Thank you so much Netgalley and Tricia for the advanced copy! ❤️

I've been eyeing this book for quite some time because I heard it has enemies to lovers trope and everyone who knows me, knows how obsessed I'm with it. I've to say I'm satisfied. There weren't as many banters as I would have liked but I love how strategic Alessandra is! Her cunningness, how she finds her way out of every situation - it was so fascinating. It reminded me of Mastermind by Taylor Swift. Specially these following lines -

If you fail to plan, you plan to fail
Strategy sets the scene for the tale

What better words can sum up 'The Shadows Between Us' other than these?

The friendship between Rhoda, Alessandra and Hestia was lovely. It's one of the few reasons why I believe Alessandra can be good at heart when she tries. Other than that, she isn't someone I want in my surroundings no matter how interesting.


On the contrary, I was disappointed by Kallias. He isn't who I wanted him to be and I felt he lacked personality at times. He submitted to Alessandra pretty fast. For a king who's life is under constant threats, he seems awfully trusting. Besides, as an avid fan of Robin hood, I struggled to accept some plot twists and its consequences.

Overall, it's a great book to enjoy. It cured my reading slump and I'm highly grateful for that Recommended! ❤️✨

“I want a life with you, Alessandra, one without the shadows between us."


I can't believe I didn't read this book sooner! It is SO GOOD!

I'm still processing this perfection . It has everything!
- I was hooked since the beginning
- Read from cover to cover loving every single bit of it
- Perfect pace
- The right amount of descriptions and inner monologues (god knows how much I struggle with those)
- A mystery subplot
- Funny side characters
- Banter between characters
- Strong-badass-bossy morally DARK GREY FMC that takes no shit from anyone 😂
- Morally Grey MMC
- Female empowerment
- Slow burn
- Hate everyone but you
- 'Do you wanna kill someone?! I'll help' vibes

I loved Alessandra. As I said, she's dark grey . She doesn't care about anyone else besides herself and her ambition in becoming Queen. She doesn't feel empathy towards the poor. She hates earing one of the Lords talking about his charity.... But if you keep in mind that this is a book set in a monarchy system... You'll find this normal.

I absolutely loved Kallias! Loved how Tricia developed his shadow powers. Loved how original it is.
Felt so sorry for him everytime he talked about his mother 🥺
He's powerful, feared, ambitious and is determined to find out who's behind his parents murders and is now trying to kill him. Really liked everything about him. His plans and dreams. His fears and crimes.
I mean, they're perfect for each other 👀

"Did you kill him?!
Yes?!
Good ! I was going to offer my help but since you managed it yourself ...."

Loved their slow burn and how they found friendship first 🥺❤️

Really liked the side characters plots. It's amazing how Tricia didn't forget about anything and tied everything at the end!!!!

The plot twists: Was expecting one of them but the main one?! Chefs kiss!!! And the way those scenes were written?! I was obsessed with how Tricia captured everything happening in those scenes without making me feel lost or making it feel rushed .

I really need an extended ending tough... At least 10 more chapters of their HEA. 🥺❤️
But fuck it, I'm giving it 5⭐ cause everything else was perfect . ❤️

Rating: 4/5
Spice: 0.5 /5

This was such a super fun, easy read! At just over 300 pages, it was a delightful, shorter read- full of mystery and tension. Alessandra, our main girl, is a true villain and on a mission for the crown- it's so much fun seeing her fall in love and have to deal with the conflict!

It's such a rarity to find a more YA dark romance.There's plenty of female empowerment, queer normality and seggs positivity in this book! The writing is wonderful- it's able to build a great plot and world in a relatively short timeframe

Tricia levenseller is fast becoming a favourite of mine. Every book I have picked up I've finished in days. Really enjoyed this one and looking forward to reading the next!

This fantasy novel was a delightful read that was easy to fly through and remain gripped. While the start took a while for me to get into, once I was invested, I couldn't put it down! The world of the court is brilliant and I loved seeing how Alessandra navigates courtly life. However, I felt that the world of the kingdom felt lacking in description and could have benefited from something as simple as proper introduction or even a map at the start of the text.

As a character I enjoyed Alessandra's actions and found her to be a brilliant level of conniving and feisty yet entertaining. I felt very invested in both hers and Kallias' plot lines and enjoyed them paired together as a couple. That said, I found that both characters somewhat fell flat in description - the parts where they were just getting on with daily life or minor activities were my favourite because it felt like we were finally seeing what either of them were like without the plot overbearing. Once I felt more invested in them towards the halfway point, I enjoyed them as characters and the dynamic of both being tentative towards each other.

Overall, this was a great read as I wanted to be introduced to a new fantasy world without the pressure of signing up to multiple long-winded series and this book delivered. I'm excited to see how Levenseller includes the world in future books but involves different characters and storylines.

Thank you to NetGalley and Pushkin Press for access to this ARC!

This book had me hooked from the first line, and I just loved Alessandra from the first chapter. She's a woman who knows what she wants, and what she wants is to woo the Shadow King, and marry him, all so she can kill him and rule the Kingdom herself.

However, Alessandra is not the only one with assassination on their mind and whilst she attempts to get closer to the Shadow King to seduce him, she also ends up saving him from would be assassins, as how can she marry him if he suffers an early death.

The King sees potential in Alessandra and proposes a ruse of a fake courtship and Alessandra sees this as her way in, however, the King also has Shadow magic which prevents him from getting physically close to anyone, as this will make him more vulnerable. Is closeness too much of a risk for this pair, both with their own reasons not to get close to people!

I read this book in a few sittings in the one day, and was loathe to put it down. Easy to read, loveable characters and a mystery to boot, highly recommend this book.

I had already read and loved the Daughter of the Pirate King duology but this is now the third book from this author that's hooked me and they are now on the automatic read list!

Thank you to NetGalley and Pushkin Press for the chance to review this book before its re-release in February 2023.

I don’t understand why it took me so long to read this book?!

With the release of the UK edition, I was given access to a digital ARC and decided it was about time and now I wish I had read it earlier!

I loved the gradual changes in Alessandra’s attitude and thoughts, to the point where I forgot her original motive. Kallias was a well written character who I really enjoyed getting to know and found Alessandra’s narration to be easy to ready and great for immersing myself in the story.

This book has you constantly second guessing your suspicions, a great read.

I liked this book. I haven't read anything from this author before so I don't find myself particularly biased towards anything.
I liked the story and the tension between the mains. You need a lot of suspense of belief for this book, and a lot of things didn't make sense, but I enjoyed it nevethelessly.

Personally, this book was not the best. While the idea was super creative and the world itself was interesting, I couldn’t get past the writing style. I’m not the biggest fan of present tense (specifically in first person) as it reads like fan fiction to me. I felt there was a lot of info-dumping at times, I always prefer a “show not tell” approach rather than “tell not show”. I think the story itself was quite good, but I just couldn’t get past the awkward writing style.

This is a new cover to a Book that I have read before I physically have a copy of this book. I have read it so many times. I absolutely adore this book and I cannot wait for the next book in the series because I thought that it was very well paste. I love the couple I loved the way things were dealt with the romance was absolutely adorable and I would highly recommend. It’s a great AYA contemporary fantasy. Romance is very light on the fantasy but it has enough to not focus predominantly on the romance, which is what I love, and I read more books by this author before and I absolutely adore them. I would 100% recommend

Not sure on how I feel about this book...
Is it a good way to get out of a reading slump? Yes
Is it a good read? Some parts
Is it in my top 10 of all year.. no

Thankyou for providing me with this ARC, I'll probably add more at a later date

I mean what can I say? I've never read any of the authors books so was interested in this from the synopsis alone.

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

^^^ what a line!!!

The shadows between us is a fantasy/romance, the story that the author tells us has its own ending and nothing remains pending.
This premise is necessary since Tricia Levenseller has announced that she will soon publish a second volume, but it will be focused on other main protagonists (one will be Alessandra's sister, who we only hear mentioned here).
The female protagonist, Alessandra Stathos, is not the classic heroine who immediately takes a liking to her, she is a calculator and profiteer.
Someone will surely find her character hateful, I myself believed her to be so at the beginning, but as the chapters flowed I began to be more and more intrigued by her maneuvers and her genius, it will be that I have a soft spot for anti-heroes and anti-heroines like her who at some point have to come to terms with their feelings.
Alessandra is also the only narrator of the novel, perhaps it is thanks to the first person that I managed to like her, I understood her frustration and the need not to always be set aside or in the background.
Her goal, what gives rise to her story, is to get noticed by the Shadow King, seduce him, marry him and then get rid of him and take over the kingdom.
The King of Shadows, so called because of the condition that makes him immortal, is a male protagonist who immediately fascinated me.
No one can touch him (in the true sense of the word), and this condition leads him to a solitary private life without human contact.
I would have liked to read a few chapters with his point of view, especially to see him fought during the development of his bond with Alessandra.
In the novel there is no map of the kingdom in which the story is set, but also no accurate description of the worldbuilding.
The author has focused her narrative solely on the two main protagonists, on the evolution of their enemies-to-lovers relationship and on the dangers surrounding the king. The result is a very smooth and intriguing read.
Coming from a previous reading characterized by a decidedly long introductory part, I welcomed this choice of the author with real pleasure. However, if you are looking for a fantasy with an accurately described world and with fantastic creatures of various kinds, this is not the book for you.
If, on the other hand, you love impossible loves with fantasy elements and slow burn romantic stories like me, this is a highly recommended read!

We can pay a moment's attention to the beauty of this new graphic design?! Chef's Kiss!

Thanks to Netgalley and Pushkin Press for providing me with this ARC!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC of this title, in exchange for this honest review.

Looking at this now, my review of this the first time I read it was definitely very generous. Don’t get me wrong, this is a very fun and quick read. Perfect for getting out of a reading slump. But is it perfect? Nahhh.. the characters felt a bit stiff and edgy and somewhat stupid. Still, it was fun.

"Because in you, I found my match. In you, I found my equal."

Alessandra is a second daughter of a poor aristocrat. She is seductive, wild, playgirl, matrealistic, and manipulative. But I am fascinated by her witty, sarcasm, ugly honesty, plus her creativity in sewing area. As a crafter my self, the mentioned about her spectacular design dress always amazed me. Her character is so wicked and she make line between good and evil as jumping rope.
This girl make Queen audition competition plot not boring anymore. Her brain never stops thinking of various tricks and intrigues to provocate her enemies. I like (anti)heroines who have strong and interesting backgrounds, but what makes me adore this book is that the author doesn't overglorify the MC. Readers can conclude their feeling about the characters by themselves, simple by reading it.

The plotline and conflicts isn't something new. The story take short timeline but you still can feel the tension growing and chemistry between both MC. The progress romance between Alessandra and Kallias is intrigued. Their banter are fun to follow. I'm quite amazed because all of this interesting story can be archieve only with standalone book. It is an amazing fast read and I finished in one sitting. The ending is okay, but I really enjoy this type of antihero romance.

Thank you Netgalley and Pushkin Press for provided me with this copy. I'm enjoying my reading time with this book and my opinions always be my own.

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

THIS. I was hooked from the first sentence👀💀💅

"My little hellion. Quite the force to be reckoned with, aren't you? Oh, say you'll marry me, Alessandra!"

Alessandra wants to be queen. In order to do that she made a plan:
🌑Seduce the Shadow King
🌑Marry him
🔪Kill him and take his kingdom
Simple💅

"No one, but me is allowed to decide when Kallias Maheras, king of six realms and counting is going to die."

Alessandra was an impressive character and reading about all the plans, she made up to stay in power was entertaining.

"I hate him.
But I love him more."

Romance is not dead😌🖐️ True enemies to lovers>>>>

"I want a life with you, Alessandra, one without the shadows between us."

This book was easy, simple and entertaining. It's good to start reading in English if it's not ur first language. Try it if ure in a reading slump!
5/5⭐
🎶caught a vibe🎶

"When a man sees something that several other men want, he can’t help but want it, too."

Thank you NetGalley for providing digital advanced copy in exchange for honest review.

Finally, I took the time to read this book, The Shadows between Us, which everybody talked about for months! And I must say, I didn't expect that at all.

The Shadows Between Us is the story about Alessandra Stathos, a girl, or should I say a woman because she actually reacts already like an adult, who suffers from the rejection of her late lover, Hektor Galanis—spoiler alert: she killed him because of that. But is it, a spoiler? Because I think we—you, my fellow readers, and I—all agree that what brought us to read this book was this fantastic opening line: 'They've never found the body of the first and only boy who broke my heart. And they never will.' (p. 1) That line. (WTF, in all politeness) I read it and thought: "Gosh, I need this book asap".

It turns out that the rest, however, wasn't exactly what I expected. I wouldn't say it was bad, not at all, just it didn't live up to my expectations. I was expecting a story much darker, much more gothic. Eventually, I felt like reading a story much closer to (not quite like) a Jane Austen novel—don't get me wrong, I like Jane Austen, I was just not really in the mood to read something like that now—, with people entering a court and trying to make their way to the top of the ladder or arranging a marriage for others. I do like some side stories when they bring something to the whole plot but, in TSBU, I couldn't say that they caught my interest so much. I didn't feel any particular connection to Hestia or Rhoda; they were just companions to Alessandra when she was put aside by Kallias and that's all. The same goes for Petros and Rhouben, though the latter, I have to admit, does add up to the story.

Concerning Alessandra's and Kallias's relationship, well... *sigh* To me, their chemistry was a bit off. Or at least, until the middle of the story. For the first part, their relationship was so odd that I couldn't grasp exactly its real nature. Would it just be friendship and Alessandra end up with Leandros? Or would it evolve into romance? I didn't know, but this bothered me a lot. It annoyed me even more when, by the end of the book, Kallias reveals that he was drawn to her from the beginning, that she was the obvious one for him, that he knew. It was a bit cliché. This made me roll my eyes several times.

Even, I think that their relationship made their characters less credible sometimes. For instance, when the subject of Hektor's death is brought to court, Kallias just laughs? He laughs even though there's a criminal around him and that his parents were killed? Like, what? *frown* That he loves Alessandra, fair enough, but that he dismisses her crime just like that, although she killed someone just because of rejection? Surely he didn't want to refuse her anything afterwards!

All these (in my eyes) plot holes and inconsistencies contributed to the fact that I didn't feel attached to the characters by the end of the book. And this is not only a problem with the characters, and in particular the protagonists, but also a problem with the plot itself and, sometimes, the writing style. There were also a few redundancies that just made me sigh a lot. Like, again an example, when Alessandra arrives at court, Levenseller insists—maybe a bit too much—on the fact that the ladies around her keep copying her style. Once or twice, why not, but it was a bit repetitive at the end.

Speaking of which, there's something I have to mention which left me frowning for a while. Here is the line: 'But being here. In this dress. That is permission. It's the job.' (p. 226) I don't know what Tricia Levenseller intended through that line, maybe it is a bit unclear, but, after giving us such a strong and female-empowered discourse about Alessandra putting pants on, and being herself like she always wanted, I didn't really get why she had to write this line. What bothers me, to be clearer, is "In this dress". When I read this sentence, I instantly was like "So what? Is there a dress code for being a prostitute? Is showing too much skin a symbol of libertinism?" I was a bit disappointed, to be honest. It felt like wanting to give a feminist speech until this very point. Perhaps the "In this dress." was too much.

So yes, on the whole, I liked the story, albeit all the negative points cited above. It was still very enjoyable, and well-written, and the world-building was simple but great. I know that writing a standalone, a fantasy standalone even, is a very complicated job. I wonder if the story would have been better if the book had been divided into two. On a more positive note, I thought the dialogue very clever and witty, and Alessandra's personnality was uncommon! I would be very interested in having explanations on whether or not there was a Greek inspiration for names or even the world Tricia Levenseller has built, because I am sure it would be fascinating!

Thank you Netgalley and Pushkin press for allowing me to review this eARC!

Alessandra is now one of my favourite female characters! I love how she isn't afraid to own her sexuality in a society where women are 'ruined' so easily. She very cold at the beginning of the story, but gradually she opens up and learns to let people in again. I adores the romance in this book and how organic it was - I'm so tired of reading YA when the leads fall madly in love based off of three conversations, it's so unrealistic and quite frankly irritating! I can't wait to read more books by this author

Rereading this book brought back so many memories which felt warm and fuzzy, but it also showed me how stiff the characters were. The king of shadows? He seemed like a middle grade boy who had been told by his mum that his Xbox was sold off. A-girl? Um yeah, so you're emo AND gen-z, how cUTE. The plot flow almost felt forced and everything happening was clearly visible as oh the author must have seen the plot holes after she sent it off to the editor and scrambled to write fillers.

However, despite all its flaws, I still enjoyed the book for all it's worth and I believe it deserves its place on the middle tier star

Loved this book. Fmc was amazing, ambitious, manipulative, bold.. loved how she empowered herself and consequently other woman too. Killias was one on my fave... beneath all that exterior he was kind, attentive.. The tension between them was off the charts and I loved the banter. Definitely deserves the 5 stars.