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mak3dde's review
4.0
3.5 - 4 stars for me.
It was an easy and enjoyable read! Good for when you are in the mood to read something but not commit to an entire series.
I am a little put off however because all the hype had me super excited and I was left a bit disappointed. The first few chapters had me absolutely sucked in but as I got further into the book I became a bit disinterested when I felt things were moving extremely fast and that the plot wasn’t building tension anymore (and I thought the Shadow King would be more… evil? Intimidating?).
I did love Alessandra though and thoroughly enjoyed her character, along with all the female empowerment. I truly did enjoy this book and although it is marked as a standalone I would defiantly read the second book if it were ever a thing.
It was an easy and enjoyable read! Good for when you are in the mood to read something but not commit to an entire series.
I am a little put off however because all the hype had me super excited and I was left a bit disappointed. The first few chapters had me absolutely sucked in but as I got further into the book I became a bit disinterested when I felt things were moving extremely fast and that the plot wasn’t building tension anymore (and I thought the Shadow King would be more… evil? Intimidating?).
I did love Alessandra though and thoroughly enjoyed her character, along with all the female empowerment. I truly did enjoy this book and although it is marked as a standalone I would defiantly read the second book if it were ever a thing.
jessicaeliz's review against another edition
2.0
Had this book on my shelf for so long then was sent it from netgalley so thought I would finally read it.
I wish I didn’t…
It had so much potential the best part was page 1 then nothing
I wish I didn’t…
It had so much potential the best part was page 1 then nothing
laelyn's review against another edition
2.0
This book has so many fans and the romance is so popular, it made me very excited to see what all the fuss is about. And I can see why so many people love it: It's fun, it allows its protagonist to be kind of morally corrupt and evil-ish, and it wants to be feminist and sex positive very very much. The writing is engaging and simple, making this an easy and quick read.
In the end, it was... okay at best. If you want something easy to digest without too much substance for a relaxing sunday afternoon, something that doesn't expect much from you but lets you forget your troubles for a while, then this book might be a good fit. It doesn't add anything to any conversation on the themes it plays with, but it's a good little snack.
Our protagonist, Alessandra, really wants to be an Evil Badass Bitch, and she tries so very hard to convince us just how morally ambiguous she is, just how easily she can kill someone, that it's borderline cringey most of the time. Alessandra is also convinced she's a feminist, fighting for women's sexual freedom. That's cool, that's great, but it's done in such a heavyhanded and on the nose way, without any subtlety or nuance but with good old looking down on women who are not as Free and Liberated as herself, that it, too, becomes cringey. A book that wants to advocate for the sexual freedom of women, but doesn't understand or care for the intricacies of why women are sexually unfree in their particular society and instead paints these women as lesser than the protagonist, does nothing to actually further the point it wants to make. Alessandra is just horrible and thinks too much of herself, and not in a good way.
This is basically the main issue of "The Shadow Between Us": Levenseller wants to use certain themes, wants to tackle certain subjects, and wants her characters to defy certain standards, but none of it actually means anything. Both Alessandra and her love interest, the Shadow King Kallias, are villaineous characters who do terrible things, but somehow we are supposed to think these are really cool and actually morally good things, because no time at all is spent on dealing with the implications or consequences of anything. If you write villains, then let them be villains and don't half-ass their villainy. If you just let them conquer a country but don't show what their conquest actually does to the people there, then it means nothing, then it's just a scene intending only to show how Badass and Clever these two characters are. If Alessandra does villainous things without any consequences, getting out of a murder charge just by being loved by the right person instead of having her actually deal with (and possibly revel in) her villainous act, it means nothing. If her villainous act is painted in a positive light, because the guy she murdered was mean to her after all and she was just so Empowered in that moment, it means nothing. Nothing means anything.
The characters in general are mostly rather flat. Alessandra is the only one with any complexity, and most of this complexity is faux. She's a faux feminist, a faux Badass, but at least she is the cleverest of them all, too, apparently capable of finding solutions to problems a whole group of very experienced politicians are struggling with. She's 18. Ah well, suspension of disbelief and all that. She's also an incredibly talented seamstress and designer, capable of changing the fashion of an entire country with her never-been-seen designs. It's a little much, especially when she is given no actual weaknesses or flaws. Kallias is... well, he has shadow magic and he instantly falls in love with Alessandra, there's nothing more to him really. The side characters are kind of there, though I quite enjoyed them anyway.
The plot itself is a little meandering, the book spending too much time on Alessandra describing her new elaborate fashion designs and not enough time on building up the threat they're supposed to be fighting. The big plot twist is more or less predictable, with the only unpredictable part of it being unpredictable only because it relies on throwaway information that wasn't properly incorprorated in the story.
Still, sometimes you just enjoy books because they're not super deep. I think that "The Shadows Between Us" could have been a great book, but a lot of potential was wasted - I didn't hate my time with it despite all its issues though. It's fun if you don't think too hard about anything.
Many thanks to Pushkin and Netgalley for the arc!
In the end, it was... okay at best. If you want something easy to digest without too much substance for a relaxing sunday afternoon, something that doesn't expect much from you but lets you forget your troubles for a while, then this book might be a good fit. It doesn't add anything to any conversation on the themes it plays with, but it's a good little snack.
Our protagonist, Alessandra, really wants to be an Evil Badass Bitch, and she tries so very hard to convince us just how morally ambiguous she is, just how easily she can kill someone, that it's borderline cringey most of the time. Alessandra is also convinced she's a feminist, fighting for women's sexual freedom. That's cool, that's great, but it's done in such a heavyhanded and on the nose way, without any subtlety or nuance but with good old looking down on women who are not as Free and Liberated as herself, that it, too, becomes cringey. A book that wants to advocate for the sexual freedom of women, but doesn't understand or care for the intricacies of why women are sexually unfree in their particular society and instead paints these women as lesser than the protagonist, does nothing to actually further the point it wants to make. Alessandra is just horrible and thinks too much of herself, and not in a good way.
This is basically the main issue of "The Shadow Between Us": Levenseller wants to use certain themes, wants to tackle certain subjects, and wants her characters to defy certain standards, but none of it actually means anything. Both Alessandra and her love interest, the Shadow King Kallias, are villaineous characters who do terrible things, but somehow we are supposed to think these are really cool and actually morally good things, because no time at all is spent on dealing with the implications or consequences of anything. If you write villains, then let them be villains and don't half-ass their villainy. If you just let them conquer a country but don't show what their conquest actually does to the people there, then it means nothing, then it's just a scene intending only to show how Badass and Clever these two characters are. If Alessandra does villainous things without any consequences, getting out of a murder charge just by being loved by the right person instead of having her actually deal with (and possibly revel in) her villainous act, it means nothing. If her villainous act is painted in a positive light, because the guy she murdered was mean to her after all and she was just so Empowered in that moment, it means nothing. Nothing means anything.
The characters in general are mostly rather flat. Alessandra is the only one with any complexity, and most of this complexity is faux. She's a faux feminist, a faux Badass, but at least she is the cleverest of them all, too, apparently capable of finding solutions to problems a whole group of very experienced politicians are struggling with. She's 18. Ah well, suspension of disbelief and all that. She's also an incredibly talented seamstress and designer, capable of changing the fashion of an entire country with her never-been-seen designs. It's a little much, especially when she is given no actual weaknesses or flaws. Kallias is... well, he has shadow magic and he instantly falls in love with Alessandra, there's nothing more to him really. The side characters are kind of there, though I quite enjoyed them anyway.
The plot itself is a little meandering, the book spending too much time on Alessandra describing her new elaborate fashion designs and not enough time on building up the threat they're supposed to be fighting. The big plot twist is more or less predictable, with the only unpredictable part of it being unpredictable only because it relies on throwaway information that wasn't properly incorprorated in the story.
Still, sometimes you just enjoy books because they're not super deep. I think that "The Shadows Between Us" could have been a great book, but a lot of potential was wasted - I didn't hate my time with it despite all its issues though. It's fun if you don't think too hard about anything.
Many thanks to Pushkin and Netgalley for the arc!
nakkyy's review
4.0
It was a hard book to start for me but when I got through the first part I kept reading. I did enjoy it more than I thought but i dont know it wasn’t my type of book for some reason
rayarriz's review
2.0
I didn't realize it was YA. I loved the concept but it was hard to get into the voice. I really hate first person pov. And the main character was cool at first but increasingly came across as snarky.
Ended up skimming to the end.
Ended up skimming to the end.
cdmue's review against another edition
3.0
I would recommend this book if one was looking for a villain to date a villain. I would say it is in the higher young adult genre and I am looking forward to reading the sequel. But the plot is predictable and if you don’t mind possibly figuring out the ending early it is a good read.
adrix04's review
adventurous
challenging
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
emilye3's review
4.0
4.5 this book was definitely unique and I loved how different it was from other books. The characters were funny and relatable and well written. It was quick and easy and I highly recommend.