper, still touching the tip of my shoe.

I reached for it, flipping the page over to look. Scrawls of ink outlined a drawing of a girl lying on a bench. A sick feeling started to twist in my stomach, like motion sickness. And then the girl in the drawing turned her head, and her inky eyes glared straight into mine.

On the heels of a family tragedy, the last thing Katie Greene wants to do is move halfway across the world. Stuck with her aunt in Shizuoka, Japan, Katie feels lost. Alone. She doesn't know the language, she can barely hold a pair of chopsticks, and she can't seem to get the hang of taking her shoes off whenever she enters a building. Then there's gorgeous but aloof Tomohiro, star of the school's kendo team.

How did he really get the scar on his arm? Katie isn't prepared for the answer. But when she sees the things he draws start moving, there's no denying the truth: Tomo has a connection to the ancient gods of Japan, and being near Katie is causing his abilities to spiral out of control. If the wrong people notice, they'll both be targets. Katie never wanted to move to Japan-now she may not make it out of the country alive.

• ISBN10: 1459235827
• ISBN13: 9781459235823
• Publish Date: 1 June 2013 (first published 1 January 2013)
• Publish Status: Active
• Imprint: Harlequin Teen
• Format: eBook
• Language: English

Reviews

I think this would probably be more enjoyable if I'd have read Ink prior to this. But I wanted a taste and didn't want to dish out money for something I was unsure about. This didn't really grab my interest. I don't feel like it explained anything but then novellas mostly don't - they just give greater insight to the characters, so I probably can't really hold that against the story. The Japanese English translations were annoying. It would work better if there was a link to the glossary with each word so the story doesn't seem so a.) repetitive and b.) jarring. I didn't really like either of the main characters either. I'm interested in Japanese mythology but I don't believe I will be continuing with the rest of the series.

[Angie]

Shadow is a quick prequel novella which serves as an introduction to Katie and Tomohiro. While it's told in dual POV, Ink is actually told from only Katie's perspective, so it was nice to get a bit of Tomohiro's story through his own eyes first. What I liked best about this was that we're thrust into Japanese culture right along side Katie. After her mother's death, she's sent to live with her aunt in Japan. She has the option of staying with a family friend across town, but ultimately decides to take the plunge. It's overwhelming to her at first, since she barely speaks the language and definitely doesn't read it. Plus a lot of stuff is just different. Luckily, Aunt Diane is there to point these differences out and explain them to Katie (and to the reader). I'm definitely glad I read this first, since it gives us some foundation and background about the setting before diving into the main novel.

I wasn't quite as into Tomohiro's chapters. The first one was a bit confusing, so I had trouble settling into his story. However, as it moves forward, it's clear that something strange is happening to him. I had no clue what, since we're just told that he's been "marked" and chosen for something. We also get a peek into his relationship. He's not that into her, or at least he doesn't act like it. He doesn't like getting close to people because of what's happening to him, so he regrets starting this relationship. Of course, it's obvious that he's going to be the love interest, and therefore needs to break up with her.

I just don't think Shadow did as well of a job as introducing Tomohiro as it did with Katie, other than giving us an explanation behind his standoffishness. I'd still suggest giving this one a read before Ink though, since it helps ease into the Japanese culture and has a handy glossary at the end.

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.

[inlibrisveritas]

Wow! I wish I had read this before Ink! Shadow starts while Katie is still in the US, the day of her mother’s funeral. We get to see the moments that pushed her to staying with her aunt in Japan and we get to see the beginning stages of her attempting to start her life over in a foreign country. As an added plus we get treated to chapters in Tomohiro’s point of view, where we get to see the nightmares that haunt him and his strained relationship with Myu. I loved that this gave him a chance to explain his personality more and I think that if I had read it prior to Ink I might have warmed up to him a bit quicker. I really enjoyed the added depth to the story and it’s always nice to see what happens directly before the main book starts. We get to see what drives the characters into making the decisions we get to see first hand in Ink. It’s a cheaper novella (free when I downloaded it) and so I think that if you enjoyed Ink or are curious to see if you might like it then give it a shot. Everything has the same feel too it and you get to see how the writing style is for the Japanese culture, which isn’t for everyone as it does use some Japanese words here and there.