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 [...]

I really enjoyed this book! It definitely wasn't perfect and dragged at some points, but overall I really really liked it. Conn & Darcy are really great characters and I loved seeing all the characters grow & change in this book. Also such an interesting concept for a book! SO GUHD.

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 somethin [...]

Sooooo good! Full REVIEW HERE! Check it out! awesomebooknuts/2

A very low 4-star -- better than the several I've recently given threes to but not as good as many I've four-starred, including the author's earlier The Cabinet of Wonders. I liked the initial concept and I liked Darcy and her friends even though they seemed a little too good to be true (okay, she is an orphan with a sad past, but her foster mother is nice and she has great friends and does well at school and is very talented at art). And I thought the ending was pretty strong. The middle, on th [...]

Want to win an ARC of The Shadow Society? Enter the giveaway on my blog and good luck!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 [...]

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 -- [...]

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 [...]

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 c [...]

This book was okay.

Actual rating 3.75

“Truth was like an exploding star: violent, glitteringly beautiful. Now that I had seen it, felt it, it was impossible to settle for anything less.”3.75 STARSWell, now I'm starting to wonder if my fear of fire just might be a sign of my Shady-ness (get it? ah-ha-ha-hahaokay I'll stop with the shitty puns now, apologies) but since I'm about as olive-skinned as they come, I think I'm in the clear. But I'm sure you couldn't care less about my complexion and care at least a little about this boo [...]

3.5this book started out as a 2 and then worked its way up to a 3.5 first, i was unbelievably disappointed by how much i wasn't feeling this book because it's MARIE RUTKOSKI and she's a WRITING QUEEN (see: the winner's curse). but the book definitely gets better as you go along. loved the chemistry between darcy and conn (not at first, but as everything else in this book, it improved as time passed). the writing is sadly a huge step down from the writing in the winner's curse. i suppose marie ru [...]

The romance in this book got me. Maybe I was feeling extra sensitive and emotional whilst reading it, but I just found it plain adorable and actual tears did fall from my eyes at the cuteness. How embarrassing. I loved Darcy and Conn, the two main characters. They had individual personalities, which were distinct and interesting. Darcy is genuinely funny and endearing, references Sherlock Holmes, loves T.S Eliot and is not constantly swooning and lusting. Seriously, all the YA I have been readin [...]

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 [...]

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 jumpe [...]

3.5 starsYou know what I think about this book? I think it's a love letter to J. Alfred Prufrock. And good thing! Because the guy definitely needs some love.I liked this book. The plot ran smoothly, the characters were nicely portrayed, the writing was lovely. Did I love it? Not really. What I liked:- Character development is on point in this one. In the first chapters Darcy was constantly getting on my nerves. She was naive, short-sighted, and basically a cliche, as Jims once pointed out. She w [...]

I was pleasantly surprised with how much I loved this book! I found the plot extremely interesting, and I wanted to learn more and more bout the world Marie Rutkoski created. The paranormal aspect of this book was nothing like I have ever read before, and I enjoyed every moment of it! My only complaint was that some of the scenes were a little slow, and some of the things that happened in the book were predictable. Other than those little things, I really enjoyed this book!I loved the romance in [...]

Let's see. Unsettling love interest - someone who treats you with violence even once is not someone who should be a potential love interest. Unnecessary love triangle. There was no point to it at all. Cardboard characterization. I liked the friends, I did. Oh and three boys in love with one girl? Right. Okay. Review later.

Actual rating 3.8 starsI picked this up, because I wanted more Marie Rutkoski after my Winner's Kiss hangover and was really interested in what else she's written. Parallel universes sounded great to me, and so I picked this up on a whim. The first 70 pages or so, it had a serious High School vibe going, featuring a female MC that was bordering on being a special snowflake (always sarcastic, only wears black, artist, outsider and so different) but then spots a hot guy and instantly obsesses over [...]

3.5/3.75Nice, but I expected more. The Shadow society is a fast paced and intriguing book but it lacks depth, especially the first half of the book.What I liked:1) World building: I liked the idea of an alternate world and how the Great Chicago Fire was related to it, and the concept of Shade was brilliant.2) The writing: I truly love the author's writing style, it's fluid and elegant at the same time.3) Secondary characters: I liked Darcy's group of friends and I wished they had a bigger role i [...]

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 first book I read from Marie Rutkoski was The Cabinet of Wonders and I instantly loved it. After reading that series I thought I would give another book from this author and I found The Shadow Society and again I liked it. In this story you will meet Darcy Jones who doesn’t remember anything before the day she was found outside a Chicago firehouse, she never felt like she belonged but never imagined she was from an alternate world. This story starts of as a normal day in school but a boy s [...]

I finished this book a few days ago but I'm just now getting to write my review. I don't read a lot of Young Adult books, however, this one was a Buddy Read in my book club, Sweeter Reads, and I thought the plot sounded fantastic. I'm so glad I read it. I loved every minute of it. And, now I'm going to recommend it to all of you.

The Shadow Society I don't know where to start with this book. It's completely different than anything I've ever read. I've never had the pleasure of reading anything with dimensions and Shades. I won't tell you what Shades are because it would ruin all the mystery. I could not wrap my head around what was going on with Darcy and why Conn was interested and yet angry that she was walking around with her friends one day at school. "Silly. I made myself drop the stylus to the table. You're acting [...]

More of my reviews @ obsessionwithbooksMy rating: 3 1/2 out of 5 starsDarcy 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 arrives at her high school, and he makes her feel [...]

Pages read: 51The Shadow Society is trying really hard to be voicey, funny first person. None of it's quite clicking for me, and the stereotypical paranormal romance opener is super unfortunate. The short story was more vibrant than fifty pages of the actual novel.

3.5 starsThe Shadow Society actually starts of with a bunch of clichéd and overused events and ideas. We have this new (hot) guy who's immediately interested in the odd girl. Then they become partners in some sort of project and spend a lot of time togetherBut then the guy betrays the girl! And all hell breaks loose.“How can you interpret the behavior of others when you're a mystery to yourself?”Like I said, the novel was initially kind of common and boring. What I didn't mention was how t [...]

Such a unique world—I've never read anything like it. I couldn't turn the pages fast enough and at the same time tried not to, so I could prolong the story.I love that this is a standalone since so many books seems to be part of a series lately (nothing against series, i love them—just an observation), but this is a case where I wished it was the beginning of a series, so I could continue to explore the world Rutkoski created. Then again, the fact that it isn't could be why I enjoyed it even [...]

This was such an amazing book! First of all- I SHIPPED DARCEY AND CONN from like the first chapter. And even when he betrayed her and arrested her- I STILL shipped them!! And sadly I shipped Orion and Darcey for like one page