A review by forgottencupoftea
The Shadows Between Us by Tricia Levenseller

adventurous funny mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

This book had been on my "want to read" shelf for two whole years before I finally picked it up! (we have my "to be read jar" to thank for that) Imagine my disappointment when I quickly realized this wasn’t going to be a hit for me...

I did not like the writing style: it is simple, plain and bland. It is extremely descriptive too, everything is described in excessive detail: how the clothes look, how the room is set, where the characters are sitting... Most of those details are unimportant and contribute nothing to the story. In fact, I find that the actual storytelling ends up drowned in all those unnecessary elements which is a shame. On top of the narration being too descriptive, the dialogues were rather cringe-worthy. I also found the cuts and the chapter division to be awkward and seldom in the right places. 
(I can’t help but point out that both the author AND the editor/editing team are at fault here.)

Alessandra is described as cunning and selfish, she is supposed to be a woman who knows what she wants and stops at nothing to get it. I personally thought that she came across as rude, annoying and bratty even at times. Though she herself did terrible things
(she did commit murder at the age of 15 just because a boy had lost interest)
, she has this holier-than-thou attitude that I could not stand. The author desperately tried to paint Alessandra as a feminist figure/an empowered woman (going as far as having the character declare "I’m a sexually empowered woman and there is nothing wrong with that.") but, instead, only managed to make her manipulative.

Kallias, the Shadow King, was nothing more than simply okay. He was scary for all of two seconds (chapters?). He softened up very quickly for a King who is supposedly ruthless and has extreme trust issues.

Both Alessandra and Kallias have strong character development, which could have been a good thing except none of it really makes sense. Their change of heart isn’t explained or backed up by actions in the narration. It all comes out of thin air in the last third of the book.

The plot is poorly executed, there are too many events happening quickly and the progression is overall messy. It lacked world-building: Kallias is the King of six (I think) kingdoms and we barely know anything about them. The novel would have benefited from a stronger political/military storyline as the romance was quite bland anyway (it all happens fast and the MCs have little chemistry).

In general, it was a pretty unsatisfying read for me.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings