I am holding myself back from giving this book 4 stars... I really really wanted it to be good!! The concept is great, and there's so much potential in the worldbuilding and the characters, but the book all together just didn't stick the landing for me.

I absolutely love the magic/fantasy of this book. Seriously, the concept is great, and I thought the worldbuilding was really well written and well-incorporated into the story. I'm obsessed with this idea of shadows as dark matter or energy and the relations between humans and their shadows. I love all the little details about how the modern world has developed within this concept. This feels like a book created from a great worldbuilding idea, but then the story was just slapped on top. The plot points themselves were fine enough, but the story just didn't carry itself well. The suspense wasn't there for me, the character motivations didn't feel super believable, and the ending was rather disappointing.

I have super high hopes for the sequel. With the world building and character introductions out of the way, a sequel might have the space it needs for a more developed story and plot. ...Hopefully.

Thanks to NetGalley and Tor Books for the eARC!