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17th out of 47 books
—
90 voters
The Shadow Society
by
Marie Rutkoski (Goodreads Author)
Darcy Jones doesn’t remember anything before the day she was abandoned as a child outside a Chicago firehouse. She has never really belonged anywhere—but she couldn’t have guessed that she comes from an alternate world where the Great Chicago Fire didn’t happen and deadly creatures called Shades terrorize the human population.
Memories begin to haunt Darcy when a new boy ar...more
Memories begin to haunt Darcy when a new boy ar...more
Hardcover, 416 pages
Published
October 16th 2012
by Farrar, Straus and Giroux
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These days every time I go to pick up another Paranormal Romance I know I'll end up with some form of vampire, werewolf, zombie or ghost. And while there is nothing wrong any of those types of characters, it tends to get a little "tell me something I don't know, would ya?" I wanted something different, creative and imaginative. So when I first discovered The Shadow Society, I was really excited to read a novel that featured an entirely new Paranormal creature: Shades, children of the shadows (ba...more
29 likes · like · see review
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The Shadow Society begins on a very clichéd note: hot new guy who our protagonist is immediately attracted to, who invades all her thoughts, and seems to be enchanted by her--the plain Jane. Let's just say I did not have high hopes after this. But fortunately, and as a big relief, things turn around quite drastically once we get over this beginning slump. This is when we find ourselves into a very intriguing and unique premise involving alternate dimensions.
Alternate dimensions are not something...more
Alternate dimensions are not something...more
20 likes · like · see review
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Actual Rating: 3.5 stars
You know those books that you like, sometimes even really like, though you have no clue why? Those books that, for some reason, you can come up with quite a lot of reasons why you shouldn't like it, but when you are to come up with reasons why you do like it, you're pretty much at a loss for words? The Shadow Society is, for me, one of those books. I don't know why I like it. I sure cou...more
Actual Rating: 3.5 stars
You know those books that you like, sometimes even really like, though you have no clue why? Those books that, for some reason, you can come up with quite a lot of reasons why you shouldn't like it, but when you are to come up with reasons why you do like it, you're pretty much at a loss for words? The Shadow Society is, for me, one of those books. I don't know why I like it. I sure cou...more
14 likes · like · see review
Yeah, The Shadow Society is definitely not going to be a book that everyone loves. Personally, I enjoyed it. It was flawed and I can agree that many will give up on it (and be right to do so), but I really did find that it was worth my time. And the thing is, I almost DNFed it. But because I had DNFed the book before it, I decided to stick with it, and I'm actually really glad I did that. It has some problems, but in the end, it was a lot of fun and I found that it was a valuable way to spend my...more
Mar 01, 2013
Suzanne (Paranormal Pages)
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
jan-yc-blue,
kindle
I began the Shadow Society with some hesitation having seen bloggers, whose opinions I've really grown to appreciate, hadn't been very happy with it. I was aware of the cliched "new guy at school that girl can't stop obsessing over", but I felt that was something that wouldn't bother me, I'd be fine with that. Maybe low expectations paid off again, but this book was really for me. I was completely engrossed in it.
Darcy was abandoned outside a fire station when she was just five years old and ha...more
Darcy was abandoned outside a fire station when she was just five years old and ha...more
6 likes · like · see review
Three words sum up my overall experience with The Shadow Society: I don't know. I didn't know what I was reading and I still am not quite sure. I do know that I didn't like it very much. The plot was uninteresting, the world building was lacking, and the characters were mediocre.
It's about Darcy, a foster child of many, always being returned to the system, always needing a place to belong. Finally she's found a place where she has a home, a school, and friends. The mystery to her is her past --...more
It's about Darcy, a foster child of many, always being returned to the system, always needing a place to belong. Finally she's found a place where she has a home, a school, and friends. The mystery to her is her past --...more
10 likes · like · see review
Read This Review & More Like It On My Blog!
So many good ideas and golden opportunities were wasted or ignored over the course this supernatural story set in Chicago. I had high hopes for this - I own the first two books in the author's Kronos Chronicles series and have been meaning to get to them for months - but The Shadow Society never lived up to its blurb and my expectations. Promising originality, suspense and intrigue, the book I read delivered nothing of the sort. Instead I got the sa...more
So many good ideas and golden opportunities were wasted or ignored over the course this supernatural story set in Chicago. I had high hopes for this - I own the first two books in the author's Kronos Chronicles series and have been meaning to get to them for months - but The Shadow Society never lived up to its blurb and my expectations. Promising originality, suspense and intrigue, the book I read delivered nothing of the sort. Instead I got the sa...more
"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 w...more
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Darcy Jones was left at a fire station when she was just five years old with no idea who she was or how she'd gotten there.
Eleven years and far too many foster homes later, Darcy has finally found a town, a foster mother, and a school that she's been able to stay with for more than a year. But just when she seems to be getting everything on track, she finds herself drawn to a boy who seems to know more about her than she's ever known about herself.
He knows...more
Darcy Jones was left at a fire station when she was just five years old with no idea who she was or how she'd gotten there.
Eleven years and far too many foster homes later, Darcy has finally found a town, a foster mother, and a school that she's been able to stay with for more than a year. But just when she seems to be getting everything on track, she finds herself drawn to a boy who seems to know more about her than she's ever known about herself.
He knows...more
Read the whole review on Inklings of two Booklings!
In the past I had always had expectations about books. Expectations that were based on the blurb, the cover and the reviews I previously read about the said book. However, the majority of the time I was left disappointed after reading the story. However, I stopped getting my hopes up and with The Shadow Society I didn't even know what the plot was about (I had the book on my Kindle for quite some time and due to my Swiss cheese memory I forgot a...more
In the past I had always had expectations about books. Expectations that were based on the blurb, the cover and the reviews I previously read about the said book. However, the majority of the time I was left disappointed after reading the story. However, I stopped getting my hopes up and with The Shadow Society I didn't even know what the plot was about (I had the book on my Kindle for quite some time and due to my Swiss cheese memory I forgot a...more
A different book by the author of the Kronos Chronicles – Cabinet of Wonders, The Celestial Globe and The Jewel of the Kaldrash. This one is about parallel worlds and a young woman who is living in our world, not knowing she is not of our world. A new guy starts at school and she falls for him, only to have him arrest her and take her back to her world. It is a world with humans and shades. Shades don’t have to eat, can disappear at will and live a lot longer than humans. There is currently an u...more
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, f...more
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, f...more
I was so excited to get this book and it did NOT disappoint me! The mean thing about this book- at least for me- was that it was a book I could not put down. I spent lots of time when I should have been studying (sorry mom)reading, but it was well worth it! The idea of this other world is just so fascinating to me, then you add a mystery and an amazing plot and it creates a book that is just mind-blowing to me. My reading experience was basically me furiously flipping through the pages, trying t...more
This YA urban fantasy novel opened with an immediate hook. And the good stuff kept coming - with realistic and likable characters, great dialogue and a fast, absorbing pace. Yes, the arrival of a mysterious stranger to Darcy’s (the narrator) high school felt more than a little familiar, but the originality that came later in the story more than made up for this bit of cliche. What consistently pulled me out of the action was the incorrect details surrounding the (Alter) Chicago (and Chicagoland)...more
The Shadow Society is a story that starts out with us walking down a familiar path, a new boy arriving at school and instantly giving off hostile vibes whenever he’s in the presence of our protagonist, but before too long this tale seems to meet a fork in the road, and luckily for us, chooses to deviate from that familiar path and veer off into the darkness and mystery of the unknown. Acting as the catalyst for our shift in circumstances is Conn’s painful betrayal of Darcy, luring her into a vul...more
This was a great story! Darcy is not quite an ordinary foster child. She was found outside a Chicago Fire Hall when she was five. She had no memory of how she got there. In the next eleven years she bounced around to a number of foster homes. She has been at Marsha's for two years now which is something of a personal record.
She is starting her junior year of high school and happy to be with her three friends - Lily, Jims, and Raphael. They have formed their own little group in the high school. B...more
She is starting her junior year of high school and happy to be with her three friends - Lily, Jims, and Raphael. They have formed their own little group in the high school. B...more
Darcy Jones doesn’t remember anything before she was five, when she was abandoned outside a firehouse in Chicago. She’s never really belonged anywhere, but for now, she’s at least content to start the school year with friends. But then Conn shows up, and there’s something about him that makes her feel and want things she never allowed herself to feel and want before—until she finds out that Conn isn’t who she thinks he is. He’s not even from this world—and it turns out that neither is she. As Da...more
Shadow Society started off really well, with her saying a knife’s been thrown at her, with her describing this hot mysterious boy… and with her regretting meeting him all the same. Then it was less and less interesting mainly because (a) I’ve read a version of parts of this already, and (b) portions went unexplained.
To my first issue I begin with the buddies. I mean sure they’re an odd ball group of people. While not popular, it’s is in fact their oddness that keeps them from becoming the ones...more
To my first issue I begin with the buddies. I mean sure they’re an odd ball group of people. While not popular, it’s is in fact their oddness that keeps them from becoming the ones...more
The book wasn’t immediately interesting. This story line has been done a thousand times. Girl meets mysterious boy. I’ve read it so much that it doesn’t really have an effect. I wish authors would come up with new material instead of wearing out and ruining the good stuff. Things did pick up a little as I got further into the book, like when they started working on the project together.
Her friends, also, were no different than the friends that almost every female character has. She has her entou...more
Her friends, also, were no different than the friends that almost every female character has. She has her entou...more
Ok, I loved the cover of this book and that is why it found its way into my arms. How can you not love this dark and mysterious cover and then the title, The Shadow Society? I was intrigued to read about Darcy and how she could be from two different worlds and that these two worlds had something to do with the Great Chicago Fire. Darcy doesn’t remember her past so it would take some time for her to understand her part and I was willing to spend some time with her understanding what exactly happe...more
I really liked this book, and I had to give it five starts, because this book made my friends think that I needed to get professional help because I was reading too much. :) Well anyway, I really like the main character Darcy. I like the fact that she is tough, but not in a way where she never expresses her emotions or is all mean and never wants help. Also, she isn't too weak, or a damsel in distress, as she said so herself. She will fight for what she believes in and her life. Also, I like Con...more
Borderline love/hate with this story is the only way I can explain my feelings on this book. Its dark and different than what I am used to reading which was refreshing in the way that I got to step out of my box with it.
The characters were the main thing for me that kept me from rating it higher. I think the main problem I had was that some characters were not needed to make this story great while others weren't used enough. Another problem is the cliched new boy who is dark yet sexy. The plot...more
The characters were the main thing for me that kept me from rating it higher. I think the main problem I had was that some characters were not needed to make this story great while others weren't used enough. Another problem is the cliched new boy who is dark yet sexy. The plot...more
Let me first say that Marie Rutkoski, author of The Shadow Society, sure knows how to set the stage of her novel by starting off with a mother of all hooks. Holy fire hose was that intense!! She really had me from the opening scene, and continued to draw me into her novel with her constant twists and turns. This book had enough fuel to keep me turning the pages at a rapid pace until the final outcome. Very entertaining!
In The Shadow Society, we meet Darcy Jones who is a foster kid that’s jumped...more
In The Shadow Society, we meet Darcy Jones who is a foster kid that’s jumped...more
can't begin to tell you how much I love this book. I wish more books like this were published more often, Finally a new idea, something that is not overdone and not copied!!! THANK GOD!
What I loved most about this book, if you have not guessed it by now, is the plot. This is a plot that is well done and beautifully written. It's heart-pounding, exciting, and just pure fun all together. In the story, Darcy is not who she thinks she is. She is something more and once that secret is out, Darcy is...more
What I loved most about this book, if you have not guessed it by now, is the plot. This is a plot that is well done and beautifully written. It's heart-pounding, exciting, and just pure fun all together. In the story, Darcy is not who she thinks she is. She is something more and once that secret is out, Darcy is...more
Darcy has no memory of her past, was bounced around the foster care system and finally found a home with Marsha in Chicago, when she meets Conn. He enjoys art and takes several classes with Darcy. But, as time goes on, Darcy learns who and what Conn is, really.
Yet another paranormal tale of love and trust, this YA novel is notches above a lot of what is out there. Darcy finds out about the alternate world that she was born in, and why and how she came to be in 'our' Chicago. Suspenseful and grip...more
Yet another paranormal tale of love and trust, this YA novel is notches above a lot of what is out there. Darcy finds out about the alternate world that she was born in, and why and how she came to be in 'our' Chicago. Suspenseful and grip...more
I picked this book up on a whim at the library because of the cover. I do not typically read a lot of paranormal fiction, but I thought an alternate universe might be fun so I would give it a try. Once I read the opening paragraph I knew I was in for a treat. There was humor and excellent writing as well as fully developed characters. I certainly hope that there will be more in the series - Rutkoski left it wide open so I am sure that there will be more. The pages fairly flew by so it didn't eve...more
Before I Read The Novel:
Well this will definitely be different.
In The Novel:
Half way through and this novel is crazy weird! I mean I don't even know all of what happened. It so different from anything I've ever personally read and it kind of drives me nuts that I can't grasp onto what is going on but this novel, so far, is pretty awesome!
Side comments: (as I'm reading the novel)
- Conn is a dick.
- Orion annoys the crap outta me.
- Wow, Marsha is way more open and cooler than I thought.
In The Novel...more
Well this will definitely be different.
In The Novel:
Half way through and this novel is crazy weird! I mean I don't even know all of what happened. It so different from anything I've ever personally read and it kind of drives me nuts that I can't grasp onto what is going on but this novel, so far, is pretty awesome!
Side comments: (as I'm reading the novel)
- Conn is a dick.
- Orion annoys the crap outta me.
- Wow, Marsha is way more open and cooler than I thought.
In The Novel...more
Sometimes a book comes along that can only be described as 'pretty'. This was one of those books. As I read, all I could think about what how pretty the words were. They were pleasurable, they bounced around in your head and it felt like being blanketed in something soft and thick. Marie Rutkoski knows how to use words - how to string them together to create these beautiful little images:
"Then his eyes met mine. They were a fitful color, the kind that changes according to mood or the light. Gray...more
"Then his eyes met mine. They were a fitful color, the kind that changes according to mood or the light. Gray...more
Amazingly written. I loved the preciseness of the author's words. Always on point. And because of that I could be in constant understanding of the story and development. Darcy is a perfect narrator, deep and insightful. She guides the story as a tough, independent, yet flawed female protagonist.
I was thrilled to discovered the love triangle didn't last long, but it makes me question the role of Orion. He seemed like a throw away character at the end.
The whole plot line is pretty mysterious. Co...more
I was thrilled to discovered the love triangle didn't last long, but it makes me question the role of Orion. He seemed like a throw away character at the end.
The whole plot line is pretty mysterious. Co...more
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Marie Rutkoski is the author of the YA novel The Shadow Society and the children's fantasy series The Kronos Chronicles, including The Cabinet of Wonders, The Celestial Globe and The Jewel of the Kalderash. Her next project is a YA trilogy that begins with The Winner's Curse, which is scheduled to be published in March 2014.
Marie grew up in Bolingbrook, Illinois (a suburb of Chicago), as the olde...more
More about Marie Rutkoski...
Marie grew up in Bolingbrook, Illinois (a suburb of Chicago), as the olde...more
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“There can be second chances. But maybe it's also true that things can never be the same, and that you have to decide whether the second chance lives up to the first.”
—
17 people liked it
“When you're a stranger to people you care about, you become a stranger to yourself.”
—
13 people liked it
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