I thought this was a well done paranormal novel. I liked that it was a new subject matter, not the normal werewolves and vampires. The Shades were well thought out and fleshed out. There was enough detail to the characters that it almost seemed like an older archetype rather than a newly imagined one. I loved that I hadn't read about them before and yet it almost felt like I had since there was so much information perfectly relayed and developed from the author's mind that they seemed real.

I liked Darcy as a character, although sometimes I felt that she wasn't sure if she was the shy-don't-notice-me-girl or the badass-don't-talk-to-me-girl. But one thing that she wasn't (consistently) was stupid. When she felt like she was in danger, she didn't let her possible feelings for anyone get in the way, she reacted and tried to get out of there. I liked that she was loyal, to her friends and to herself/her humanity. She made mistakes and may not have been great on giving/keeping her trust from the right people but her decisions were based on the greater good (which may seem corny, yes). And that is something that her character radiated from the first introduction.

Conn was a good romantic interest. Although you are not really sure where he stands at times, just like Darcy, there is this sense of humanity that drives him and you just hope that his head and actions can catch up to that when placed in the wrong situation. His wavering when it came to his loyalties, was honest and understandable given his past, not an inability to commit.

My biggest issue was that I felt that there should have been more exploration and description of the alternate Chicago and how/why the Great Chicago Fire not happening altered things. I know that if I wound up in some alternate universe, I would want to pay attention to details that are different. I wouldn't only go out at pre-scheduled times. I thought that a perfect point to focus on some of the reasons behind the differences would have been at the art gallery. Sometimes, there are little signs that give some detail about the pieces of artwork, maybe just one bit that touched on a reason for a slight difference between our world and this one. We only got glimpses of the alternate Chicago, the parts that were in detail were few and far between.

I know some people were bothered by the cliche of the new boy coming to school and changing the girl's life, I ignored that for the sake of the story. The end was also a little on the disappointing side. It seemed just too far fetched to me.

Spoiler

I felt that it was a little too coincidental that her friends managed to find the rifts between universes, find work, and a flat to stay in while keeping surveillance on the rift to wait for Darcy to come back.

I felt that her friends were a little too drawn up, some were too over-the-top while others were too cliche. The one secondary character that I did love, I cannot remember her name but she was the old lady who took care of the collections that the Shades took from the humans.