The Shadows Between Us

by Tricia Levenseller

𝙈𝙮 𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙩𝙡𝙚 𝙝𝙚𝙡𝙡𝙞𝙤𝙣.

𝙌𝙪𝙞𝙩𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙘𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙠𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙙 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝, 𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙣’𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪?

SYNOPSIS

All her life she’s been the mere shadow of her beautiful elder sister, forever the overlooked sibling. But now that it’s finally her turn to step into the spotlight, Alessandra Stathos has a cunning plan in mind — she’s going to woo the Shadow King, marry him, then kill him & take over the kingdom.

As her plans slowly fall into place, she finds herself closer at his side than ever—sharing his dreams & visions for the future, scheming against enemies of the kingdom together & while trying to keep him safe from harm.

But as she must make the decision for her final move, she finds that not only the entire future of the kingdom is on the line, but her own heart as well.

𝘽𝙚𝙘𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙮𝙤𝙪, 𝙄 𝙛𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙 𝙢𝙮 𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙘𝙝.

𝙄𝙣 𝙮𝙤𝙪, 𝙄 𝙛𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙 𝙢𝙮 𝙚𝙦𝙪𝙖𝙡.

REVIEW

As a fantasy stand-alone, it not only lacked a concrete world-building, nor was there any clear explanation of the magic system. The establishment of the kingdom itself was also slightly vague, for whichever specifications we have about what happens outside the court was too brief for any element of reality to truly sink in.

However, the thing I actually loved about this book, is that it’s NOT your usual good-conquers-evil, and a protagonist with a forgiving, compassionate heart of pure gold—rather, you can toss away any expectation of that.

The appreciation I have for the character-build of Alessandra is utterly indescribable. I’ve never come across such a female protagonist brimming with personality, wit & ambition, with an admirable strength, determination & to stay true to her heart in each & every situation—even when she’s acting likewise abominable, despicable & vicious.

As for the enemy-to-lovers trope that’s literally advertised in large red letters within the synopsis, the pacing & build-up of this one was very interesting & amusing to read.

Overall, it’s definitely one-of-a-kind, probably a book you’d only either hate or love.