The brilliant sequel I didn’t know was coming! I have read The Shadows Between Us so many times I can quote parts of it, so when I found out this book was out I was beyond excited and surprised. I was unsure how I felt about a story from Chrysantha’s perspective since I loved the first book so much but I really enjoyed it. Will it become a book I read once a year, maybe not, but it was still a good book.
When we are first introduced to Chrysantha in the first book, it is only through letters and Alessandra’s point of view. She is shown as vain, stupid and uncaring for her younger sister. She is their father’s favorite and has just married an aging Duke. This book starts with how that marriage is going and the truth about who Chrysantha really is. She is not vain, stupid and uncaring but instead an actress who has been putting on a show for the world for the last 7 years. Despite her plotting, her situation is miserable and she has just discovered that her younger sister is marrying the king and she is MAD.
From here there is murder, plotting and other hijinks that makes me think it runs in the family. Overall an enjoyable read with an antihero FL and an equally monstrous ML

Set some time after Shadows Between Us, this follows the story of Chrysantha, Alessandra’s sister. To survive in high society, Chrysantha has pretended for year to be simple and daft. Her father marries her off to a nearly dead, bedridden old man. One night, tired of his treatment of her, Chrysantha suffocates him. Believed to have been his only family left, Chrysantha is surprised when a man named Eryx Demos shows up in her bedroom one night, claiming to be the estranged grandson of her late husband. Set in a society where the man gets everything, she is forced to play nice while thwarting off his plans to marry her off, take away any money her late husband left her, and take her late husband’s estate. Convinced that there is no way this man is her late husband’s grandson, she hires a private investigator and does some of her own mystery solving. The more she uncovers, the more dangerous she is sure Eryx is. Worse, she is starting to have feelings for him. Who really is Eryx? Can Chrysantha find her happiness outside of society’s expectations? Can she survive long enough to find out?

The plot is well-developed and engaging, but drags in places. The characters are engaging, entertaining, and relatable. The author does a great job of continuing the world building of Chrysantha and Alessandra’s world while making the reader feel great sympathy for the prequel’s most hated character. There is some implied sexual assault, sex, and more mature themes in this book that suggest this book is suited best for older young adult audiences. Fans of fantasy, paranormal fiction, mystery, and romance will want to pick this one up. Recommended for most library collections.

Please Note: A copy of this book was given in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own. No other compensation was received.

I pretty consistently enjoy Tricia Levenseller's books - I like her morally gray but still appealing characters and her world-building - and this companion to The Shadows Between Us was a fun read. Our female main character is Chrysantha Stathos, sister to Allesandra from The Shadows Between Us and very young duchess to an old, sick, but still very lecherous duke. When the duke dies, Chrysantha feels like she's finally won - after spending her 19 years on the planet pretending to be sweet and simple, she finally has the freedom and wealth that she's secretly been scheming for under the surface. All that changes, though, when Eryx Demos shows up, claiming to be the rightful heir to the dukedom as the late duke's estranged grandson. Chrysantha accidentally reveals her true intelligence to Eryx, so she can't manipulate him the way she normally would, and the two quickly become enemies sharing the same goal - to drive the other from the manor and have total control of the dukedom. I really enjoyed their banter and chemistry, Chrystantha's sharp wit and even sharper tongue, and just generally watching them be too obtuse to realize they are in their own enemies to lovers story. I also was delighted to see Allesandra again and to see the way she's used her influence with the Shadow King to change the laws the specifically govern women's rights. I'm not really sure I would categorize this as YA - the main characters are 18 and 19, but this is pretty intensely violent at moments. Either way, I enjoyed another morally gray heroine (maybe even anti-heroine?) from Levenseller, and I'll keep reading her books even though I must be way older than her target audience.

Tricia Levenseller strikes again! THE DARKNESS WITHIN US is a dazzling return to the world at the heart of THE SHADOWS BETWEEN US — one of my favorite reads of 2020. This companion novel reintroduces readers to old and new characters alike. Weaving a tale of romance, magic and mystery around a seemingly villainous protagonist and the one man standing in the way of the life she’s fought so long for, THE DARKNESS WITHIN US is another engaging, well-written win for Levenseller.

rating: 4.25/5
spice: 1.5/5 (fade to black but has lead up)

i read The Shadows Between Us a few years ago and although I don’t remember a whole lot about it, I do know I loooved it, and was so excited to hear there was a follow up about her sister Chrystantha.

i was expecting to dislike the FMC but actually really liked her character. Chrysantha was fierce, calculated, and very relatable.

Chrysantha and Eryx were a true enemies to lovers, the build up and tension was absolutely exquisite! I devoured this book in a single day, I couldn’t put it down.

I do wish that there were more of the fantasy elements, more shadow use! Other than that this was such a great read!

*thank you netgalley for the arc

I loved being back in a Tricia Levenseller novel! The world-building is top tier, and the characters were easy to connect to. I found this entire book to be very compelling and engaging. I finished it in a day and look forward to adding it to my classroom library.

I loved this book
Especially since it can be a stand alone if you have not read the first book. If you had read it however then you know how vapid this sister was made out to be. So I loved watching the truth unfold and realize how cunning she really is.
This was the perfect romance and much like the first book it is going to grace my shelves in a print copy

“Exactly. Together, we could burn the world down if we wanted to.”

Darkness Within Us picks up where Shadows Between Us left off, only now from Alessandra’s sister, Chrysantha’s perspective.

Chrysantha is about to have everything she’s ever wanted, money to do with as she pleases and freedom from marriage. Until an imposter arrives at her manor, claiming to be the heir of her dying husband, trying to take everything Chrysantha has worked for. Chrysantha works to prove Eryx is not the heir he claims to be, and if all else fails, she’s not opposed to resorting to murder…again.

This was such a great companion novel to The Shadows Between Us and really ties the sisters together and makes the series feel more complete.

I really enjoyed learning more about Chrysantha’s character and motivations. Since she has pretended to be a simpleton for so long it created lots of opportunity for scheming.

It was fun to see what characters from the first book are up to and expand more on the world.

I absolutely adore Levensellers descriptive writing style when crafting scenery. Like in the first book the outfits being written with such care, now it’s of the old manor being remodeled. It really makes the setting easy to visualize with more detail.

I felt like the stakes weren’t very high for Chrysantha so I wasn’t as invested as I could have been if money wasn’t the main thing on the line. There was also a strong hate for men in this book and it seemed like an easy scapegoat for Chrysantha to pin all of her problems on. But overall I still enjoyed this book.

The Shadows Between Us can be read as a Standalone novel but if you enjoyed it- I highly recommend also reading The Darkness Within Us.

Perfect for fans of The Princess Diaries 2 and Beauty and the Beast.

Thank you NetGalley and Feiwel and Friends for this ARC!

4 Stars

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC. Unfortunately this book was just not for me. From the start, there are a lot of things that are told and not shown. I think something I've recently noticed that really bothers me is when things are dropped in "conveniently" Or when things are pointed out a million times. For example of told not shown and pointing things out 1029932x times: the main character, Chrysantha, talks a lot about how she is deceiving everyone around her into thinking shes dumb. So during one conversation, another character is pretty much like "oopsies am I talking too fast for you?" and then her inner monologue is like "oh right. im deceiving everyone into thinking im dumb but im NOT." And for convenience: She's been in mourning since her husband dies, so in this same conversation she says something and the woman in the shop goes "oh haven't you heard?" It felt like there was no buildup to the information and it was just dropped in. Unfortunately I thought the first book was much better.

This book reawakened my love of reading. If you're a fan of enemies to lovers and tension between the love interests this is the book for you. Honestly I wasn't a big fan of the start and didn't have high hopes after reading the first few chapters. It seemed like a fantasy of girl gets everything she wants and does whatever she wants. Then entered the fake duke and I was hooked. This book had me staying up until 3am, not even setting it down to go pee once I'd hit about the halfway mark. If you enjoyed The Shadows Between Us than you will love this book.

As someone who adored The Shadows Between Us, I was FERAL to read The Darkness Within Us.

After the events of book one, we see Chrysantha married to very handsy, very old duke. When he unexpectedly dies, Chrysantha finds that she is what she always strived to be: young, beautiful, rich, and FREE. But when a young man posing as her late husband’s grandson shows up, her future is put in jeopardy. Chrysantha puts everything on the line to discover who this Eryx Demos truly is, no matter the cost.

This book was phenomenal. While flawed and a little spoiled, Chrysantha was an incredibly fun and interesting character to read. She was unapologetic about who she was and what she wanted. The pacing in the book was great and the story never had me bored. Eryx was intriguing and mysterious, and was truly the perfect balance to Chrysantha.

I had so much fun reading this book and am so thankful to NetGalley for the opportunity to read it!

I’m so excited that Shadows Between Us became a duology! I absolutely loved the first one and also really enjoyed this one as well. The women are all badass and more of anti hero which makes the pov feel very unique. I can’t wait to own a physical copy of this one.

You know the books that are a really good time? This was a really good time. I loved being back in the world that was introduced in The Shadows Between Us, and I LOVED getting to know these characters within that space. I would never want to be a third sister to these two sharp tongued ladies, but reading about them - especially their misconceptions/misperceptions of one another was a real treat. Nobody writes love interests like Levenseller, well worth the wait.

I needed to get out of a slump so I chose this book because I LOVED The Shadows Between Us!

Chrysantha was a clever, dark manipulator and the best morally gray MC. The romance was EVERYTHING (closed door for the YA crowd) and so rewarding.

A perfect companion book and a stellar fantasy. Read this one!!!!

I don’t have words…. This book is the cutest book I have read in some time. It has the tropes I want the story I want to follow. Give me bridgerton with men with fae like abilities. Eryx Demos is the new book boyfriend for me!!!

I can’t wait to get a physical copy of this book!!
Thank you again for letting me experience this book.

This book was so enchanting and intricately written. I loved the cast of characters and the way we were introduced to them throughout the story. I do feel like some of the world building could have been flushed out just a tad more, but overall this was a really fun piece of work to delve into. I definitely recommend reading The Shadows Between Us before delving into this book.

Ahhhhh! It was so good this is the story I didn't know I needed. 100% will be reccomending to Everyone I know! I loved the story, the world building and meeting the different characters. I felt completely immersed in the story and couldn't stop reading it.

I was OBSESSED with The Shadows Between Us, and when I saw that there was another novel coming out, I was thrilled to jump back into the world. This book was a good solid read, and while I really liked it as a whole. The “woe is me, I’m a female you have no idea how hard it is being a woman.” bit was so heavy handed that I was rolling my eyes for a majority of it. But the world is so fun and the twists were interesting. The ending did end up feeling rushed, and the fantasy element didn’t seem to quite fit the world… but was shocking.
All of that aside, Crysantha was a fun character to read about and I enjoyed hearing her side of the story after having read The Shadows Between Us. Eryx was such a captivating character that he even left me feeling frustrated, like Crysantha. The is no doubt that he was a good match for Crysantha and that they complimented each other well. Which in turn did make for a fun romance to read. The inclusion of Alessandra and Kallias was a nice touch, and I was so glad to see part of their married life. Overall, this was a decent addition to the world, I just wish the ending and the fantasy elements were a little more hashed out...
Thank you to Edelweiss+ for the digital ARC.
3.5/5 stars