The book follows Shona, a woman who’s had a traumatic past which resulted in some accidental deaths. She’s been released and now trying to rebuild, run away from the past and live a better life. But with limited options, she has gone to live with Richard, a man who knows her past secrets and somewhat uses it to his advantage.

Then there is Sonny, a man who lives with his mother. For years, they’ve been living in this abandoned building which once was an apartment complex. They are faced with the hard truth when developers start coming around and they may be forced to leave. Problem is, Sonny is agoraphobic.

For Shona, she starts getting back into somewhat a life, she meets Sonny and his mother. Then bad things start happening, things that Shona doesn’t want to be involved with. And yet…

When I saw the dark and mysterious book cover and the thriller genre, I definitely wanted to read it. The book was slow to start, which I’ll be honest, it was rough getting through, but it definitely ended on a high note. Had me at the edge of my seat, the last 20% of the book, I read the last of it, all in one sitting because I needed to know what was going to happen. I will say I ended the book still scratching my head but in the good way, if that even makes sense.

Thank you Netgalley for allowing me to access this e-arc. These words and opinions are entirely my own.

Our Shadow Selves is a dark, quietly gripping psychological thriller that lingers in the spaces between trauma, reinvention, and the dangerous pull of the past. Shona Blake is a woman trying to rebuild herself after a childhood marked by violence and exploitation, but the moment she moves in with Richard — the man who once turned her pain into his own success — the fragile life she’s constructed begins to crack.

Hawksbridge, with its crumbling seaside edges and forgotten corners, becomes the perfect backdrop for Shona’s unraveling. The Gifford family, living illegally in a derelict building, bring a strange, tender warmth to the story. Their resilience, their oddness, their refusal to be anything but themselves give Shona a sense of belonging she’s never had. Through them, she begins to paint again, to breathe again — until the discovery of a body wrapped in carpet shifts the novel into darker, more dangerous territory.

Richard’s presence is a constant, suffocating threat. He knows every secret Shona has spent years trying to bury, and he wields that knowledge with a cruelty that feels both intimate and inevitable. The tension between them is electric — a battle of wills, histories, and the versions of Shona she’s desperate to escape.

What makes the novel so compelling is how it explores the idea of shadow selves: the parts of us shaped by trauma, the versions we fear, the ones we try to outrun. Shona’s journey isn’t about becoming someone new, but about deciding which parts of herself she’s willing to claim. As New Year’s Day approaches, the story tightens beautifully, leading her toward a choice that feels both terrifying and empowering.

A haunting, atmospheric thriller about survival, identity, and the darkness we carry — and what happens when we finally stop running from it.

With thanks to VG Lee, the publisher and netgalley for the ARC

i was pulled in so much by every part of this read. i loved how it was dark and then lent into that with no apologies. and when you do themes such as these you can lighten it and you have to go all in. im so glad VG Lee did that. the more Psychological hit is just what i love in a thriller, those that hit the emotions and thoughts all the more are right up my perfect thriller street.
the ripple, links and what makes a person the person they are is ever present here. Shona Blake is just the character to see that in. she had such a rough childhood. one that could threaten anyone and their makeup. you can see her in this book trying to escape it, be something else do something else and yet is it running and yet she keep landing of finding the darkness again. not least in the man who manages to know all about her and use it as a weapon. the man moves in with. he knows all her secrets and the battle between wills added such a layer of menace and foreboding that sits like a shadow across it all. you wonder how Shona might ever be ok.
when she comes across the derelict building and the family within it somehow settles something in her soul. they are illegally living here but there strength and ability to just be who they are and not be sorry for it adds something of a comfort to Shona. she starts to think or feel like her own person again. well, until one discovery in the carpets once again leads her into the darkness and or choices. i really liked the balance and "other side" given to us via the inclusion of them. they too have lived a certain way and suffer in their own ways. seeing how they were dealing with the lot they landed in was really well done for me to explore other ways of thinking on even what Shona was going through. especially when how they lived is threatened by coming outside forces that didn't even know they were still living their!
i love the idea of this shadow self/selves. it reminds me of the lesson we got even from watching Peter Pan when i was little. the shadow in that was naughty,fought against him, tried to lead him astray, was cheeky and mischievous. and in this book again we explore those shadow selves. the parts of us marked, traumatised. changed by life that hits us. can you run from it. well, not that ive known, it always comes out. so you have to somehow heal or get to a place of healing and forgiven even just yourself for what you've been through. and some things like what Shona goes through take some dam hard work to get through. or of course you can sit in it. but then what does that create in a human?its a bit like the nature verses nurture with a twist. and in Shona we follow a woman who is having to decide where she fits in it all. whether running ever helps, whether fearing it ever goes. and just which part of her she is going to allow in.
this was such a good thinking book for me. in Shona i was so back and forth of what i thought, felt and then thought and felt of how she might get some strength or settled soul from all this. and i was hiding and rummaging through lots of nuance and grey areas between bad and good. but i kind of loved that thought puzzle. the way this all tightens, knowing we are going to have to reach the end of the book means i had such a level of excitement for seeing how we would end for Shona. i almost needed and wanted Lee to iron out the kinks of my own thoughts haha.
right until the end of this book i was on edge in the best way. its such an impressive talent for me how authors get such tremor to the heart of a reader in their books, that unease and foreboding and yes as a reader and lover of thrillers you kind of delight in a book that can do that.