The Shadow Society
The Shadow Societyby Marie Rutkoski
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 arrives at her high school, and he makes her feel both desire and desired in a way she hadn’t thought possible. But Conn’s interest in her is confusing. It doesn’t line up with the way he first looked at her.As if she were his enemy.When Conn betrays Darcy, she realizes that she can’t rely on anything—not herself, not the laws of nature, and certainly not him. Darcy decides to infiltrate the Shadow Society and uncover the Shades’ latest terrorist plot. What she finds out will change her world forever . . . (goodreads.com)
It is no secret that I loved each and every one of Marie Rutkoski's Middle Grade series, the Kronos Chronicles, so of course I was delighted to find out she was writing a paranormal YA novel. When I read the summary, it sounded like something I would enjoy though I was sceptical of the love interest angle, because I am so, so, so very tired of YA books being all about insta-love and romance and not as much about the mystery or suspense.I am sad to say that this book took me a very long time to get into. I started and stopped it numerous times because I just wasn't connecting with Darcy or any of the other characters. One sleepless night at the end of June I finally decided to plow through the story and was surprised to find that more than half-way through I was starting to find it much more interesting.I think this book has a slow start - too slow for my liking. I really don't like to abandon books unless they are absolutely horrid and written poorly. The Shadow Society wasn't anything like that, it just started too slow for me to really sink my teeth into.Although the story was more interesting as soon as Darcy finds herself in an alternate universe, I still wasn't wowed. I finished the book without much fanfare. I'm pretty sad that it didn't hook me like I had hoped it would. I just had so much trouble connecting with the characters and for me, that is something that breaks my heart. I want to love the people I am reading about. I want to be on their side and root for them and cheer when they accomplish things, but I couldn't.For me, The Shadow Society was just.. okay. I don't know if it was because of my mindset these days or what, because it was written very well, I just felt no connection. No spark. It really hurts me when I want to love a book so much and I can't make it work out no matter how hard I try. Some books, like people, are just meant to be acquaintances and not best friends or soul mates. This is one of those books, as much as I wanted our relationship to be more. Alas.