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A review by sallysimply
Your Shadow Half Remains by Sunny Moraine
5.0
This book fucked me up. I am already eager to re-read it.
I had not heard of Sunny Moraine or of this book, and now I wonder if I’ve found a new fave. I stumbled upon this book and was drawn in by the cover. I chose to read it on a whim — mostly because it was short and so, if I didn’t enjoy it, at least it wouldn’t be a total drag.
And WOW! It is full of tension, it’s super dark, and it made me question my own experience of reading it. For some people, that’s all they need to know to stay away, but I ate it up!
Your Shadow Half Remains takes place during a pandemic with a… twisted kind of impact. The synopsis shares more than I will here, because I think I benefitted from not knowing much. I got to fully sit with the questions, fears, and concerns Riley was posing of herself and of the world, without the info we’re “supposed” to know going in. I’ll say that this particular pandemmy makes for a lonely experience. And one that had Riley constantly questioning her own sanity.
That questioning impacted me more than I thought. In addition to trying to figure out if Riley was seeing things, hearing things, imagining things, I found myself constantly rewinding the audiobook to make sure I heard something right — that I, too, was following the thread of reality. I kept repeating some version of, “Wait, what just happened?! For real, though?!” to myself over and over again. And I LOVED that! I loved being so impacted.
Also, it must be said that there is some stunning writing in this. I don’t often have the experience of finishing a book and 1) instantly wanting to re-read it, or 2) wanting a physical copy asap. Yet, I felt both of those things here.
I had not heard of Sunny Moraine or of this book, and now I wonder if I’ve found a new fave. I stumbled upon this book and was drawn in by the cover. I chose to read it on a whim — mostly because it was short and so, if I didn’t enjoy it, at least it wouldn’t be a total drag.
And WOW! It is full of tension, it’s super dark, and it made me question my own experience of reading it. For some people, that’s all they need to know to stay away, but I ate it up!
Your Shadow Half Remains takes place during a pandemic with a… twisted kind of impact. The synopsis shares more than I will here, because I think I benefitted from not knowing much. I got to fully sit with the questions, fears, and concerns Riley was posing of herself and of the world, without the info we’re “supposed” to know going in. I’ll say that this particular pandemmy makes for a lonely experience. And one that had Riley constantly questioning her own sanity.
That questioning impacted me more than I thought. In addition to trying to figure out if Riley was seeing things, hearing things, imagining things, I found myself constantly rewinding the audiobook to make sure I heard something right — that I, too, was following the thread of reality. I kept repeating some version of, “Wait, what just happened?! For real, though?!” to myself over and over again. And I LOVED that! I loved being so impacted.
Also, it must be said that there is some stunning writing in this. I don’t often have the experience of finishing a book and 1) instantly wanting to re-read it, or 2) wanting a physical copy asap. Yet, I felt both of those things here.