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bibliophile1019 's review for:
The Shadow Society
by Marie Rutkoski
When I heard that Marie Rutkoski had written other books than the Winner's Curse, I simply had to read them. I can see aspects of her genius here, and if I hadn't read The Winner's Curse first, I probably would have given it a higher rating, but it just pales in comparison!
Darcy Jones was abandoned at a fire station when she was five years old with no memory of what happened before. Through the years, she was bounced from foster home to foster home, labelled as dangerous and strange, but she may have finally found a home with foster mother Marsha. On the first day of school--her first time starting school at the same school two years in a row--Darcy makes eye contact with Conn, a new student, and can't seem to forget about him. But then he betrays her and she discovers the reason she's never really fit in anywhere: she's from an alternate universe in which the Great Chicago Fire never happened, and she's a Shade, a mysterious being that was eradicated in the Alt, which is the "real world". To save herself and hopefully make it back to the Alt, Darcy agrees to go undercover to find out what the Shades are planning next, but it isn't easy.
While I found Rutkoski's writing beautiful, I was not as attached to the story as I was to The Winner's Curse, which moved me to tears multiple times. While strong characters, Darcy isn't Kestrel, and Conn pales in comparison to Arin. Without their passion, the story of the Shades just didn't come to life for me. I gave this review three stars instead of two simply because I think it's unfair to compare it to The Winner's Curse, and it may be tainting my opinion just a bit. Overall, I think it's definitely worth a shot for anyone who likes The Winner's Curse!
Darcy Jones was abandoned at a fire station when she was five years old with no memory of what happened before. Through the years, she was bounced from foster home to foster home, labelled as dangerous and strange, but she may have finally found a home with foster mother Marsha. On the first day of school--her first time starting school at the same school two years in a row--Darcy makes eye contact with Conn, a new student, and can't seem to forget about him. But then he betrays her and she discovers the reason she's never really fit in anywhere: she's from an alternate universe in which the Great Chicago Fire never happened, and she's a Shade, a mysterious being that was eradicated in the Alt, which is the "real world". To save herself and hopefully make it back to the Alt, Darcy agrees to go undercover to find out what the Shades are planning next, but it isn't easy.
While I found Rutkoski's writing beautiful, I was not as attached to the story as I was to The Winner's Curse, which moved me to tears multiple times. While strong characters, Darcy isn't Kestrel, and Conn pales in comparison to Arin. Without their passion, the story of the Shades just didn't come to life for me. I gave this review three stars instead of two simply because I think it's unfair to compare it to The Winner's Curse, and it may be tainting my opinion just a bit. Overall, I think it's definitely worth a shot for anyone who likes The Winner's Curse!