Shy, thirteen-year-old Zylia has always known she was different.Most teenagers feel unnoticed and unseen, but for Zylia, it’s something much worse. She’s disappearing from this world and doesn’t know how to stop it. At times, she’s not sure she wants to. Until she stumbles across a family mystery surrounding the disappearance of her great-aunt Angelica years earlier. During her quest to unravel … her quest to unravel the mystery, Zylia discovers she’s able to cross the boundary and enter the “in between” world.
Now, it’s up to Zylia to save herself before she’s trapped “in between” forever.
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Misty Mount’s The Shadow Girl is a beautifully written and edited story of middle schooler Zy, who feels isolated and socially wanting. “Friends? I couldn’t find one face in the lineup whom I would have labeled as such.” She struggles to affect a presence as she navigates the difficult experiences in her life combined with her great attraction to Josh Pierceton. But Josh, like seemingly everyone else in her life, fails to recognize her existence.
The action really kicks up when ironically Zy finds herself inadvertently viewed in the buff by newly moved in neighbors whom she had not noticed previously. When she slowly realizes that there is at least one other being whom she has not paid attention enough to notice, her self-perception begins to improve. She nurtures a loving relationship with an unexpected person, for a quite an unexpected reason. Together the two of them search for the real shadow girl.
The Shadow Girl is a lively, creative, fully treasurable classic written in an honest voice, and a wonderful read for not only the young adult, but also the full range of general audiences as well.
Characters
Zylia Moss is so vividly painted, it is as though the author conjured her from a real person and not imagination. Very rarely do I read first person and think ‘this was done right!’ This painfully shy girl is in many ways a reluctant heroine but for sure the heroine of her own story. The subtle interactions and internal thoughts built Zylia into a very real character. Supporting characters like her family and Terra. Everything was painted from Zylia’s point of view and it was expertly done, bringing alive a world not so different from other disjointed but loving families.
Plot
This book makes you question what is real and what is not. Is Zylia really fading or is there something else happening? I won’t ruin it for you, but I absolutely loved the way the author went with the story. Between the mystery and the coming of age aspects, I really enjoyed the development of this story. The plot was enjoyable but the real powerhouse of this story was the characters.
Overall
Fantastic writing, interesting plot, and stellar character that practically leaps out of the page! The way Zylia slowly blossomed and came into her own was amazing to see. I loved her friendship with Terra, it was perfect in every way and felt so real! I have very few negatives at all about this book, it was wonderfully executed. Biggest issue was how slow it was. Although I can’t pinpoint anything that could be left out, this is not action packed, it was a biopic approach to story telling.
The second really isn’t a negative but I felt like this wasn’t for my age group. I’m in my late twenties and at times I had a really hard time remembering how awkward it was in middle/high school. This is 100% perfect for young teens and high schoolers and I highly recommend it to those age groups. I think even those in college who are socially awkward will just love this, but as an extrovert who doesn’t mind being the center of attention, some of the nuances of the story that would normally have struck a cord…simply struck out.
Rating
5 stars
If you are between 10-25 and like coming of age stories with a nice twist this is a MUST READ! Zylia will feel like a real person by the end of the book, that is how well she is written.
This is a voluntary review of an advanced readers copy.
The thing that stood out most to me upon completing this book was the authors ability to create a genuine love and concern in the reader for Zylia. This is a really powerfully story caught between a coming of age drama and fantasy. The plot is so original and I’m sure will be very appealing to many young teens.
“I have always known that I am invisible—I had no idea that eventually I would fade away completely.”
THIS BOOK!!!! It deserves so many shiny stars, and hearts and a nice big trophy! Misty Mount is such an enormously talented writer! The way she was able to develop Zylia Moss’ world and the characters in it, all through just Zylia’s eyes was AMAZING!!! The characters were very well developed. I felt I knew each character well, and the ones that Zylia was closest too…like her sister, Ivy, and her best friend, Terra…I felt that I knew them the best, aside from Zylia of course. Her house, with its many rooms and floors. Her school. Her best friend, Terra’s house, and her dad’s DIY projects leaving the house always array. I could picture these places so well when reading the book. All described through only Zylia’s voice. This is pure gold to me! I love a book where things truly come to life for me. Where I can really picture the people and places, and what is going on, in my head. It makes feel like I have left my world and stepped in to the author’s world for a while, and I can vividly see my surroundings and the people. Books like these are the ones that I go to bed and end up dreaming about afterward, that’s how deeply it affects me.
Zylia has low self-esteem, she’s socially inept, she’s shy, clumsy and very awkward. When she is put in a situation she can’t handle she flies into an anxiety/panic attack. I found it so curious that someone from such a large family would have this problem, but I don’t know, maybe that’s the problem. Maybe being in a large family it’s easy to get lost, ignored, and when you’re a sensitive young child you might develop low self-esteem from that. So, Zylia has retreated and drawn into herself. She has done so much so that many people don’t notice her, even when she right there in the same room with them. She can’t seem to speak up for herself at all, not even to ask for them to pass the mashed potatoes at the family dinner table. She tries, but all the comes out is a whisper. But when you have the parents and six children at the table, the conversation gets pretty loud. So poor Zylia ends up with the last tiny bits of mashed potatoes left in the bowl by the time it gets to her. It’s the same at school and trying to speak up in school or talk to other kids, either a whisper or nothing comes out. If they even notice her, they never hear her. Poor Zylia.
But now, Zylia starts to physically fade away. She’s actually disappearing. I won’t tell you anymore, because you need to read the book to learn the mystery of it all. But you will love it. You’ll love sweet Zylia and her good heart. You will love Zylia’s world, her best friend, her family and more. I don’t want to say too much. But, I will say this! If there were Academy Awards for Authors, I feel that Misty Mount would definitely deserve one!! She is a phenomenal writer!!! I don’t think I have ever read “first person” done SO well!! This is definitely going into my favorites of 2018!!
I recommend you read this NOW!! It’s YA Fantasy/Coming of Age, but you could really add so much more to that label!!!