It started with a very strong intriguing sentence.
However, it goes downward after that.
I'm not a fan of the female MC portrayed in this story. She's a literal killer with no accountability, can't accept no, and giving super pick me girl vibe 😩 it doesn't look cool to me at all. I cringed so hard when she said "now, I see everyone's wearing purple gown, the colour I wore yesterday." Or "I intentionally taking my time so he doesn't think I'm really eager to meet him." ??????? Idk, for me this kind of girl is not the ones I befriend with 🥹 power hungry girl with daddy issue and unsolved jealousy toward her big sister (like her older sister was not malice or whatsoever, so I don't get what her problem is aside from she demands to be everyone's attention. Sis really thinks the world revolves around her.)

The said shadow king conquerer 5 kingdoms for no reasons but somehow he rarely goes outside bcs afraid someone might kill him. Conquerors who didn't really go to the battlefield was no very appealing to me.

And "the villain" or the bandit in this story was told in Robin Hood way which make them less villain. Probably indeed the king should take care of his conquered realms?????

The lack of accountability for each character in this story is really what turned me down.

Idk maybe they're intended to be anti hero being villains all the way but without the cool stuffs??? Or some justification???

And the plot twist was somehow predictable.

It wasn't for me, but probably if you're looking for a book with:
- Kingdom scheme, laced with political intricts
- page turning
- Slow burn romance
- love balls and dresses and dances

Give this book a go.

Thanks for providing this book💖

I flew through this! Alessandra is the badass female lead I’ve always longed for. She does what she wants and she owns it!

Was it perfect? No, I have unanswered questions and the ending felt a bit rushed. Was it entertaining? Undoubtedly!

Alessandra is a brutal human being, after murdering the first man she fell in love with, she comes up with a plan for power.
She decides she's going to woo The Shadow King and once she's married him, she'll kill him and claim his kingdom as her own. It was an intriguing romance between two very morally grey characters. They both do questionable things, but their chemistry worked well as a result of it. It was kind of a weird element because I found I didn't want to like them? But I did! It was so entertaining. I loved the romance and the fantasy elements that surrounded The Shadow King (literally!)

Solid 4.5 stars!

Had this book on my shelf for so long then was sent it from netgalley so thought I would finally read it.

I wish I didn’t…

It had so much potential the best part was page 1 then nothing 😩😩



Thanks Netgalley

3.5/5

"They've never found the body of the first and only boy who broke my heart. And they never will"

This is a stand alone fantasy romance book about a young lady, Alessandra, who has a plan up her sleeve and the beauty to keep it well hidden. A book where the villainous FMC meets her match in someone equally as villainous. This "Slytherin" YA romance was something slightly unexpected for me. I soared through it in one sitting and was pleasantly surprised to find the book as a whole quite fast paced and kept my attention throughout with minimal lulls that I have experienced in others of a similar category. With the world building being on the slightly lacking side due to this being a standalone, the relationship building and additional side character interactions were just what I needed to sink my teeth in to. With the well carried out twists and slow burn romance story line I can easily say I enjoyed this story.

As it was my first introduction to Tricia Levenseller, it has really made me want to explore and hopefully enjoy more of her catalogue of work.

The more I think about this book, the less I like it.

The Shadows Between Us follows Alessandra, who has a plan to seduce, marry and kill the mysterious Shadow King, Kallias, to take his kingdom. What she doesn't expect is to actually fall in love with him.

This was very much a romance - I use the word lightly - with "fantasy" elements as set dressing. There was no worldbuilding to speak of, and no atmosphere. The setting was so lackluster. I could not tell you what anything in the castle looked like or what time period the book took inspiration from. We were told that Kallian rules six kingdoms- which by the way, wouldn't that make him an Emperor instead of King? Yet we never hear any information about them. The names here were somewhat Greek sounding but literally nothing else about the setting was Greek so I don't know what the intention behind that was apart from making it 'exotic' maybe. Also, Kellias' family are the only people in the world to possess magic, because reasons. Someone make it make sense.

Alessandra was incredibly insufferable. Conceited to the point it became unbelievable, scoffing at the thought of charity, having every man fall at her feet - it just seemed too try-hard. I kept expecting her to have some sort of character arc - either getting a dressing down and becominf a better person or becoming a full fledged villain but her character stayed exactly the same, except for falling in love. The only thing I liked about her was her sex positivity.

Throughout the book, she gains some friends, but I'm pretty sure she only cared about them because they were useful to her plan. The side characters were so one dimensional, I didn't care either way.

The plot in this was pretty much inexistent, Alessanda just keeps trying to seduce the king, more or less. Which wouldn't be too bad if they had chemistry. Sadly, they don't. At all. There is some trouble when people try to assassinate Kallias, ironically. I figured out who the assassins were early on because well, it was glaringly obvious.

I also heard this was supposed to be a villain x villain romance which is just completely false. Kallias is a regular Brooding YA Love Interest and just a generally nice guy who likes to run around with his puppy?? Absolutely no villain to be found there.

Overall, a very disappointing read. It's getting two stars because it was easy to read and there was a cute dog. 2/5

I'm slowly making my way through Tricia Levenseller's backlog and her books never disappoint.

I love her books and I love how different this book was. It's rare for me to read a fantasy book where the main character is so power hungry that she's willing to go to extreme lengths to get it! I found myself really liking Alessandra and I can just picture all of her amazing outfits! The connection between her and the Shadow King was what made this book!

My only qualms was that I just wish there had been a little bit more in terms of the plot, I felt like some plot points were built up then ended sort of abruptly.

Overall this was a great book and I cannot wait to read more of Levenseller's work!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I honestly don’t think there’s any book that I’ve read of Levenseller’s that I haven’t enjoyed! Another slow burn romance with alteriour motives that had me turning the pages at a fast pace!

It reminded me a little of a Fantasy style Bridgerton! I loved the back and forth between Alessandra and Kallias, though I felt he was a little whipped as I felt he could have been portrayed in a more intimidating way. I enjoyed it!

I was kindly gifted a kindle copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to @pushkinpress

To my utter lack of surprised, I loved the latest Tricia Levenseller book to be published in the UK. I picked it up and gobbled through half of it before reluctantly accepting that I probably should get some sleep. It was a wrench and I took every opportunity the next day to finish it.

I loved how dark and ambitious and ruthless Alessandra was. There was no attempt to make her secretly "nice" (aka more traditionally acceptable.) She was just all lack of regret and cold-eyed ambition, and that was so much fun to read in a main female character. I'd say she's more antiheroine than heroine, but that's what was so great and so different to what I often read.

Kallias (the Shadow King) had very interesting magic. As the name suggests, he controls shadows and is usually surrounded by them. They also make him almost invulnerable to attack, allowing him to turn insubstantial. However there is one big weakness and they mean he keeps everyone at bay.

I really liked this weakness (not spoiling it on purpose!) because it gave a genuine reason for him to keep distance between him and Alessandra, and also added stakes to their relationship. If the relationship (in the way Alessandra ends up wanting it) won out, he would be in danger, so would he value his safety or her/them more?

There is a companion novel coming next year (?I think?) about Alessandra's sister, who we never meet in the book but just get her letters and Alessandra's scathing opinion of, which should be fun.

I can’t say this book wasn’t entertaining, but it as a disappointing read.
I’m all for stories about villains and enemies to lovers, it should have being exciting and that opening gave me all the right feelings. However, it overall lacked real depth, whether it came to the characters or the story itself. There were a lot of times when the lack of description or development of an idea made the whole scene very superficial and to-the-point. Characters were mostly one-dimensional and the story didn’t allow us to dive into them; it overall felt forced and sometimes even fell into the tragic pitfall of telling instead of showing.
We get that the main character is supposed to be this super cunning girl, but really, the plot was not elaborate enough for this to shine through and her ideas were very common, which only served to make everyone else seem very stupid, including the people who kept praising her for her brilliance.
The one thing I really liked about this book was the slow burn between the two main characters. There, the description of feelings was deep enough that it made sense and it was well done. Even though the rest felt flat and was disappointing, the love story saved the book and made me read it until the end.

Alessandra's father wants to marry off both his daughters, but since his firstborn, Chrysantha, has been rejected by the Shadow King, he has married her off to a rich, older titled man & plans to do the same for Alessandra. Alessandra has other plans though & has set her sights on marrying the King, killing him, & taking over the kingdom for herself. She's no stranger to murder having killed her first love, the man who crushed her heart by rejecting her for another.

Alessandra travels to the court with her father & manages to catch the King's attention & learns that he is practically immortal but that his power comes from the shadows which swirl around him, but if he touches anyone then his power is neutralised whilst they are nearby - only then is he vulnerable. Much as she tries, Alessandra doesn't seem to be able to break through the King's reticence to grow closer, until she unthinkingly puts herself in harm's way to foil an assassin. Was it because Alessandra is determined that she will be the one to kill the King & he won't die until she is ready, or is there now another reason that she wants him to live?

The first half of the book is entertaining & it has a killer opening line - it really sets up Alessandra's character as a woman who is not afraid to have ambition & who has broken all society's rules by taking lovers before marriage. When one of her former paramours threatens to tell all & disgrace her to the court, she's not about to let him ruin her plans & so schemes a way to get rid of the threat. Got to love a woman who doesn't pull her punches! As for the second half, well let's just say I've not been this disappointed since I read Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake.

If you're going to lure me in with a villainous cunning protagonist, then give me that for the entire book. After the first half set up, I was expecting a duel of wits & minds between Alessandra & Kallias (the Shadow King), even that maybe he was going to pull some kind of double-cross on her, but the story trajectory became entirely too predictable. Shame as it started out so well as something different but then became pedestrian. Overall, it was a game of two halves as they say. I really liked the first half & wish the second half had lived up to that promise. It was still kind of enjoyable though & I like the cover. 3.5 stars (rounded up)

My thanks to NetGalley & publishers, Pushkin Press, for the opportunity to read an ARC.

This book is 3.5 stars for me.
In the beginning I really disliked the main character. She's arrogant, cruel and didn't respect anyone. Don't get me wrong, I like a strong heroine who knows what she wants. However, what was missing for me was the motivation of the character. Why does she want to be queen? Later, we learn that she seeks acknowledgment, but why does she need to be a Queen? Why isn't a Countess enough? Why does she think she has to kill the King and no rule by his side? What does power mean to her? Why does she want to rule 6 empires?

I really liked Leandros and he was the reason I read until half of the book. Then Alessandra starts to grow on me. She finally finds friends, isn't an arrogant dolly-bird anymore. The second half of the book was really good when they try to find out who wants to kill the King.

I have read and enjoyed other books by this author, so it was with excitement that I reached for this story. This is a very slow burn enemies to lover story that I very much enjyed.

Alessandra has a goal: Power. She even has a plan to achieve that goal - seduce, marry, then get rid of, the Shadow King, Kallias, thus having his kingdom.

She attends court with the express purpose of catching the king's eye...successfully. He invites her to stay at court and proposes that they pretend to be courting. This will keep the council satisfied and will give Alessandra the acknowledgment she desires.

As Alessandra enacts her plan, she is told by Kallias that someone is trying to get rid of him permanently and he suspects it is the same party that got rid of his parents and brother. This will not do for Alessandra's plans. As she helps track down the perpetrator, she starts to feel things toward Kallias, which is also not part of her plan...

A truly intriguing tale of romance between mutually morally grey and questionable protagonists.

Alessandra is vain, wicked and deceitful and yet I loved everything about her character. She spins her lies so seamlessly into the perfect webs to trap her victims and she has set her sights on the Shadow King, the only person who could match her in every aspect.

Their dynamic was perfect for this villain x villain slow burn. Neither flinched at the dark secrets the other had and accepted them in all their messed up glory. My only complaint would be that if there had been a sequel to this book we could have gotten to see how their scheming would have developed with them plotting murder together.

Although we do get to see Alessandra interact with many of the side characters especially her friends. In stories like these we tend to only see the main female talking to or about boys but in this case she had female friends and they discussed what mattered to them as individuals.

Don't go into this book expecting immense world building and plot details as it is a standalone, but it does deliver a truly enjoyable mutually murder prone slow burn romance fantasy with some solid twists.

After seeing this book a lot on social media I was excited to give this a read. The book has a unique concept which I found really interesting. The story was well constructed, the characters were well developed, the writing was good, the friendships were great and the plot was awesome. I loved the main character and how ruthless she is. The book is full of grey characters, which I find more enjoyable, keeping you on your toes. I've seen that people have compared the book to Slytherin vibes and I have to agree - it's a vibe I'm very there for.

ENGLISH REVIEW
I just adored this story! I loved the way the author writes, the authenticity you find as you scroll through the pages never letting you get bored. Alessandra was such a prickly, ambitious, murderous character and i loved her. Kellias was such a mysterious character, dark but with a sweetness to him.
this book has incredible plot twists, not to mention the settings, the way they allow you to immerse yourself in the story without you realizing it. it is simply an incredible book, which I hope you read!
I highly recommend this book!

ITALIAN REVIEW
Ho adorato questa storia! Ho adorato il modo in cui scrive l'autore, l'autenticità che trovi mentre scorri le pagine senza mai annoiarti. Alessandra é un personaggio così pungente, ambizioso, omicida e io l’ho amata. Kellias é un personaggio così misterioso, oscuro ma allo stesso tempo anche molto dolce .
questo libro ha incredibili colpi di scena, per non parlare delle ambientazioni, il modo in cui ti permettono di immergerti nella storia senza che tu te ne accorga. è semplicemente un libro incredibile, che spero leggerai!
Consiglio vivamente questo libro!

This was really good! I’ve been wanting to read this one for a while and I’m so glad I finally did. It’s definitely not like anything else I’ve read (and I mean that in the best possible way!).

The plot can best be summed up as a Pride & Prejudice retelling, wherein Elizabeth Bennett is trying to assassinate Mr Darcy. Like The Selection, but with more murder.

I really liked having both a morally grey mc and mmc. The main character Alessandra is certifiably deranged, but that’s okay, because so is the Shadow King, Kallias. They’re a perfect match of sociopathic homicidal mania and megalomania, and their chemistry is delightful to read.

I love a good court intrigue book, so I really enjoyed this. It has a lot of great female characters and some strong feminist themes, with a main character who is terrible but also so likeable. This was definitely right up my street.

Summary:
♥️ Alessandra + Kellias
♥️ Murder plot to lovers
♥️ Royal court mystery
♥️ Shocking twists and reveals
♥️ Lots of banter and tension

Review:
I absolutely loved this story! Alessandra was such a prickly, ambitious, murderous character and I can see how she might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but I enjoyed her. She used her intellect and her beauty to get her way constantly, and played with everyone around her.
Kellias was such a mysterious character, dark but with a sweetness to him. I love how his vulnerability was what won Alessandra over, when it was that vulnerability that she initially wanted to exploit.
The story was fast paced and well written, with lots of side characters and plot twists. The ultimate reveal had be SHOCKED.

I highly recommend this book!

Thank you to #netgalley, the publisher and the author for the ARC.

Thank you to Pushkin for my review copy of this. I loved this book - loved the characters especially Allessandra and how strong minded and independent she is.

The historial elements didn’t feel overbearing and the fantasy is quite light so I would recommend for those new to the genre.

Thank you netgalley for providing me with an arc in exchange for an honest review. I have read other works by this author which I loved, so I had high expectations going into this one. While I preferred daughter of the pirate king, I still really enjoyed this book and it definitely did not disappoint. I would definitively recommend this book to anyone who liked the genre. Due to this I am going to give the book 4/5 stars.

The Shadows Between Us Review!
First of all I would like to thank netgalley for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

The Shadows Between Us is a YA fantasy that I really enjoyed. We have a court setting, with a king feared by all for his powers and a mystery (which is simple but, yeah, okay) that must be solved. I feel right to tell you that if you liked Violet made of thorns throw yourself here, or vice versa.
I think the "thing" that conquered me from the first moment was obviously Alessandra. Her first interior monologue made me smile a lot and I basically liked.
This book is surrounded by a sense of sadness for the loneliness of the two main protagonists which, however, joins the outline of the magic, mystery and beauty of Alessandra's extravagant outfits.
I generally liked the story a lot. I liked the tension between the characters, their basically false agreement and the fact that trust doesn't exist. I've always found the ship very nice and overall it's a book that entertains you to the fullest (i finished it in an afternoon).
One thing I feel like noticing is that I always thought the ending was a bit too fast, that I would have liked something more!
Among other things, I'm super happy that another book also set here came out, but about Alessandra's sister. I liked the setting so much and I've already read other Levenseller books so I'm waiting!