"Gorgeous" - IN THE SHADOWS reviewed

In the Shadows by Kiersten White and Jim Di Bartolo

Reviewed by Geraldynn, age 18

“In the daylight, order ruled, fences stood, how-do-you-do’s and polite nods were the recipe. But at night, darkness rendered everything still and hush and secret. Minnie was a curator of secrets.” – Kiersten White, In the Shadows.

Gorgeous. That was my first thought upon opening this book. Glossy pages. Full-colour illustrations. The prose flows like poetry. Even the pages with text have an appealing border design. The ambitiousness of the novel’s presentation of its story makes typical paperbacks look dull in comparison. Reminiscent of the visual and written style of The Invention of Hugo Cabret (adapted into the movie Hugo), the dark fairytale mystery of The Night Circus, and the centuries-spanning story of Cloud Atlas (now also a movie), the story reads like a dream, flowing from action-packed illustrations to short, written chapters that end with increasingly sinister twists. The tone can shift from dreamy to nightmarish in a blink.

There are two main plots. Both start in the early 1900s. One, represented by text, runs on a daily timeline and is rooted in ragtime-era America. The other, presented in pictures, starts at the same time and place but soon jumps ahead, skimming through the twentieth century and into the twenty-first. From London and Paris to New Orleans and Las Vegas, as well as Italy, India, Mexico, Turkey, Egypt, Japan and more, the mystery seems to entangle the whole world. Depictions of various architecture, landscapes, and fashion trends of different time periods and cultures make for a beautiful reading experience.

The written story is told in five different perspectives. There are the twins: dutiful Cora and reckless Minnie, lover of secrets. There are the brothers: musical Thomas and the dying but charismatic Charles. And then there is Arthur: quiet, secretive, always in the shadows. Keeper of secrets. Though their ages range from 15 to 17, they are considered adults in their time period. Living in a rural boardinghouse for the summer, the five young adults explore their little town to chase the boredom away, but things escalate beyond their control as their curiosity thrusts them and their families into the sights of a murderous cult.

The visual story is a vigilante adventure, complete with spying, disguises, and last-minute escapes from explosions. Figuring out how this worldwide chase is related to the small town mystery is part of the fun of reading this book, so I will not spoil anything here. Posters, handwritten letters, and even newspaper articles are all legible, but what really carries the story are the facial expressions. Without dialogue, they are the key to understanding what emotional state the characters are in and what is happening.

With the entire focus of the story on the main characters and their struggles, the villains felt quite two-dimensional. It would have been nice to have their backstories and motivations expanded on, although the lack of character development on their part did not detract from the story. Rather, it deepened the mystery.

I was surprised that the book contained a lot of clichés, but it is the way the authors combined them that made them work together to tell a unique story. As for the parallel plots, they start and finish at the same time and location, which gave the whole book a satisfying sense of cohesion. It is easy to forget that there are two authors instead of one.

This novel is an escape. Part gothic horror, part historical romance, part spy thriller, it is the kind of story that makes you forget you are sitting on the train, on a bed, on a bench. With richly coloured artwork and brief, suspenseful chapters, In the Shadows will appeal to book, history, and art lovers alike, and to anyone looking for a quick but captivating summer read.