Review Detail

Well, that was certainly something different. I’m not really sure how to categorize The Shadow Girl. It’s some kind of mix of paranormal, mystery, sci-fi, and thriller. It’s an interesting combination, but something about it didn’t fully work for me. I did enjoy the book, but I figured out the mystery pretty early on, so in a sense I spoiled it for myself. There were a few details that I hadn’t worked out, so those were still shocking, but over all, the big reveal was lacking.

The Shadow Girl is about Lily who has always felt another girl’s presence in her life. Iris can’t be seen, even by Lily, but they can hear each other’s thoughts and feel each other. Lily’s parents act strangely when she mentions Iris, but any parent would be concerned about their child hearing voices, right? Well there’s more to it than that, which Lily discovers on her 17th birthday after her father dies in an accident. Her mother sometimes says strange things, and Lily has visions that feel that memories, and Iris feels like there’s something she can’t quite remember. It’s all very mysterious, but like I said, I formed my theory early and it was correct.

Of course there’s a romance. It’s a big part of the story, but not entirely the focus. There’s also some sort of love triangle at play, but it’s not the overly done, forced kind that seems to dominate YA today. Lily just gets caught up in a moment and ends up kissing her best friend, Wyatt. She doesn’t want to ruin their friendship with a failed relationship, but she begins to be confused about her feelings. Then there’s the mysterious new guy in town — Ty. He’s super hot, so of course Lily is attracted to him, and she’s a redhead so everyone is attracted to her. However, Ty ends up as a major driving force in the plot, so we get to know him as more than that hot mysterious guy.

The plot is quite interesting, even if it is predictable. I was very intrigued by Lily and Iris’ connection, and couldn’t quite figure them out until closer to the end. The Shadow Girl starts out feeling more paranormal, but as the stories moves on it starts to take on a more scientific feel. It was a strange transition at first, and I kind of felt like I would have preferred a paranormal or supernatural explanation rather than the scientific one we’re given. The ending also feels a little incomplete. I would have liked to know more and I was kind of expecting the bad guy that’s mentioned to show up, but he doesn’t. In the end, I did enjoy The Shadow Girl, but it’s not one of my favorites.