The Shadows Between Us - Tricia Levenseller

Alessandra is tired of being overlooked, but she has a plan to gain power:

1) Woo the Shadow King.

2) Marry him.

3) Kill him and take his kingdom for herself.

No one knows the extent of the freshly crowned Shadow King’s power. Some say he can command the shadows that swirl around him to do his bidding. Others say they speak to him, whispering the thoughts of his enemies. Regardless, Alessandra knows what she deserves, and she’s going to do everything within her power to get it.

But Alessandra’s not the only one trying to kill the king. As attempts on his life are made, she finds herself trying to keep him alive long enough for him to make her his queen—all while struggling not to lose her heart. After all, who better for a Shadow King than a cunning, villainous queen? (link)

Review: 3/5

I can’t remember this book very well and that’s absolutely my fault, I shouldn’t have put it off this long to review it, but here I am trying my best. So this is gonna be pretty short, but the playlist should redeem itself… hopefully… right?

This book very heavily reminded me of any other fantasy kingdom-based literature. A girl (with little to no money or power) has to woo and wed a king to get his power. And she wants to eventually kill him. SHOCKER. Then they end up actually falling in love. Oh no, what’s gonna happen?

I thought the part where they fell in love and the Shadow King told Alessandra that she could have completely equal power to him “she called off killing him” right? I mean, isn’t that what she wanted? I thought that the whole part of most fantasy writing is stupid when the Queen just never has as much power as a King… I mean, it’s all based in realistic classic misogyny. Doesn’t the king or queen have equal power technically speaking (not talking in the case of a consort, of course). Especially if a King is super and madly in love with the future Queen Regent, and promises half of his power to her, or gives his power to her as an equal… Am I hallucinating? Overhyping this basic act of decency… I’m applauding a fish for swimming, right?

I feel like this whole trope of marrying someone to kill them and take their powers is so overdone for me in the fantasy world. It kind of reminds me of Throne of Glass, The Selection, and LightLark. Sure, they’re not exactly the same, but are they completely different and NOT the same? Oh no, what do you mean? You actually fell in love with this dark, tall, nonchalant, brooding, powerful, and handsome king??? That’s so surprising and I’m so shocked!! Oh no, two evil people falling in love and actually being happy together in their evil-ness. I am so shocked right now. It’s like the opposite plot of Despicable Me Two. Birds of a feather, am I right?

Also, let’s have a brief discussion about the part about her killing an ex-boyfriend just because he broke up with her. Is that not kind of insane? Is that not genuinely insane to anyone else? Because it was genuinely insane to me. It was mostly glossed over in the beginning. And of course, it’s kinda the big piece of contention for the whole main character doubting herself the entire time, and at the big climax it's the big idea. It’s mentioned again and again throughout the book but it’s not like there’s any detail or justification as to what happened, so I’m still kind of confused on why that was a necessary part of the plot. Plus, there’s nothing that comes out of it in this book, but we can see if it comes up later. Jokingggg I won’t read the second book (at least not at this point in time).

I also just felt the world and the characters were extremely underdeveloped. It felt lazy and I wasn’t really interested in finishing it. I just wanted to get it over with by the end.

So the playlist is all about dark romance. I don’t listen to Machine Gun Kelly, but you probably would if you like this book!

Spotify: LINK