The Shadows Between Us by Tricia Levenseller

“Alessandra is tired of being overlooked, but she has a plan to gain power:

1) Woo the Shadow King.
2) Marry him.
3) Kill him and take his kingdom for herself.

No one knows the extent of the freshly crowned Shadow King’s power. Some say he can command the shadows that swirl around him to do his bidding. Others say they speak to him, whispering the thoughts of his enemies. Regardless, Alessandra knows what she deserves, and she’s going to do everything within her power to get it.

But Alessandra’s not the only one trying to kill the king. As attempts on his life are made, she finds herself trying to keep him alive long enough for him to make her his queen—all while struggling not to lose her heart. After all, who better for a Shadow King than a cunning, villainous queen?”

Genre: YA fantasy, romance, enemies to lovers

Rating: /5 stars

“They’ve never found the body of the first and only boy who broke my heart. And they never will.”

Now that’s an opening sentence that will definitely grab your attention. This book starts off strong, with a premise that will have you hooked from the very first page. And I was. (Hooked, that is.) I read this book in one sitting because I simply couldn’t put it down.

The protagonist, Alessandra Stathos, is portrayed more as an antagonist or an anti-hero. She is cunning, deceptive, self-absorbed, murderous and downright unstable when she gets angry.
Even though she starts off as an unlikable character, as the story progresses, you start to understand her motivations—what leads her to act the way she does, and why she is the way she is. I couldn’t stand her character at the beginning of the story, but she grew on me.

Then there’s the Shadow King, Kallias Maheras. Quite frankly, I was a little underwhelmed by his character. He is supposed to be this super-strong, intimidating person that everyone fears—but that isn’t something you truly feel with his character. The way that he is described in the story, you expect him to be more than what he actually is. That was something that disappointed me. I felt that his character didn’t quite live up to the expectations that the book created for him.

Then there’s the world-building—or lack thereof. This is one of the reasons why I removed a star from the rating. The world that this story takes place in is never properly established. We are told that the Shadow King has conquered six kingdoms, which is supposed to be a very impressive feat—but we never really feel that because we have no idea of how big this world is. How am I supposed to know if conquering six kingdoms is a big deal?
It is only much later on in the book that the author mentions that there are a total of nine kingdoms.

I believe the story could’ve been much better with a bit of proper world-building. But overall, it was a fun and quick read. I did enjoy it quite a lot.

The post The Shadows Between Us — book review first appeared on Asteria Hecate.