What's the Name of That Book??? discussion

I read this book sometime around 2015-2018. It seemed like it was set in the 2010s with cars and those things. The main character is a mid-teen girl who finds out she can turn her body into a shadow/phantom at will. People who can do this don't age when they're in their shadow form and so can live for a few hundred years if they stay in their shadow form. It's not common and so hardly anyone knows about it. I think there was a fire in a building sometime and a boy as well? It was written in a 21st century style of writing. Any kind of information would be helpful. Thank you!

Was this teen fiction?

Yes. It might have been for tweens too.

Shadow Weaver?

I don't think so. I think it was that she could turn her actual physical body into a shadow and back again.

I'm finding a lot of books where kids lose their shadows or meet shadows, which is not exactly your scenario.

What was the mood? Light, dark, humorous, etc?

If the girl was a teenager, was there any romance in the story?

It's kind of hard to remember.
I was still in primary school when I read it, so the details are vague, but if there was romance in it, it wasn't a very big theme. As for the mood, it was a little dark but mainly somewhere in-between light and dark. Not very funny either, at least at the time I read it.
I don't even remember whether I read it online or with a physical copy, though I didn't read online books until later so it was probably a physical copy.

Probably worth mentioning that I feel like I'm mixing up a couple of books from that time but I'm certain she could turn into a shadow.

What country were you in when you read this book?

Australia.

Thanks, that's a good clue!

The Shadow Thief?

Not sure it's a great match, but it was pubbed in Australia.

It's not that one. I began reading it just then and while it sounds vaguely similar to what I'm looking for it doesn't sound right.
I've been trying to figure out what country it was set in and so far all I know is it was set in an English-speaking country. The most likely setting is either a big town or a city in America or England.

'Phantom' might be a better word than 'shadow', so I have added it to the description at the top.

I just read the description of Gallant by V.E Schwab and the book seems to have a similar sort of vibe to the one I read back then. More specifically, the part about returning home, but instead of ghouls there are intangible people made of shadows. It's not the same book, obviously, because this book was pubbed in March 2022, way after I read it, but it's in that kind of genre.

If either of these details sound right I'll try to remember the title:

-MC is a teen girl in foster care, wants to be an artist.

-It turns out ~halfway through the story that the people who can turn to shadows are a separate race or culture. There might have been another group of people who were hunting them down.

The Shadow Society by Marie Rutkoski?

Juels wrote: "The Shadow Society by Marie Rutkoski?"

That was the one I was thinking of!

Mir wrote: "Juels wrote: "The Shadow Society by Marie Rutkoski?"

That was the one I was thinking of!"

Cool. Let's hope it is Bethany's book too.

Yes, yes, yes! That's the book! I have no idea how I came across it when I was still in primary school, and I'm surprised I remember so much of it, but it is definitely the same book. Thanks so much!

You're welcome.

Great! Glad you found your book, Bethany.

The Shadow Society series by Marie Rutkoski - Juels and Mir's find.