The story begins with an 18-year-old girl named Alessandra who wanted to be seen in the world. Being the younger sister, she is constantly overlooked by her father so she formulated a plan to gain power and thus receive the attention she wanted—by marrying and killing the Shadow King, taking his power all for herself. No one is allowed 5 feet within the king’s reach and the king has always been disinterested in the girls who have always tried to impress him but she didn’t let that stop her goal.

As the story continues, Alessandra finds that she isn’t the only one plotting to kill the king. Trying to save him from the threats on his life, it begins to get harder to convince herself she is protecting him purely because she wants to kill him herself when she becomes queen. And it becomes incredibly difficult to keep her objective clear when the king exposes his kindness to her.

When I started reading this book, I found it hard to put it down. The word dictation is astonishing, the friendships made are wonderful (strengthened very unexpectedly), and all of the personalities of the characters are powerful in their unique ways. The author weaves many villians in the story without overwhelming or confusing the plot. This standalone helped me out of a reading slump and I would like to recommend it to everyone.

-Saanvi V.

The Shadows Between Us by Tricia Levenseller can be downloaded for free from Overdrive.