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    The Shadows
    The Shadows
    The Shadows
    Audiobook9 hours

    The Shadows

    Written by Megan Chance

    3.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Grace Knox is about to turn seventeen, and the world of Victorian New York society should be opening to her—a time of dances and parties and boys vying for her heart and her hand. Instead, Grace’s world is closing in: the family business is gone; her brother is drinking and gambling away whatever is left; her widowed mother cannot cope; and her grandmother is slipping into madness. And now Grace is having disturbing dreams of ancient battles.

    Grace’s only hope is to marry Patrick Devlin and let his fortune save them all. But she isn’t sure she loves Patrick, and she doesn’t share his passion to free Ireland from British rule. Why look to Ireland when there is so much poverty and despair here?

    Then Grace meets Diarmid, an Irish stableboy. Being with him means losing everything. But the secrets and mystery surrounding him are too compelling to ignore. Soon Grace is drawn into his world of legend and heroes, magic and prophecy—the world of her dreams—where her own choice between faith and fear holds the greatest power of all.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBrilliance Audio
    Release dateJun 3, 2014
    ISBN9781480598300
    The Shadows
    Author

    Megan Chance

    Megan Chance is the critically acclaimed, award-winning author of more than twenty novels, including A Splendid Ruin, Bone River, and An Inconvenient Wife. She and her husband live in the Pacific Northwest, with their two grown daughters nearby. For more information, visit www.meganchance.com.

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    Reviews for The Shadows

    3.5/5

    146 ratings19 reviews

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    • 3/5
      Actually, three and a half stars! So, what can I say about Shadow's book cover? Ugh, I like that it relates to the book's plot, and I find that the colors are beautiful but for some reason this cover just doesn't do it for me. The first book, Ashes', cover drew my eye every time I laid eyes on it. Shadows doesn't hold that ability.So lets get into the story itself by starting with the plot.First, let me say that I adored the first book, Ashes. I know others complained of it being too gory and horrifying. I did not have such an issue. For me, the first book ROCKED and I was super thrilled to be approved for it's sequel, no matter how much gore. The first book was on level with some Chuck Norris greatness and I was hoping that book two would hold true to the formula! As for Shadows, let me just share the it's plot line is just as good as the first's. Still, it's way more horrifying than the first book, so those who were squeamish from the git go, Beware. A lot of bloody detail and death can be found within Ms. Bicks' book. If you are easily sickened by just the hint of torture, death, cannibalism, etc. This book is not for you. I found the plot line more complicated in book two, seeing how A LOT of stratagems, secrets, and conspiracies lurk within it's pages. So much so, that you might be better off re-reading the first book for a re-fresher. If not, there is a good chance you might become too confused to even enjoy the good parts of the book due to all the different characters motives and actions. Which brings me to the bad points, the writing style.I had major issue with the style of writing Bick used for the second installment of her Ashes series. In book one, we follow Alex in the first person. There was no switching POV, which allowed us to form a bond with the heroine and become use to that particular style. Well, I hate to disappoint but in book two, you get to become acquainted with too many first person individuals. (I think this also adds to that confusion that arose from too much of a time lapse of reading book one and book two.) The jumping between characters was off putting and exasperating to the point that it took me awhile to really get into the book itself. I had to re-attach myself to the characters when I had already made a connection in the first book. I guess Also, Bick kept leaving her chapters on cliffhangers which highly annoyed me. Luckily, her descriptive skills and pacing made up for this major issue and saved this book from being a total flop for me. I do wish though that she would have kept one main point of view. Too many here to even count. I kept getting the same vibe that Justin Cronin had in his book, The Passage (which is also awesome but confusing with the different points of view).As for the characters, well they were just as good in the second book as the first and though I got to really get to KNOWN most of the characters through their multiple points of view, I didn't appreciate it. Still, I do give props to Bick for making commonplace choices for realistic characters in such a world as the one they now inhabit. Good job, Ms. Bick!Overall, I really enjoyed this book. The plot itself was captivating and I was able to ignore the abrupt switch in narration techniques. Still, if not for this major issue with the points of view, this book would have made five starts on my grading scale. It was the only real problem I had with the book.Yes, it is gory. Yes, the POV's suck, and Yes, even then it's still a decent read.I will be anxiously waiting for book three.E-galley was kindly provided by the publisher for a honest review. Thanks, Egmont USA!
    • 3/5
      I didn't even finish this book and was very disapointed in the way it was written; slow and not engaging. Which was a shame as i devoured Ashes and was looking forward to seeing what happened.
    • 4/5
      3.5 stars

      Phew. Just marathoned the first and second books back to back. Need some time to collect my thoughts before I can write this review, I think.
    • 4/5
      Fantastic read but I can't wait for the final book to see how it all ends up.
    • 4/5
      Josh MacCallum is ten years old and having a hard time. He lives in a small California desert town with his single mother and baby sister, is a genius, and has just been skipped forward in school a second time, making him two years younger than his classmates. Friendless, he is bullied constantly. It’s no real surprise when, in a fit of anger, he cuts his wrists. His panicked mother agrees to look into The Academy, a school for gifted youngsters affiliated with a university. Despite her reservations, the school seems to fit Josh’s needs, as well as being offered at no cost. For the first time Josh starts to make friends and is actually in a group of his peers. Things look happy. But things start going wrong quickly- students are committing suicide at an alarming rate. Mysterious sounds are heard at night. And the ‘special seminar’ that Josh and his new best friend, Amy, are invited to join is downright creepy. It’s supposed to be about artificial intelligence, but it really seems to be more about how living brains work. The head of the Academy, Dr. Engersol, seems all too bent on isolating brains from body. It’s really hard to write about this book without giving huge spoilers. Suffice it to say that what Josh uncovers is a truly skin crawling situation, that bad things happen to good people, and that it’s reasonably well written. The book was written 20 years ago and features computers and how they are interconnected, so one must remember what the state of computer technology was like back then to realize how freaky some of the things that happen in the book must have seemed to readers back then- there was no World Wide Web and modems connected your computer directly to another computer through the phone lines, not routing through a server. Some of the story is predictable, but there are surprises, particularly an unhappy twist at the end.
    • 5/5
      Initially, I was reluctant to read Shadows. I finished Ashes, and I was disappointed that the novel left me with such a cliff hanger. Then, when I started reading about Shadows online, I saw a lot of negative feedback because the book changes point of views. In the first novel of the trilogy (yes, I'm really getting tired of all the trilogies!), the story is told solely from Alex's point of view. However, in Shadows, the novel switches perspectives between various characters. We see the point of view of most of our main characters from the first novel, as well as some minor characters who are not introduced in the first book. The only major character that we don't see at all is Ellie. I still want to know where she is and what has happened to her! Shadows picks up the story shortly after the end of Ashes. Alex has been captured by a group of the changed, and she is struggling to survive. She is also learning some interesting things about the changed---they are continuing to evolve and adapt. The reader also finds out what happened to Tom, and where he has been in the time that he and Alex have been separated. His subplot surrounds his efforts to reunite with Alex. Chris, who was injured at the end of Ashes during Alex's escape, is being manipulated by a group within the town of Rule to help take control. To that end, Chris and Lena set out to find help to accomplish this task. It's very difficult to explain what is going on in Shadows in a short summary, because there is so much happening with the various subplots. The main thing to remember though is that if you've read Ashes, you will definitely want to pick this book up as well. It is a non-stop, action packed book that I read in a period of 24 hours. Once you pick it up, it is almost impossible to put it down. Unfortunately, this one will leave you with another cliff hanger ending, but the good news is that you only have to wait until February for the final installment in the trilogy, Monsters.
    • 4/5
       Book 2, after Ashes. This book definitely escalates after the first one. There is more gore and brutality, as well as a few sex scenes. This is far darker than the first, but I also feel that is how the world might progress: things are bad and they just get worse as the boundaries of humanity are pushed further and further. All that said, I am not a fan of Bick's writing at times, but I get pulled so far into the story it doesn't matter. This one, like the first, leaves you eager to read the next one!
    • 5/5
      Continues where Ashes left off. Alex is captured by the Changed; for what purpose, and why they're keeping her alive, she doesn't know. She's able to sense their thoughts at moments, though, which worries her. Tom is still alive, almost captured by bounty hunters; his path crosses with Weller and Mellie, who convince him that Alex is still in Rule and he can see her if he helps them blow up a mine, a Changed hangout. Chris is convinced by Nathan to lead a rebellion against Rule, but he and Lena escape before they get thrown in the brig; Lena begins to have a disturbing sickness and wonders if she's pregnant with peter's baby. Peter is ambushed and captured by the bounty hunters, who run horrible experiments on him with teh Changed. A good setup for book 3.
    • 2/5
      This is the second book in the Ashes trilogy by Bick. I loved the first book in this series, it was so gritty and engaging. This book was a disappointment for me. The book is even more grisly than the first one and switches POVs many times. There is no recapping so you better remember the plethora of characters from Ashes or you will be totally lost.Alex has been captured by Changed who are threatening to eat her and is doing her best to survive. Tom is doing his best to recover from his wounds in Ashes with an older couple. All the other characters are also doing their best to survive. Pretty much this is the continued story of the horror everyone lives through in an effort to live.This book was not nearly as good as the first book, Ashes. It still was a fast paced and action packed story but you switch POV so often that you never know who you are reading about. Alex is probably the character you read the least about. You also hear from Peter, Chris, Tom, and others in Rule. The plethora of POVs really slowed the progression of the story and fractured it a lot.Additionally there is no recapping at all, so all those characters you meet in Rule at the end of Ashes...well you better be prepared to remember them all. I couldn’t remember then all and struggled to remember who did what and was involved in what actions as the story went on. I got so frustrated at points I almost didn’t finish the book.The story was even more grisly than the first one with the added bonus of strange orgies between the Changed; all in all a pretty stomach turning read. There are lots of detailed descriptions of Changed kids eating humans; no detail is left unexplored. Gory detail doesn’t usually bother me, but there were parts of this book that made me go “ugh, yuck!”There are a couple of good things about this book. It is an intense read, and even though the scenes are fractured, they are incredibly engaging because someone is just about to die on every page. It makes the book hard to put down. Given that (as you might guess) there is a huge body count in this book...so just be prepared to watch lots of people die/be tortured/etc.The other interesting thing was how Alex and others are developing Changed-like abilities and starting to struggle to remain human. I am super curious with how this all will play out.Even with those points in the story’s favor I almost didn't finish this one. And in the end I am not sure if I am glad I did...nothing is resolved, this ends just like the first book did...right in the middle of everything.Overall a very disappointing book for me. I loved Ashes and was incredibly disappointed by Shadows. Too many POVs fracture the story and the lack of recapping make it impossible to remember the multitude of characters. The level of goriness/torture/orginess was ratcheted up a level higher than Ashes and made this book even yuckier at points. The story still moves at a neck-breaking pace and is incredibly engaging. The developments around Alex’s changing powers are interesting too. Outside of that there wasn’t much here I enjoyed. I truly doubt I will be reading the final book in this series.
    • 3/5
      Grace Knox's life has been turned upside down. Her father recently died, leaving their family with a failed business, lots of debt, lawsuits against them, and struggling to survive. Her family's only hope is for her to marry a rich man. Fortunately, Patrick Devlin, a wealthy childhood friend, expresses interest in her. He's nice, age appropriate, and seems to truly care for her. Enter Derry, or Diarmid of Irish legend. He and the Fianna, ancient Irish warriors, were called by Patrick in order to overthrow the English rule of Ireland. Derry infiltrates the Devlin house to see if Patrick is the one who called them and what his intentions are. Unfortunately, Patrick thought the spell didn't work and also calls up the Fomori, a rival band of ancient warriors known to be harbingers of chaos and enslavement. Will they put aside their difference to work to free Ireland or willy they destroy each other in an epic battle?The Shadows immediately interested me because of the focus on Irish mythology and Victorian society. The book does explore Irish mythology that I wasn't famliar with before. The Fianna and the stories involving them were the most interesting part of the story for me. They were dead for thousands of years because their hubris turned them into selfish tyrants A spell was bestowed upon them to either find a cause worthy enough for a priestess to agree with them and sacrifice herself for it or they would simply fail and die. Their internal stories before this were also drama filled, with stolen loves, killer boars, jealous exes, and tragic deaths. The Fianna in the present posed as a street gang in order to blend in while they figure out their situation. Overall, I liked them, but I would have liked to get a better picture of all of them, instead of just the leader Finn and Derry. The Victorian society aspects were inconsistent and lacking. Sometimes Grace would freak out at impropriety and other times, she would embrace it. There were no concrete consequences for not following the expectations of her station and it made that part of the book fall flat.Grace is honestly kind of boring. I feel for her and her situation, but her constant oscillating between Patrick and Derry is annoying. Plus her decision for this book will most certainly be changed at least once before the series is over. Her logic and thought process was odd and unnatural at times and I felt more annoyed by her than anything. It feels like nothing truly happens throughout the book. It takes a long time to even move forward with the characters finally becoming aware of each other. Nothing is resolved and nothing very exciting happens. It feels like a second book in a trilogy, which is typically all set up and no payoff which is saved for the last book.The Shadows delivered on Irish mythology, but not much else. I felt as if nothing really happened except a lot of set up through the entire novel. I grew bored with the story as a result and I'm not sure I would even read the next book in the series.
    • 3/5
      The post-EMP world first introduced in Ashes gets even more dysfunctional as Alex and Tom are fighting for their survival. Alex has escaped from Rule only to be ensnared by a group of Chuckies that for some reason spare her as they conduct killings - ritual and otherwise - of other un-changed. Tom, dragged away at the end of book one, is desperate to get back to see if Alex is still alive. There are many story lines and several small factions working to survive and destroy each other. The surviving kids - the spared - seem to be changing a bit too, although it is unclear how or why. While the action is fast and furious, it is sometimes difficult to keep track of the players and to store details away that will certainly be necessary for Book Three. As with Ashes, the book ended abruptly and with the lives of the main characters left in the balance.
    • 3/5
      2.5 stars. As I'd hoped, this series got back on track in delivering more action and zombie survival goodness, meanwhile dialing back on the romantic melodrama.If only there hadn't been such a lack of cogent progression to the story. It hasn't been that long since I read the first book, but I still felt as if I was missing something. I spent half the time trying to figure out what the hell was going on with the different factions in the novel, trying to keep track of allegiances and betrayals.It didn't help that the book was so fast-paced. Normally I wouldn't complain about such a good thing, but the author's handling of this was really strange and distracting. She's thrown in a few more characters to keep track of in this sequel, which still would have been okay if the points-of-view weren't jumping around so constantly and frenetically.Yes, this frequent switching back and forth along with almost every single chapter ending in a cliffhanger provided lots of suspense, but I quickly tired of being jerked around so much, especially when sometimes the POV would change only after a few pages.Also, be aware -- this book is very gory. Not just violent gory, but pretty nasty disgusting gory too, and involving all manner of bodily fluids. I liked how this gave it a really good zombie vibe, and it's for similar reasons why I like good zombie movies and shows like the Walking Dead, but I have a pretty strong stomach for this stuff and there were still a few scenes here that I felt were pretty gross.
    • 4/5
      It took me several chapters to straighten out the various factions and the characters of Irish legend (this could present a challenge for teen readers) but once I figured out the who's who I was rewarded with a highly compelling read with intriguing characters and forbidden love attractions. By the end I was ready to pick up the sequel! Stick with it; it's worth the work up front.
    • 5/5
      I discovered John Saul in middle school, and devoured everything I could find him between my late middle school and high school years--yet, I read them so quickly, and read so many books back then, I haven't had many memories of them as an adult. Re-reading this was sort of fascinating and wonderful, though I'm a little bit horrified to think of how young I was when I first read this one.Saul's writing is fast and dark, and he doesn't shy away from turning real-feeling characters toward unbelievable tragedy in horror. This book in particular deals with everything from child abuse and endangerment to child suicide and animal experimentation, and just when you think it can't get darker... well, yes, it does.It's true that this story might feel a little bit dated in terms of the story and technology presented, compared to where we are today, but readers who can get past that will be struck with a master storyteller's tale of horror that won't be easily forgotten. And if you like horror and can deal with those subjects above... well then, yes, I absolutely 100% recommend it.
    • 3/5
      Pretty good attempt at newer horror. Definitely worth the read if you are a horror fan.
    • 4/5
      Josh MacCallum is ten years old and having a hard time. He lives in a small California desert town with his single mother and baby sister, is a genius, and has just been skipped forward in school a second time, making him two years younger than his classmates. Friendless, he is bullied constantly. It’s no real surprise when, in a fit of anger, he cuts his wrists. His panicked mother agrees to look into The Academy, a school for gifted youngsters affiliated with a university. Despite her reservations, the school seems to fit Josh’s needs, as well as being offered at no cost. For the first time Josh starts to make friends and is actually in a group of his peers. Things look happy. But things start going wrong quickly- students are committing suicide at an alarming rate. Mysterious sounds are heard at night. And the ‘special seminar’ that Josh and his new best friend, Amy, are invited to join is downright creepy. It’s supposed to be about artificial intelligence, but it really seems to be more about how living brains work. The head of the Academy, Dr. Engersol, seems all too bent on isolating brains from body. It’s really hard to write about this book without giving huge spoilers. Suffice it to say that what Josh uncovers is a truly skin crawling situation, that bad things happen to good people, and that it’s reasonably well written. The book was written 20 years ago and features computers and how they are interconnected, so one must remember what the state of computer technology was like back then to realize how freaky some of the things that happen in the book must have seemed to readers back then- there was no World Wide Web and modems connected your computer directly to another computer through the phone lines, not routing through a server. Some of the story is predictable, but there are surprises, particularly an unhappy twist at the end.
    • 4/5
      Another fast read from Saul. Very well written with fantastic twists and turns. A real page-turner!
    • 5/5
      This was the first book I ever read by Saul over 5 years ago or so. It was suggested to me by my Father who also is an avid reader like myself. I was very impressed with Sual's writing style and have been ever since. I thought the book was wonderful, the characters were played out in detail and Saul kept me engaged in my reading.The ending was very good and it really moved me. Sort of took you to another place in the belief that the brain can be replaced by computers.Really good writing, enjoyable reading.
    • 3/5
      Shadows is a good book to read at night, and the plot was interesting. The concept of true artificial intelligence is always scary, especially when that intelligence wakes up and realises the total power and control it can wield. I quite liked the ending of this book as well. Having said all that, however, I come to the book's main handicap - it's forgettable. It is just one day since I finished reading Shadows and I've already forgotten my feelings and impressions while reading it. In my opinion, an enjoyable read, but not worth a second look.