The Shadows Between Us by Tricia Levenseller - Restarting January 4th 2023

[Sibil]

Ryn wrote: "Chapters 10-15

This stretch has been a little more tedious with Kallias [spoilers removed] Everything, really. He's almost too perfect, which could become annoying. Still really enjoying the book ..."

I am glad to hear that from he chapter 15 things get better because I am starting to become... annoyed. I am still enjoying the reading, and I am reading chapter 13 at the moment, but there is not much happening and what is happening is not really well done, at least in my opinion.

[Sibil]

chapters 6-12
(view spoiler)[I can't believe Myron got the best of her! And the point is not that someone has the upper hand and for once is not her, what it's strange is that this someone is Myron. He is vile, he is slimy (soooo slimy!) but he is not the brightest. At all!
And I can't believe she is not trying to kill him! Mind me, I am happy that she does not go around murdering everyone, and I am glad she has concocted another plan to be free of him but it's simply not in character, and it does not have a logical explanation. Sure, leaving a trail of bodies is not smart, especially since they are looking into Hector's murder but... she could have killed him while he surprised her in her rooms and tell that she was just defending herself, it would have been the perfect occasion! Or she could have poisoned him, especially since she should be an expert or something like that with poisons to kill the King.
But I am glad that she seems to care for her new friends!

And Myron is slimy, but Orrin is just delusional! Also, I don't think Lady Zervas is so horrid, her dialogue with Alessandra is not so bad, and it makes a lot of sense. I quite liked her and I hope to get to see her again.

Last thing, the chapter with Alessandra's father came out of the blue. It has no sense, it is just there to make things more difficult for her without any plausibility!
I am enjoying the book so far, and I am intrigued by some things in there but... it's like the author is losing her focus while the story progress and things have started to become annoying. (hide spoiler)]

[Ryn]

Yeah, I definitely think the author wandered around some in the second quarter, but don't worry! It picks up again. I definitely agree that Kallias was too fulnerable, basically he (view spoiler)[ told her exactly how to make him mortal and kill him. Really? (hide spoiler)]

Chapters 16-22
I was okay with him killing the guard because that seems reasonable for a despot (even a nice one) to do when a guard fails in their duty. And royal or celebrity guards absolutely know better than to stop guarding because they're busy watching the antics of their charges. To make the excuse (view spoiler)[ "But she was naked! is actually ridiculously unprofessional and is the kind of failure on a bodyguard's part that gets their charges killed. I obviously wouldn't agree with them killing the guard today for it, but for the setting of the book, I think it was an appropriate response, unfortunately. And once you know who the bandit is, there's no way he was master-stealth at getting by them, so it really was not excusable that they let him get to the king. (hide spoiler)]

I like that a lot of my questions about the shadows were resolved and you really get to see how they work in this section of the book. And I do like that she's coming around to the potential idea of not actually killing him. If she was still just dead set on it, I wouldn't be able to like her much, because really she doesn't have any reason to at this point. Although him turning so much over to her so quickly still seems a bit much. Another thing that is definitely a little sloppy in the writing is that Alessandra's had (view spoiler)[ TWO big flags that in their society would be verboten--she slept around a lot and she killed a guy. While Kallias's attitude is cool about them and I didn't dislike the way he handled either, it was a little too pat. BOOM! No worries, no one needs to be a virgin (although to be fair, if he's not planning to consummate the marriage, maybe it really wouldn't matter to him) and BAM! You killed a dude? No problem! Saves me the trouble of doing it myself!" I'm not sure that's actually quite believable. (hide spoiler)] It's kind of one of those I-don't-care things because I'm just enjoying the story too much, but from a critical standpoint, it does definitely have some flaws.

[Ryn]

Chapters 23-Fin
Okay, flaws, flaws and more flaws and I don't even care because whatever she didn't do perfectly in the middle, the end was sooo fun. A tiny, TINY bit too pat right at the very end, but otherwise just great, AND I don't think I saw that particular end coming. Might have been vaguely skeptical in passing, but I did really like the end. I particularly liked that Alessandra (view spoiler)[ tried for "revenge" by kissing Leandros and then thought about it after and went, "Yeah, that was stupid. Didn't hurt him, didn't make me feel better... that wasn't the right way to go." I do think Levenseller got a little preachy in this one.. the sexually empowered woman comment was a bit over-the-top didactic. We got the point loud and clear already. Lose the agenda, tell the story. (hide spoiler)]

So basically, it was such a fun read that I don't really care if it wasn't perfect. I'll be anxious to hear your thoughts on it.

[Cinthia]

72% ch. 17 - 22: it's getting better. Iam liking kallias a lot better since he is coming out of his shell and letting us know more things about him. I still don't know how to feel about Alessandra. she now has the (view spoiler)[ poison to kill kallias but she also had put herself between kallias and the assassin trying to save kallias. I like that she is pushing her friends to be themselves when it comes to love. I also like leandros but he is not a king so I can see Alessandra hesitancy. plus I thing she is falling for Kallias. (hide spoiler)]

[Ryn]

Cinthia wrote: "72% ch. 17 - 22: it's getting better. Iam liking kallias a lot better since he is coming out of his shell and letting us know more things about him. I still don't know how to feel about Alessandra...."
I like him better later on too, even if I think he is a little too perfect and too open. It was stupid for her to (view spoiler)[ steal the poison. I mean, in the wardrobe? If she's going to hide it in her own room, she should at least be smart about it. (hide spoiler)]

[Cinthia]

finished. so much was unpacked. some good. some a little tedious and of course the huge twist. (view spoiler)[ Leandros was Xanthos! that was crazy, he killed his own parents and tried to kill his own brother, that was sad, thank goodness Alessandra is a trallop lol. I loved that Kallias did end up telling her he loves her. (hide spoiler)]

[Ryn]

Right? Even if I thought (view spoiler)[ he might have been behind some of the murdery stuff, the whole brother thing? Missed that COMPLETELY! (hide spoiler)] I have to admit, I did like the ending and I kinda ship them so it worked for me.

[Cinthia]

Ryn wrote: "Chapters 23-Fin
Okay, flaws, flaws and more flaws and I don't even care because whatever she didn't do perfectly in the middle, the end was sooo fun. A tiny, TINY bit too pat right at the very end,..."

Lol. I did like that comment "Sexually empowered." Perfect. (view spoiler)[ I loved that Kallias came into the state and professed his love for Alessandra and was cheesy with the letter too. (hide spoiler)]

[Sibil]

Ryn wrote: "Yeah, I definitely think the author wandered around some in the second quarter, but don't worry! It picks up again. I definitely agree that Kallias was too fulnerable, basically he [spoilers remove..."

(view spoiler)[I tend to agree with you about the guards because it made sense, but it is also true that we have some really unreliable and incompetent guards; they are the worst ever and simply cannot do their job. But it is also true that it is not really good form going around killing all your guards because... well, they're the ones that should die for you so... you are not really motivating them.
And I am enjoying the book if we only talk about engagement. I am having a hard time putting it down, but I also think that the author is just too lazy. I mean, she is able to create fascinating world-building and interesting (and pretty unique) characters, the plot is okay and the writing is smooth so she is quite able to write a good book and make something good out of it, but she is just too lazy to put all the things in their place. She is too rough.
There is the part about Alessandra's father, for example. It does not make sense that he is keeping nagging her and trying to take her out of the court while she is the favorite of the king. It does not make sense. At all. It is just there to create some difficulties for Alessandra and some hiccups in the story, but it is not well done, it's just thrown in there because it can make sense, vaguely.
And also... the king. She can't make him really bad because you have to root for him, but she can't make him too good either because it won't work with Alessandra, and so she just does a half-botched thing out of it: she gave him some really progressives and amazing political ideas, that he doesn't put in place for whatever reasons (I mean, he is for equality between men and women, he has some good ideas for his people, and from time to time it seems like he cares for the people he governs) but he has no qualms whatsoever to kill his guards or his people, and people does not love him. It does not make sense, it's just a bag of mixed things thrown in there to keep the story going, but she could have done so much more. She could have made it all believable and made it work organically with the story but nope... it just seems like it's too much work! (hide spoiler)]

Sorry, this comment is a rant!

[Sibil]

chapters 13-18
(view spoiler)[Things really pick up again after chapter 15, yay!
And I like that the king is making time for Alessandra, finally! Also, their political views are quite similar, and quite good, too! But I don't know why the king is not doing more to implement them.

I also like how Alessandra is with her two female friends, it seems like she really cares about them and I am pretty happy about it. But I am worried about the council constant nagging, and she should talk with the king about that, because it is worrisome! And Vasco should decide what he wants: for the king to spend less time with the council and more with Alessandra (leaving the council with more freedom to do what they want) or the king to be enclosed between four walls because outside it's too dangerous. And they were attacked in the castle. This is the fact that he should find interesting and bad, not that he was in the garden because of Alessandra! Argh! Completely adult men in this book are all bad. (hide spoiler)]

[Ryn]

Sibil wrote: "Ryn wrote: "Yeah, I definitely think the author wandered around some in the second quarter, but don't worry! It picks up again. I definitely agree that Kallias was too fulnerable, basically he [spo..."

No, I get it. You're not wrong; this was a much sloppier work than some of her others, which is disappointing. She may have been under some sort of deadline pressure or had a different editor or something like that, who knows. I mean, I tore it apart super fast, but it is too bad she, for whatever reason, wasn't really able to pull out her best for it.

[Ryn]

Sibil wrote: "chapters 13-18
Things really pick up again after chapter 15, yay!
And I like that the king is making time for Alessandra, finally! Also, their political views are quite similar, and quite good, too..."

So my guess is that Kallias isn't implementing all of the above because he's got his hands tied up with a jillion things, including someone trying to kill him. I expect after a marriage and the ferreting out of the assassin(s), perhaps he will settle down to a more egalitarian rule.

As for the rest of it... heh heh heh... I'm just not going to say anything right at this moment.

[Sibil]

Ryn wrote: "Sibil wrote: "chapters 13-18
Things really pick up again after chapter 15, yay!
And I like that the king is making time for Alessandra, finally! Also, their political views are quite similar, and q..."

Yep, you are probably right about him having so much to juggle. It is a lot, and he cannot really trust anyone around him so... it makes sense!

[Sibil]

Finished
(view spoiler)[All in all, I had a really good time with this book, even if I really think that the author could have done so much more, because she is good, it's not that she has yet to find her style or something, she is great with characters and she creates an interesting world and all so... such a shame!

But I am glad that things ended well for the royal couple, and I wasn't really expecting Leandros to be Kallias' brother! Also, this part of the story was also blotched: it could have been a tad more developed because it does barely make sense as it is.
Anyway, I enjoyed it all the same. And I am also quite glad to see that Alessandra found some real friends and that the two girls are also quite happy. That was quite pleasant! (hide spoiler)]

[Sibil]

Cinthia wrote: "Ryn wrote: "Chapters 23-Fin
Okay, flaws, flaws and more flaws and I don't even care because whatever she didn't do perfectly in the middle, the end was sooo fun. A tiny, TINY bit too pat right at t..."

That comment was everything!!!!!! ;)

[Ryn]

Sibil wrote: "Finished
All in all, I had a really good time with this book, even if I really think that the author could have done so much more, because she is good, it's not that she has yet to find her style o..."

Same same. Definitely a fun read, in spite of its flaws. Thanks for reading with me!