This book was quite unsettling to read, and it made me squirm a bit more than Home Before Dark (Riley Sager) did. I chose it as my BOTM for July, and it was just as good as I hoped it would be. The Shadows is a thriller involving a missing person, a foreboding forest, and kids that get in way over their heads over a fantasy life.
The premise of lucid dreaming and disappearing forever is just enticing enough to get teenagers to latch on, but it was unsettling to see Charlie dream the "same" dreams the other kids were having. Almost sounded a bit magical at first, of course! By the end everything was very fleshed out and described in a way that made sense without overreaching, and I will say that I truly disappeared in the mystery disappearance and hoped that Charlie would reappear. (No spoilers, you'll have to see how all that plays out). I understand the purpose in the dual POV too in order to flesh out the mystery, but I did feel like each narrative was lacking a little in details and sometimes the chapters would end saying "and I know exactly what/how/why that is" and it had me going back to reread and see what I missed.
I would say the biggest problem I had with this book, which might have just been oversight (maybe) on my part, but there was a pretty big bait and switch. Now I am unaware of whether it was intentional or not, but I spend the majority of the book thinking one kid was murdered just to later read it was a different, unrelated kid, and I was left thinking "wait, what?" All evidence supported the murder of the first kid, in my opinion, and it is just so weird to immediately switch and make you feel blindsided. Due to this, and the fact that he does lucid dreaming in the middle of chapters with no forewarning, I would say that Paul is a bit of an unreliable narrator so be wary of that.
Overall, I enjoyed this book and read it fairly quickly. There is mention of abuse, self harm, murder, and mutilation throughout so you are aware. I liked learning about how everything happened and was fleshed out, and felt deeply unsettled and like I was also being watched at some points. This is the kind of book that will stick in my mind for a while here, and I will look forward to reading another novel from Alex North!
The premise of lucid dreaming and disappearing forever is just enticing enough to get teenagers to latch on, but it was unsettling to see Charlie dream the "same" dreams the other kids were having. Almost sounded a bit magical at first, of course! By the end everything was very fleshed out and described in a way that made sense without overreaching, and I will say that I truly disappeared in the mystery disappearance and hoped that Charlie would reappear. (No spoilers, you'll have to see how all that plays out). I understand the purpose in the dual POV too in order to flesh out the mystery, but I did feel like each narrative was lacking a little in details and sometimes the chapters would end saying "and I know exactly what/how/why that is" and it had me going back to reread and see what I missed.
I would say the biggest problem I had with this book, which might have just been oversight (maybe) on my part, but there was a pretty big bait and switch. Now I am unaware of whether it was intentional or not, but I spend the majority of the book thinking one kid was murdered just to later read it was a different, unrelated kid, and I was left thinking "wait, what?" All evidence supported the murder of the first kid, in my opinion, and it is just so weird to immediately switch and make you feel blindsided. Due to this, and the fact that he does lucid dreaming in the middle of chapters with no forewarning, I would say that Paul is a bit of an unreliable narrator so be wary of that.
Overall, I enjoyed this book and read it fairly quickly. There is mention of abuse, self harm, murder, and mutilation throughout so you are aware. I liked learning about how everything happened and was fleshed out, and felt deeply unsettled and like I was also being watched at some points. This is the kind of book that will stick in my mind for a while here, and I will look forward to reading another novel from Alex North!