The Shadow SocietyAuthor: Marie Rutkoski
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 416 pages
Publication Date: October 16, 2012
From Goodreads:
Darcy Jones doesn’t remember anything before the day she was abandoned as a child outside a Chicago firehouse. She has never really belonged anywhere—but she couldn’t have guessed that she comes from an alternate world where the Great Chicago Fire didn’t happen and deadly creatures called Shades terrorize the human population.
Memories begin to haunt Darcy when a new boy arrives at her high school, and he makes her feel both desire and desired in a way she hadn’t thought possible. But Conn’s interest in her is confusing. It doesn’t line up with the way he first looked at her.
As if she were his enemy.
When Conn betrays Darcy, she realizes that she can’t rely on anything—not herself, not the laws of nature, and certainly not him. Darcy decides to infiltrate the Shadow Society and uncover the Shades’ latest terrorist plot. What she finds out will change her world forever.
Review:
I loved this book, it was smart, original, and creative. I love the concept of parallel worlds and this one was so well done. The Shades were fascinating, how they live, why they're considered evil. Also enjoyed the differences between our Chicago and the other Chicago.
Darcy is a strong heroine (she's grown up in the foster care system) whose world is turned inside out and upside down when she finds out the truth about her past. Although the relationship between Darcy and Conn starts off a bit familiar (in an annoying way) it soon changes and I found myself really rooting for them and hoping things would work out. For some reason, the romance in this book really got to me. In a good way. Conn's back story explains so many things and all of his previous behavior makes sense and you realize how tough this is for him. Both Darcy and Conn are just trying to do the right thing. And no love triangle! (Some reviews have complained about the love triangle, but there really isn't one).
The book is well paced, the plot is interesting, and Darcy's friends are funny and quirky. I wish they had been in the book a bit more. The final action scenes felt somewhat rushed and too easy and some things happened that were rather implausible (and way too convenient), but I still enjoyed the book and definitely recommend it. And if all of these series are driving you crazy, know that this is a stand-alone.
Posted by: Pam
This series sounds interesting and original. I am looking forward to reading The Winner's Curse and I'm sure after that one I'll be dying to get my hands on the rest of her books.
ReplyDeleteI loved it so I'm definitely looking forward to reading The Winner's Curse. ~Pam
DeleteEven though this one sounds like it has some flaws, I want to read more of Marie Rutkoski's work after finishing and loving The Winner's Curse. Also, yay for standalones!
ReplyDeleteI was glad it was a stand-alone, but I did love the characters so much that I would love to read more about them. ~Pam
DeleteYay for a stand-alone! It is so hard to tell what is, which is why I joined that challenge this year. Great review! This one will be added to my tbr!
ReplyDeleteIt is hard to tell sometimes, I figure Goodreads will have the series name in parentheses with the number, but sometimes that doesn't happen. ~Pam
DeleteThis one is completely new to me but it sounds really good. And it's great to find a stand-alone because there aren't too many of those anymore. Great review :)
ReplyDeleteI heard such great things about The Winner's Curse that I looked up the author and saw this book. So glad I did! And yay for stand-alones, it seems as if everything is a series these days. ~Pam
DeleteI love that this is a standalone and I'm aching for more of this author's work after the wonder of The Winner's Curse. I tend to stay away from parallel world books, but you definitely make this sound like a hit. I'm going to have to pick it up soon! Great review.
ReplyDelete