"The Shadow Society" was my first experience with reading a novel by Marie Rutkoski. I really ended up enjoying this novel and I hope there will be more stories in this world. The story is about a girl named Darcy who has no memory of her life before she was five years old. After being passed around several foster families she is now living with a single foster mom and they get along pretty well. She also has a great group of friends at school and she is pretty happy with everything except she wonders about her parents and how she came to be orphaned.

Then a mysterious boy named Conn shows up at school. At first he is distant but then they are paired together and begin work on a special project at school. Things start to heat up between them and Darcy starts to have feelings for him. I will admit at this part of the story I figured it was turning into another generic YA Paranormal boy meets girl love story. I may have even rolled my eyes a little bit. Oh me of little faith! Conn does something to betray Darcy and then reveals another world dimension to her that runs parallel to hers. And Darcy may have originated from it.

I don't want to give away any key plot points but I really enjoyed the book from here on. There are two different warring groups trying to destroy each other and Darcy ends up right in between them. She still has feelings for Conn but there is another boy who shows interest in her. Darcy struggles with unlocking the secrets of her first five years.

The story features new and unique paranormal creatures and a romance that takes a back seat to the mystery and adventure in the novel. The story also features a nice and complete conclusion although there are enough interesting ideas left to easily lead the way for a sequel. And I really hope there will be. I loved the ending of the story and the characters really evolved into some that I would love to see more of.

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This book started out very similar to a lot of other teen books out there... a normal girl (Darcy) who's not the most popular at school meets this gorgeous dark haired guy (with a motorcycle, Conn) and gets a weird feeling about him, and that's when Darcy realizes that she is something special. I have to say it took me awhile to read this book, I just wasn't interested in the beginning, it seemed like something I had read before. But then something happened and it was like a switch was flipped and I was really interested in the book (I'd probably say it happened around the time the alternate world was introduced... I love books with alternate worlds).

Darcy was an interesting character, she was found on the steps of a fire house at 5 years old and has been in and out of foster homes since then. She doesn't remember anything about her past, except for these brief flashes she has every so often. Darcy is determined to learn about her past, even more so when she finds out about this alternate world and what her place in it really is. What really stood out in this book was the friendships that Darcy has made where she is. These three friends are amazing secondary characters, and are always there for Darcy, it's like when she can't speak for herself they are there for her.

I was definitely intrigued by this alternate world, history is different because the Great Chicago Fire never happened there. I think Rutkoski did a great job explaining the history and how this tear between the alternate worlds happened, which is definitely important in a book like this.

The romance in this story is what got on my nerves a little, it seemed a little over the top at times to me personally. There was somewhat of a love triangle going on in the beginning, but I will say that one cleared up pretty quickly. I actually enjoyed that Darcy stuck up for herself when one of the guys started to become pushy towards her. But there still seemed to be something that developed a bit too quickly (though at least they spent a lot of time together before anything happened).

I really loved the ending, everything came together in such a great way, and one of the greatest things is that Darcy learns something about herself... as much as she was trying to find out about her family in the book, she finally realizes that family is what you make it out to be.

This is one book that if you stick it out it is enjoyable and takes readers on a fun ride. Despite the beginning seeming cliché, I enjoyed how Rutkoski surprised me with the alternate world and the history.

3.5/3.75

Nice, but I expected more. The Shadow society is a fast paced and intriguing book but it lacks depth, especially the first half of the book.

What I liked:

1) World building: I liked the idea of an alternate world and how the Great Chicago Fire was related to it, and the concept of Shade was brilliant.

2) The writing: I truly love the author's writing style, it's fluid and elegant at the same time.

3) Secondary characters: I liked Darcy's group of friends and I wished they had a bigger role in the plot, but overall they provided some comic relief and it was funny how they interacted.

4) The description of the Shades. I had never read of something like this, it sounded unique and I love how the title fits the concept. I would have liked to know more about Savannah and I wished to see more of their society, because I feel like I saw only the bad parts in a way.

What I didn't like:

1) Stereotypes: the first part of the book was full of them, though at last they were handled well. At first though the meeting with the new, mysterious boy was too predictable.

2) Again the first part of the book was too predictable, I easily guessed what Conn would do and the ending was a little bit too rushed.

3) The main character. It isn't that I disliked her because in the end I didn't but at first she annoyed me so much. I mean, come on, you can't be that blind girl, he might seem nice and mysterious but ask yourself a couple of question.

So I really liked some parts of The Shadow society in spite of its flaws and truly enjoyed the second half of the book, even though I expected a little bit more. Still it's a fast paced, beautifully written read, with an intriguing concept.

4.25

This was a really fantastic book, really wonderful, and unique, loved Jims, and yeah, excellent book!

First, I need to give props for Rutkoski for being creative! Because I was thinking about her [book:The Winner's Curse|16069030] trilogy, which is one of the best things ever, and I was thinking about this great book, and the fact that the same author is able to write such different types of stories, and still have them both be good, is impressive. Not all authors can demonstrate differentiation between their different books!

Anywho, I really enjoyed this. I loved the beginning, those pre-knowing what the book is about chapters, in which everything was mostly normal. (Reminds me of the beginning of [book:Daughter of Smoke & Bone|8490112], when things were just being calmly set-up, and there's something I love about that.)

Now, one might say that Darcy and Conn's (I loved his name, by the way. Connor McCrea. Has a ring to it.) relationship was insta-love, but I disagree. Yeah, so she couldn't stop thinking about him pretty early on, but excuse me. If a strange, good-looking new guy eyed you directly and looked angry, you'd probably not be able to stop thinking about it. I found that aspect pretty realistic! And then, of course,

Spoiler

Conn basically arrested Darcy and was her enemy for a while, so the romance was pretty slow-burn after that, and I liked it.

The whole world was very interesting. Loved the alternate-reality aspect, centered around the Chicago Fire. Darcy as a character was very likable, as was her group of friends. Actually, they were awesome. And I loved that Taylor Allen, the popular pretty bitchy girl, hilariously broke her mold.

Spoiler

When Darcy, in the Shadowland universe, or whatever it was called, saw Taylor Allen flirting with a guard, and she was lie "umm, what the fuck is Taylor Allen doing here?" That was good stuff. And finding out that her crew had been living in that world in an effort to find her was the best!

That guy, I feel like his name was Demetri, was the worst. (I looked it up, it was Orion, actually.) That needs to be established.

Shout-out to Darcy's foster mom, Marsha. An absolute delight.

I adored the whole "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" thing. The project, and the way things kept getting tied back to the poem was quite creative.

What else? Oh, one small detail I loved was that the alternate Chicago universe, somehow, had another Jane Austen book. As in, in that other world, she had written another book. Darcy read and loved it (and it was one of Conn's favorite. An Austen-reading man, yes please.), and that whole concept was just wonderful!

I think that's it for now. Basically, a really readable book with a creative world and likable characters and a fast-paced plot. Is there supposed to be a sequel, I'm wondering?

Marie Rutkoski, keep up the fantastic work.

3.5 out of 5. Goodness, it took me forever to finish this book not because it wasn't good (it was a good book), but because I kept putting it aside for others. Since it's a stand-alone, at times things seemed to happen too fast but overall, the story started and ended well. An intriguing enough beginning to get you hooked; an action-packed climax; and a satisfying enough ending.

Interesting twist on the paranormal where the girl is the paranormal not the boy. An interesting alternative world. Open for a sequel.

I was really excited because this had so many good reviews, and it really was good in the beginning, but then as it got to the middle and started delving more into the romance, I started getting bored. And truthfully, a little disgusted too because it was so cheesy and tacky. So much that I couldn't even finish the book.

I also felt like Darcy was... it's weird, I don't know how to explain it. Let me put it this way, in a lot of books, people always complain about bland characters and how they should've acted in certain situations, so I feel like Rutkoski combined all those complains and made the "perfect" YA heroine. Except I still felt like she lacked something...

I did love the writing style, and to some extent, the story itself, but none of the characters were likable. I guess that sort of ruined it for me.

Great book! It has been a while since I've read a story that I could clearly imagine the world into being. I could see it play out very well and even felt throughout the story how good of a TV show this could be.

It kind of reminded me of the TV show Fringe a little bit of how the alternate world and our world were set up. Where the alternate world (where most of the story takes place in) didn't seem like it was so far out unbelievable. The technology and over all tone of the world left me feeling that this could be someone's reality. Not super sci-fi where someone who grew up in our world would feel like a complete fish out of water.

I did feel that some of the characters could have been a bit more fleshed out and less teen book cliche (I'm looking at you Taylor), but over all the characters were well written.

One thing I do wish though is that they would have gotten more into her family's back story. It seemed like there was more there. Much more. They also kind of hinted (at least to me it seemed they did) that her Dad may still be alive. When you say someone is sentenced to be killed and that's it (unlike they said about her mom), it makes me a bit suspicious.

Over all, a great story. There is some more with the world I think that could go into another novel, but I am quite satisfied of how this one ended.

Definitely recommend!