The Shadows Between Us

Content Overview

Overall Content
Severity
2.7

Language

2.9/10

Alcohol, Drugs, Smoking

1.0/10

Intimacy, Sex, Immodesty

6.0/10

Violence, Weapons, Blood, Crime

3.5/10

Potentially Intense Themes

0.2/10

**As an Amazon associate I earn from qualifying purchases. 

My Opinion

4.5 out of 5 stars (4.5 / 5) This book just made my top 5 of the year. It is written from the perspective of an 18yo girl who is mean, selfish, and hilarious. It was so interesting to hear from the not-so-good-girl, who is morally gray in so many areas. This viewpoint is so different from most books and made it so fun. She’s somewhat reminiscent of Lou from Serpent and Dove but not entirely. I’m actually sad it’s not a series!

Alessandra has a goal. And this goal is to be in power. She sets her eyes on the king and expertly plays him into wooing her. Little does she realize what happens to her heart as she plays this game.

The content was fairly low but still had a higher intimacy rating. Alessandra is very promiscuous and really likes talking about sex. And her partners. And virginity. And what is appropriate or not, and on and on. I really had a hard time seeing this as YA. I do not believe it was within YA boundaries. However, it never went into a lot of detail. The sex scenes were stopped at, what I deem, the appropriate time for YA. The violence was less, but our main character has murdered before and does not feel bad about it. Once again, for YA standards, it felt a bit much. If this was adult fantasy and not YA I would’ve given it a higher rating.

I received this eARC in exchange for an honest review. Thank you Edelweiss for providing it.

The Shadows Between Us

Tricia Levenseller

Alessandra is tired of being overlooked, but she has a plan to gain power:

1) Woo the Shadow King.
2) Marry him.
3) Kill him and take his kingdom for herself.

No one knows the extent of the freshly crowned Shadow King’s power. Some say he can command the shadows that swirl around him to do his bidding. Others say they speak to him, whispering the thoughts of his enemies. Regardless, Alessandra knows what she deserves, and she’s going to do everything within her power to get it.

But Alessandra’s not the only one trying to kill the king. As attempts on his life are made, she finds herself trying to keep him alive long enough for him to make her his queen—all while struggling not to lose her heart. After all, who better for a Shadow King than a cunning, villainous queen?

-Excerpt taken from Goodreads.

Check Goodreads to see the book’s ratings. 

Detailed Content Review

Language 

F***-

H***- 10

S***-

A**- 2

B****-

D***- 17

Bas****-

Religious Cursing-

J****-

Chr***-

G**- 10

L***-

Derogatory terms etc-

Alcohol, Drugs, Smoking

A young man is fond of opium dens. 

Wine is served at a party. 

A couple drink wine with dinner. 

Two people drink ale. 

A couple drink wine with a meal. 

Wine with a meal. 

A young woman carries a tray of ale. 

A man sips wine. 

Champagne is served at a ball. 

Intimacy, Sex, Immodesty

A young woman admits to giving a young man her first kiss, love and body. 

A young woman rolls over in bed to a young man who is only covered by sheets. Her too. She asks him for more later. 

A young man has shared her bed with 4 young men in a month. 

A young woman makes herself “indecent” nightgowns to be with lovers. One shows off the tops of her breasts. 

A man dances with men at a ball. 

A man and young woman undress and go swimming. They turn around to give each other privacy. They talk about if they are virgins. She tells of her first time (only that he undressed her). How she learned about contraceptives, “the ways of the bedroom,” and him pleasuring her. Later they speak of how long it’s been since they’ve been with someone. 

A man teasingly offers to be a nude model.

A young woman dresses to look like a prostitute and works at a club. A woman asks if she knows her way around a bedroom. She passes a man “sucking” on the neck of a prostitute and then he leads her to a room. A man has his hand up a woman’s skirt “moving progressively north.”

Two men dance.

A man lightly bites a young woman’s lip. He picks her up and passionately kisses her as he lays her on the bed, hovering over her and kissing her neck. He takes his shirt off and she caresses his chest, then kisses it. Her lips find his neck and earlobe as she straddles him. He rolls her over and slides his knee between her thighs and kisses her more. He never takes their clothes off. His fingers never stray to “fun places,” he just kisses her for hours. Later he placed his hand on her thigh and keeps going higher until she moves. He then pushes her against a wall, kisses her neck and slides his hand between her thighs again. They pull off her dress, he carries her to the bed. No more details. 

Talk of sex and when to have sex is common. Also how many lovers, and  waiting for marriage or not. One asks another if she has waited for her man already naked in bed because then he couldn’t resist her. 

A young woman kisses a man and bites his lip. 

A man kisses a young woman.

Violence, Weapons, Crime, Blood

A young woman plunged a knife in her boyfriend’s heart and buries him. She has decided that it was too messy to kill him so she will opt for poison next time. It refers to this throughout the book. She dug a hole and buried him while his eyes stared up at her. 

Someone tries to kill a man by lacing his gloves with poison. 

Two people are assassinated. 

Boxing is a common sport. Men fight men. Women fight women. One young woman is knocked out in a fight. 

A man slides his sword into a man’s gut. No warning. He then orders 9 more hanged.

A man is shot in the chest. He falls backward, blood pooling on his clothes. A young woman stabs a man’s thigh. A man stabs a man in the back.

A man is poisoned, falls to the ground and starts foaming at the mouth. 

A man charges at a man and punches him multiple times. One is head butted and kicked. A sword goes in one’s throat, pinning him to the wall. He hangs, dead. 

Potentially Intense Themes

A young man loses a family heirloom in a game and lets a servant be whipped for it. 

**As an Amazon associate I earn from qualifying purchases. 

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