I won this book off FYA and finally got around to reading it to finish off my break.

I couldn't decide if it was a three star or four star read, but since it was compelling enough to make me think about it for longer than two seconds, I went with four stars.

I like that this is a stand alone book. Or at least, it's not obviously serialized with a cliffhanger ending or anything like that.

I liked the fantasy elements of an alternative world and the whole set up. The concept of Shades is great and, fantastical as it was, shared a lot of parallels with the real world.

I'm just not sure I liked Darcy, the main character. There were two many moments when I wanted to just smack her a little and tell her to get her butt in gear and stop playing stupid. Just be smart, girl. I liked her by the end, but she was an irritating mix of intelligent and just plain naive.

The romance was a rocky start in the beginning (actually, the first 30 pages were kind of a slow start), but once things got cooking, it was great fun. It's not insta-love and while there was the possibility of a triangle, I'm glad that didn't really go anywhere.

The biggest jump for me were Darcy's friends. They were too convenient and too willing and fit in just a little too well and they made things just a little too easy, in places where I thought reality would be a little different. Teenagers can't disappear for two months without answering to some kind of authority. A society that appears to be at least somewhat more tightly regimented than the real world shouldn't be such an easy place for them to infiltrate so successfully. Conn had problems, so they should too.

There were some issues, but overall it was enjoyable, sweet, and I would probably read it again sometime. So, four stars.