The Shadows We Know by Heart by Jennifer Park: sasquatch!! and trees!!

Ooh la la, well consider me quite satisfied with this one.

When I read the synopsis for the very first time, and noticed that this book shall involve Sasquatch and forests, my very first thought was this: this could be very good and original (because, come on, SASQUATCH) or a complete mess.

I am pleased to report that THE SHADOWS WE KNOW BY HEART is wonderfully original. And organized. And knows where it’s headed, what it wants to address, and how it is to get there.
Look, I like books like this one. Wonderful descriptions of nature, well-developed lead and side characters, some action, a hint of romance (that does not take away from the focus of the story, thank God)… as far as the main aspects of a storyline, this one hits the mark.

But, let me talk characters a bit more. Leah is realistic. And determined. It’s remarkably easy to follow her storyline, and enjoyable to see events unfold from her point of view.

But. I’m sure you’re looking at my rating and thinking, Well, Nina, do you mind explaining where two of the stars above have disappeared?

To which I reply: Of course, of course, right this way.

The pacing is a bit.. off. The beginning is slow, and this is understandable. This is fine, actually; I have nothing against slow-paced books. But there are random bursts of action that are quite.. messy. The writing, in the action-y parts, felt hectic (So: -1 star).

The second star is lost because of this book’s predictability. I saw the grand plot twist coming at around 25%. So I had to kind of wait not-so-patiently while Leah is like, “Waaaait.. Is this what I think it is?” While I had to refrain from yelling “YES. YES IT IS, MY DEAR LEAH.”

So, yeah. Whooooops.

But I guess this last part is subjective and due to nothing more than me being overly fabulous (hey, no one said I was humble 😉 ). You may not see it coming, so check it out for yourself, please.

Do I have anything else to add? Nope, seems about it.

If I could give you a formula for this book, it would be this:

Sasquatch + Awesome forest setting + MORE SASQUATCH = The Shadows We Know by Heart.

Come on. You have to admit this sounds awesome.

Thank you, Simon and Schuster, for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

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