The Shadow Society

The Shadow Society by Marie Rutkoski
3.5/5 stars
Farrar Straus Giroux, 2012
405 pages
YA Paranormal Fantasy

Source: Received an e-ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I think I was intrigued by the tease of a mystery in the blurb ("Darcy Jones doesn't remember anything before the day she was abandoned as a child outside a Chicago firehouse") but I honestly am not entirely sure what compelled me to check it out and what actually unraveled surprised me. This was probably a case where NOT reading the synopsis worked in my favor, adding additional tension to the story.

Since I don't want to spoil too much, I can tell you that about the first quarter is Darcy living a normal life but with a startling prologue that has you waiting for the other shoe to drop. Before that though, it means following Darcy attending school, doing homework, working after-school, hanging out with friends, trying not to draw attention to herself. This also means the introduction of the mysterious Conn, the new kid at school who seems to be closely observing Darcy. Once the other shoe does drop though, the book is off on a gallop into an alternate world where she begins to get some answers about her past while also navigating a shaky future.

I don't really know how I feel about Darcy. She narrates the book so we're in her head, getting introduced to the new reality at the exact same time as her but I don't know if I ever felt really bonded with her, the way I do with my favorite characters. There is also the expected love interest (the rather personality-free Conn) as well as Darcy's delightful friends who pop up to play an unexpected role.

I do have to give Rutkoski props for this book being "compulsively readable" (quoting the goodreads blurb there) as I flew through it. I read it in only a couple of hours while listening to a football game and was thoroughly absorbed even if I wasn't as connected to the characters as I would have liked.

Cover: I like the blues and how it hints at an alternate dimension. If I knew the Chicago skyline, I would want to compare what we see here on the cover to what is actually existent.

This book is available for release on October 16, 2012. For more info, visit goodreads.