The Shadows Between Us

by Tricia Levenseller

[ladygrey]

I’ve read too many books. This one is a little like the shadow king/beauty and the beast story with the spiral cover only better and less abstract. And Leandros reminds me a lot of the friend in The Cruel Prince. Also I suspected the villain from the beginning. Granted I suspected a number of things that didn’t play out like that Kallias’ parents were killed by an offshoot of the family that had the shadow power so could walk through walls to kill them. But I also suspected Leandros from the start because of his closeness and I suspected that the brother was murdered. I also suspected Rhoda or Hestia because of their close niceness so clearly I didn’t get it all correct. And I’m glad it wasn’t either of them because I enjoyed that element of the friendships in the story.

This book also seemed to be a commentary as much as a story—a statement against things Levenseller had read in other books or just heard in life. When a book is also such a clear (and repeated) message it detracts from the rest of the story, regardless of whether I agree with the message or not. In this case it was all about women and sex and judgements and society’s expectations. It might have flowed into the story better if her father hadn’t been such an exaggerated cliché trying to make money off her marriage (several times, it was like the only thing he brought to the story making him one dimensional). ThoughI have to grant her that it’s nota one sided commentary so that was good. And the twist with Hektor looped around to the end quite well. But I found it a rather... interesting way to start a YA novel. And I get that the story was framed in a repressive society to give her something to rebel against and Levenseller something to comment on. It just felt at times like the commentary took over the story.

I liked the characters well enough. Though I wanted more from Kallias. The opening scene he’s so stark and intriguing. I wanted him to be more clever, more dangerous and manipulative so it didn’t feel like she was always the one maneuvering things and he was just smitten. The first morning after they’re engaged when he’s being demanding was close—I wanted more of that, more of him challenging her, moments when he keeps her off balance. In some of the scenes he’s reticent and stark and intriguing. But it never felt like he was challenging her or toying with her in the same way she was with him.

I liked that their relationship was so much more than physical attraction. That it was mostly friendship and getting to know each other and mischief. It made everything seem so much more solid. But then at the end it felt like more commentary for just a moment after he finally kisses her—oh look this whole time Love makes him physically vulnerable but Alessandra has to choose to be emotionally vulnerable—look at that fabulous parallel. I shouldn’t be snide about it because it’s actually well dont is just it went to that obvious place where you’re being told what’s going on instead of just letting it go in and o don’t like that obvious, here let me spell it all out for yo moment.

And yet, it was a remarkably well structured ending. Because in a lot of ways they got their happy ending before the actual end. So you got that moment of satisfaction, of the lingering in their time together in the aftermath to enjoy it. Then there was the twist and the typical short happy ending.

But overall, for all its flaws, Levenseller is a good writer and it’s an easy book to get caught up in. I also like that it’s a stand alone and she managed to get so much story into just one book.