My Book Review of Shivani Kausik's SHADOWS

 I was requested to read this book and give it a review, so here I am :) 

This book had such a unique and interesting plotline! My only problem with the book (and the reason it is 3.5 stars)... is the formatting issues and extensive grammar errors. Those did take me out of the story quite a bit, but when I moved past that, I enjoyed it.

Trigger Warnings: Mentions of suicide, suicidal ideation, and extreme mental health problems are present in this book.

Worldbuilding
There's not much to say in the way of this, except it takes place mainly at Moonwake Lake, Vihaan's apartment, and the occasional cafe. I thought the author did a good job showing us the places Vihaan was at.

Plot
I will admit, I was unsure about the plot. I was a little confused about the "kill me before I kill you" plotline, and I wasn't really sure how everything was going to tie together... until that plot twist. That was when everything fell into place for me, and it all made sense. I really enjoyed how we got a dedicated... 15-20% centered on (SPOILER)

Characters
Vihaan was a very solid main character, though I can't say I really resonated with him, I certainly wanted to see how his story would turn out.

Personally, my favorite character was Misha, his coworker, friend, and... maybe more? She was such a positive character who was determined to help Vihaan, and I loved how she didn't just let him walk all over her, either. She had a personality.

Writing Style / Execution
This part is where I had to take stars off. There are formatting issues all throughout the book, making one normal Kindle page stretch to three and leave blank spots. And there are several grammar mistakes. The writing also felt a little clunky at times. But other than that, it was a really unique idea that I felt was executed well, while being respectful toward mental health.


Content Guide
Romance/Spice: There is absolutely no spice in this book, and only... I think one kiss.
Violence: There is quite a lot of violence in this book, though it isn't gory. There's mentions of murder and harm, along with depictions of it.
Language: There was some, but not a lot. Mostly s***, d***, and maybe h***, I believe.
Drugs/Drinking: I don't remember their being any drugs or drinking.
LGBTQ+: None

Themes
There are dark themes, such as hopelessness, but it is combated with themes of healing and forgiveness.


This was my review of Shivani Kausik's SHADOWS.