This books was great! The storyline and characters were great. When it came out and it had the sprayed edges I had to make sure to have it as a kindle trophy

Amazing! The enemies to lovers did not disappoint. I was so happy to be reading this! I need more books like this in my life. I loved the world, I loved seeing her turn into herself and find healing and forgiveness in her sister. I just loved it all so much

I have been waiting for The Darkness Within Us for years, and it was so worth it!!! Such a fun read. I think anything Tricia writes sets the reader up for a good time, but I truly love this world and these characters so much!!!

An interesting look at the differences between sisters. I was excited to dive back into this world and hopefully revisit some of my favorite characters from the first book. I liked Chrysanthemum and found her and Eryx to be an interesting couple. Unfortunately, it just didn't live up to the first book. Good, just not great.

While typically I love anything Tricia writes, this book fell a little short for me. I had a hard time getting through it and was just not invested in the story or characters at all.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to review this book.

DNF at 16%. I couldn't stand the main character and I am refusing to finish books that I don't enjoy.

Chrysantha may be like her sister, Alessandra, but Chrysantha is sneakier about it. She always knew that it’s better to be seen as airheaded than strong and ambitious. That’s why she married the elderly duke, who is about to die any day now. She wants her freedom, and what better way to get it from an elderly duke? 

However. Chrysantha doesn’t get all of her wishes when the duke nephew unexpectedly shows up and expects his inheritance. Chrysantha isn’t going to let anyone claim the freedom that she fought for. She will do anything to secure it again.

I have to be honest here. I didn’t really like Chrysantha from the previous book, so I had low expectations. Thankfully, I did because I enjoyed the read so much more than expected. 

What I didn’t like as much was Chrysantha. Sorry, but she wasn’t it. I understand that Chrysantha had to be a certain way so she could get her way. But I won’t forgive Chrysantha for the way she treated Alessandra. I just won’t.

Final thoughts:
Besides my rant regarding Chrysantha, you should still read it if you enjoy reading about morally gray female characters getting their way in the fantasy genre.

The Darkness Within Us is the second story in the Shadow Between Us series and focus on Alessandra's sister Chrysantha. I wasn't so sure about this story as how much she was horrible in her letters to Alessandra in the first book but in true Levenseller fashion, all is not what it seems. Chrysantha just wants her freedom and she thought she had it by marrying a man quadruple her age, eww. When he dies she would be free to do as she pleases and not hide behind a facade she held for seven years. Just when she thought she was free and imposter shows up claiming to be the dukes grandson and to take it all away from her. I ended up enjoying this story more than I thought I would but I felt like it ended to early and I wanted to see a bit more of the two together. 3.5 stars.

I just did not enjoy the characters in this book personally. I struggled quite a bit to finish mainly because of that. The story itself was good I just found myself bored or irritated much of the time throughout.

Genuinely one of the best books I have read this year!

Let me just say that this book had me kicking my feet and giggling throughout the whole thing. The two love interests in this book really just live to rile each other up and truly just make the other's lives as miserable as possible for a lot of this book. It's a true enemy to lovers with forced proximity! The romance and bantering were truly amazing in this book and just the sassiness of their interactions was so much fun!

I really loved this main character and just how much of a girly girl she is, all while also being manipulative and a genius who is willing to do whatever it takes to get what she wants. She is a strong female character who can also be feminine and make her whole bedroom pink if she wants. I loved this twist on a strong female character and found it so relatable and empowering.

There were also so many endearing relationships between characters in this book such as friendships and sisterly bonds, and it showed how having these can be life-changing but also difficult. Truly I loved almost every side character in this book, and they had the cutest little arcs ever.

Overall this was such an amazing and addicting read, and easily a five-star read. If I had to list five books as my favorite books of the year then this book would be on that list!

Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillian Childrens Publishing Group for allowing me the chance to read and review this book <3

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

When I saw that Tricia Levenseller was writing a sequel for The Shadows Between Us I was STOKED. And this one had all the spirit of the first!

Thoughts:
- As always you gotta love the badass women Tricia writes
- Writing style was a bit stiff at times but easy to fly through
- I loved the way enemies to lovers was done with Chrysantha and —- even though it was a pretty slow burn
- Certain…magical elements were a bit strange to me but you just have to not think too much about it

Overall I enjoyed this quick fantasy read! And thank you so much to Feiwell and Friends for sending me this beautiful copy as well as a signed author slip and art! I can’t get enough of it😍

This was an enjoyable quick read featuring morally gray characters in an enemies to lovers situation. I enjoyed the plot, but the characters felt a little one dimensional and the ending felt rushed.

3.5 ⭐️

Was gonna be a 4 star until the ending. It was so rushed and made no sense with the character’s reactions to what actually happened and felt out of place with their personalities. The first 80-85% of it I really enjoyed tho! It felt more natural than the first book and was fast paced and entertaining!

I am enamored by how atmospheric both of the books in this series are. There is an absolutely perfect level of tension, mystery, romance, and dark undertones. This book was exactly what I needed the next installment of this series to be.

Chrysantha has convinced the world that she is daft, despite being anything but, and she has finally gotten everything she ever wanted. Her terrible husband it gone, and she is a duchess with an estate where she can escape from the rest of the world. Her perfect world is turned upside down when a man appears claiming to be her husband’s heir and threatening to take away the life she worked so hard to create.

I could not put this book down, I just needed to know what happened next. This was fast paced without sacrificing the story. I loved all of the characters, their relationships, and how every character and relationship developed and grew.

I will read absolutely anything Tricia Levenseller writes; she is an absolute auto buy author for me at this point.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book. I leave this review voluntarily.

Tricia Levenseller's The Darkness Within Us is the companion novel to the authors The Shadows Between Us. This story features Chrysantha Stathos, the sister to Alessandra Stathos, the woman who will soon become the Shadow Queen alongside Kallias Meheras, the Shadow King. By hiding her intelligence and ambition behind the mask of a beautiful air-headed girl, she has gathered important secrets, earned her father’s constant care, and become a wealthy duchess—all by age nineteen.

Now, she is only one elderly, dying duke (Hadrian Demos) away from having all the freedom, money, and safety she’s ever wanted. Or so she thought. Turns out her little sister somehow snatched the true victory away from her by marrying a King. Meanwhile, after the death of Chrysantha’s no-good, lecherous husband, a man claiming to be the duke’s estranged grandson (Eryk Demos) turns up to inherit everything that should be hers. Chrysantha is enraged. There is no way that she’s going to let some man take everything from her.

Never mind that he’s extremely handsome and secretive and alluring with mysterious powers. No, Chrysantha wants Eryx Demos dead, and in the end, a Stathos girl always gets what she wants. One could legitimately call this a retelling of Beauty and the Beast because of who Eryk is, and how many people are on his kill list for what they've done to him, and his own mother. Both of these characters are morally gray.

Chrysantha has no hesitation in putting a pillow over her husband, while Eryk has no hesitation in pushing her buttons which creates some interesting, and creative scenes between the characters. It's funny, Alessandra previous had similiar goals. Get close to the King. Have him fall in love with her. Kill him and take over the country. Also, as this is a companion, the story takes place at the same time as The Shadows Between Us which gives readers an update on what Alessandra has been up to.

Now, to the more curious aspects of Chrysantha. She is extremely kind to every member of her staff and grants them better lives once the duke has died and she is allowed to make the changes she wishes. She was not cruel to anyone and just wanted to achieve her goal and plotted for it. She does not want to be in love or ever get married again so any inconvenience is going to ruin her future. Until Eryk walks into her life, and turns it upside down. When she discovers his secret, she doesn't run away, she patiently works with him until she falls hard for him

first off. this book was adorable. the only reason i gave it four stars and not five is because i wish it had been longer. it was such an easy, cute, funny read. i didn’t read the first book in the series but i don’t think that hindered me at all with this one. the MC was witty, smart, and passionate. an absolutely easy romance read that i would recommend to pals for sure!

Thank you so much to the publisher and Netgalley for an ARC of this book.

For anyone that follows me, they know I’m a huge fan of Tricia. I absolutely adored The Shadows Between Us and then went into Blade of Secrets and loved it. I always said she could write a cookbook and I’d read it.

This book though, didn’t live up to her usual standards. Don’t get me wrong I enjoyed the book but after the stage was set on how awful Chrysantha was to Alessandra. Therefore one had to overcome that little tidbit very quickly. Of the two sisters I still prefer Alessandra.

The other thing I didn’t like was how no matter what, Chrysantha could not admit her own feelings and was extremely selfish. At times I rolled my eyes at her annoying ass.

The book did drag on at times. Though there was also a few times it felt jumbled. But overall I did enjoy the book. Eryx was such a dynamic character that developed so well. He was my favorite character. Their love story was so cute and the ending with Kallias and Alessandra was hilarious.

The best advice I can give in regard to reading this would be to read as close to the first one as possible. It has been years since I read the first one. This keeps everything in the forefront. But on that same foot, I recommend going into it with an open mind.

Chrysantha’s story had very similar vibes to her sister’s and I was here for those vibes. Spoilers ahead but I thought Chrysantha’s motivations were understandable. Not wanting to be controlled, wanting freedom. And she worked so so hard, plotting, hiding, scheming for that freedom but then, her actions sort of fell flat for me. She got her freedom and then mostly just used it to buy expensive stuff and sleep with whoever she wanted. I liked the conflict/banter/tension between her and Eryx.

I read this all in one sitting! It was very readable and kept my attention well. Thank goodness Chrysantha developed into this version of herself! I love that the characters are morally gray. I love that she wanted her freedom and to buck the system more than anything. I totally loved the romance and how it blossomed. Also the way the sisters relationship evolved - now I want more books with the two of them teamed up!

I ended up really liking this book. I think at first I really didn’t like Chrysantha at all- I got where she was coming from and I wanted her to be free as well but all the schemes and her being so mean to her sister was unnecessary. However I loved that she changed as the book went on and she finally fell in love and made things right with her sister. I was so upset that she didn’t read the letter first and almost got Eryx killed but it was sweet of her to jump between the two of them. I loved that they all got everything they wanted at the end.