The Shadow Society by Marie Rutkoski

Short Review:
Now this was a spectacular book. I loved every word of it. It got my attention from the very first page and didn't let go until the last one. Very impressive. Realistic, complicated characters who seemed to jump out of the page and into my world. I loved the romance, the action, the history. It's definitely on my to re-read list.

Longish version:
This one book held a very good story, which took me to an alternative plane to our own. One that was pre-the Great Chicago fire. Things were quite different in that world. Among us humans, there were Shadows, who presumably wanted to take over the world.

There was, of course, a girl, who was too ordinary, a bit friendless, orphaned and abandoned before a firehouse in Chicago. And a cute guy, who's after her for things she can't even understand. He's from the past, she's from the present, but they meet and their lives will never be the same again.

Conn has come into the present with a mission. He has to terminate Darcy. But for some reason, he can't. And she's falling for a guy she's never seen before. A guy who seriously seems to be stalking her.

Then, when Darcy finally decides to put her attraction into action... wham! It turned out that she wasn't who she thought she was her entire life, and well... Conn wasn't who she thought he was either. A lot of distrust, spying, conspiring and reconciling later, perhaps they might get a chance at 'together'. Or not...

I really loved Darcy's friend. And that's becoming a rare thing in books nowadays. But they were awesome and hilarious and I loved them. They were loyal and smart and had a bunch of tricks up their sleeves. Without them this story could've gone terribly wrong. Without them the world as we (or they) knew it, would've probably turned into a dark, dystopian place.

In other words, I enjoyed the Shadow Society immensely. I'm just sorry I didn't review it earlier, but... you know. Things happen.


I give it