The Shadow Girl

Why This Book
The concept of a shadow has always been a fascinating subject, and when I saw it in the title of a book, I wanted to learn more. I chatted with the author on Goodreads a few times about her life as a writer, quickly finding myself even more intrigued. I got a copy of the book and then saw she was having a blog tour – by the virtue of luck, I got myself included as part of the team (which I’m incredibly grateful for) and dove head first into reading the book. And I’m so glad I did… what a strong and solid young adult, mystery, and coming-of-age novel to spend a few days with!

Approach & Style
I read this ~300-page novel in early January via Kindle Reader on my iPad. It contains twenty-eight chapters and took about six hours to read over three days. The story is told with a first-person point-of-view and a perspective focusing on the main character, Zylia, a 13-year-old girl who feels like no one can see her. There’s a fine line in the story that will make you wonder if there are any magical elements going on in the background, but it truly makes for a breathtaking transformation as you live through everything Zylia experiences.

Key Thoughts
The story is simple, but it is captivating. It’s a psychological character study, and Mount has done a tremendously wonderful job to keep us interested with only small, simple, and ordinary events happening to her family. Kudos for making something truly introspective feel so warm and other worldly as the same time.

Mount completely captured the life of a 13-year-old girl (not that I would truly know what that is, but that it’s definitely what I imagined it to be). Readers see everything from her point of view in a way that makes you feel like part of the action. Whenever I wanted to be angry with Zylia’s siblings or parents, they do something to re-balance the equation, so I adore them again. The family dynamics in this book are extraordinary.

The tone is perfectly set. It is somewhat ominous, but not in a dark way. It’s written with a light touch that makes you keep thinking… what’s gonna happen here? I need to know, and I hope she’s gonna be okay. Don’t hurt my Zylia! Since this is spoiler-free, I will not tell you what happens… you have to go read it for yourself. Just trust me!

One of the strongest areas is Mount’s use of language, narrative, and dialogue to tell the story. The words she’s chosen make you think deeply. The book gives you an understanding of the questions we all ask ourselves at different ages, and what we choose to see or not see when we interpret other people’s actions.

I definitely see Zylia as becoming a beloved character by readers: 95% adored and maybe 5% frustrated when she slinks too far into the “no one sees me” depths which is completely the way a young teenager would feel — it’s absolutely necessary to draw the emotions out us, so it belonged. Zylia reminds me a lot of Leisl from The Book Thief! All the different things she encounters really show a day in the life of a young girl learning how to find her voice, which will absolutely pull readers in, and allow them to compare situations to their own lives or worry whether they’ve done the same things to others… exactly what a great book is supposed to do!

Summary
This is a book you want to take a chance on, especially if you’re a young adult reader or love when books take you on a psychological journey. Check out my blog tour post for this book as well as the links to over 15 other special reviews / posts at https://thisismytruthnow.com (less)

This is a great book! If you’re looking for a book that is written well, has incredible world building, with characters that you’ll love, and a plot that is creative and entertaining, this is your book!
I absolutely love writing that shows me what is happening, rather than using constant narrative to tell me, and this author paints a vivid image of each scene, the characters, and events effortlessly.
I am adding Misty Mount to my author to watch list because he brought this story to life, and I am exited to read more from her. Highly recommend!

The Shadow Girl is a very touching fantasy about a young girl that has more than just the feeling that she is becoming invisible. The story follows Zylia from the age of six until present day when she is 13 and determined to discover who she is and why, as it seems her aunt followed the same path she is now on. The language used in the book is powerful and in parts rather haunting as this young girl talks about her journey. This is a great book for anyone feeling a little invisible whether they are young or older. Misty Mount is clearly a very talented writer that knows how to write a spelling binding book.

Misty Mount took the feeling that most teenage girls have, of being invisible, and turned it into an enrapturing story and was able to play on this common ground to show them how to use it to make the world a better place. She writes with such beauty and great illusionment that you can practically see the life going on in the book and come to understand what true depression and invisibility feels like. With so many climaxes and surprising turns in this emotionally capturing book, it just is not meant to be put down as we travel with Zylia through the whirlwind of anxiety and depression she experiences.

This is essentially a teen or young adult read but the beauty and complexity of the writing makes it accessible for an older audience too. Written in first person, Zylia is a 13-year-old struggling to be seen and heard in both her home and school environments. She feels like she’s disappearing and often finds her reflection is losing substance. She’s the third child of six living in a household of nine people when you include her aging grandmother who is showing the signs of dementia. Zylia is shy, quiet and compliant. She does her chores before she’s asked, her voice is rarely heard over her more boisterous siblings’ and most of the time it seems as if her youngest sibling, Ivy, is the only one who notices her. School is not much better. She feels like such a non-entity that she’s not even bullied. She’s constantly covered in bruises because of how often she’s knocked out of the way by people who haven’t even seen her.

There is a slight paranormal aspect to the novel that is written so cleverly that it could be taken as paranormal or not. The story is beautiful and sad. My heart broke for this young girl and her feelings of being so insubstantial. The pace is consistent for the most part and only just after halfway did I feel that it lagged a bit but fortunately not for long. Zylia’s unfolding courage and her finding her voice with the help of her neighbour in all the chaos of her own family life was an emotional and powerful journey.

So many teens could benefit from the realisation that often others feel the way they do and this is a well-written example of that without being didactic or patronising. The paranormal aspect goes a long way to giving the story an engaging plot. Great read.

This book is written for a young adult audience and will appeal to most young people as the plot revolves around a thirteen-year-old with an ability to enter the in-between world. The book is quite unique, as well as thought-provoking as Mount designs the characters of Zylia as a lovable teen. You will be drawn to this kind-hearted but lonely girl, as she struggles to unravel the mystery surrounding her gift, which poses the danger of making her disappear forever into the shadows just like her aunt Angelica.

It is an easy-read as Mount uses simple language, and the plot flows nicely, so many young adults can relate to the character of Zylia. I liked the way the author dealt with important issues such as self-esteem, loneliness, and bravery in a sensitive way that is easy to comprehend.

Zylia Moss is a lonely pre-teen girl who everyone just brushes aside because she does not have any interesting traits about her to be of note. Everyone that is, except her manic grandmother, who seems to look at her but sees her long-lost sister Angelica who disappeared while Grandmother and her were young girls. Grandmother then goes into a frenzied rage and almost attacks Zylia with a pair of sharp scissors making the Moss family afraid for her and for Zylia and her siblings. Soon, Grandmother is hospitalized and that leaves Zylia feeling guilty as ever. For the remainder of the book, Zylia makes a new friend and notices a strange but distinct girl her age from time to time at school, seeming to mirror her own obscured self. Zylia then discovers that she has a lot in common with her mysterious grand-aunt Angelica in that they both are known to be unnoticeable to those around them and that they are known to be shadows, those who appear and disappear from sight without anyone noticing or caring about at all.

I found myself drawn to this creepy, psychological story’s Zylia because I too seem to be like her and Angelica. I think those who always stay in the shadows, away from recognition from their families and contemporaries will find this book to be significance. I also come from a family of many members so Zylia’s family mirrored mine. Their dinners, their affairs, their friends, their doings, all seemed to be in comparison to mine and I was hooked on this book because of that. I liked how Zylia managed to get herself noticed by her family and how she made a friend who was so understanding of her and her dilemmas. I liked her friend Terra because she was not devious and conniving at all. She did not try and keep Zylia from what she wanted and that is a true friend in my book.

I hope you get to read this remarkable book at some point in your life. I felt connected to this book because of so many relatable elements in it. I sighed and felt sorry for Zylia in a lot of times throughout the book and I nodded to myself when I came to the parts where she shared her bedroom with her sibling, Ivy, and how her eldest sister was so outgoing and into the usual teenage stuff like boys and makeup and stuff. I also could relate to her older brother when she caught his forbidden act of smoking in his room. That all happens in a huge family and growing up in a huge family myself, I know how it feels like to witness such things among siblings or older adults like your parents or your grandparents and such. As a final thought, the ending is mixed so I’ll leave that up to you to find out for yourself when you decide (you’ll be making a great decision) to buy this book. That is, if you are like me and Zylia, and all those who are shadowed and in the background a lot. Peace and goodwill!

“As the freezing rain hit me, I could feel the stares of my mother and the mysterious neighbor smoldering on my skin. I longed for invisibility. At times like this, the very curse that plagued me was also my protection.”

Zylia, the middle child of a large family is not only dealing with teen angst, she’s disappearing. Her family is also wrapped up in the growing dementia of her grandmother. Her father is slightly disconnected. Her mother escapes into novels, her twin brothers spend their whole lives pushing boundaries. Her oldest sister is into her shallow friends, and her older brother is headed down a path that could lead to self destruction. Her youngest sister seems to be the most grounded one, and she’s just 8!

Runa, Zylia’s grandmother, lost a sister when she was young. As she told her, she simply disappeared. However, Zylia seems to trigger Grandmother around her memories of her sister, who looks surprisingly like Zylia. Grandmother can’t really articulate how she feels and becomes so frustrated she ends up hospitalized.
Zylia begins a quest to find information about her Great Aunt after feeling as if she is disappearing. Is she going crazy? Is she out to harm herself as some fear? Can she learn enough about everything to help another? Can she make the mark to stay?

This was a very hard book for me. I had false starts, but I wouldn’t give up on it. I felt like I was Zylia. I grappled with depression as a kid (and still do as an elder) and watching this book unfold was very uncomfortable for me.
In the end, I’m glad to have been asked to read and review this. It has triggers of many types. It may not be a “happily ever after” book, but it is a very hope-filled mystery that will challenge you, no matter where you are in life. Highly Recommended 5/5

[disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher and voluntarily reviewed it]

As most teenagers experience some level of discontent and angst, so does Zylia in The Shadow Girl by Misty Mount. Except Zylia does it to the extreme, leaving this world for another one, seemingly disappearing at times. The story opens with a young Zylia, just 6 years old, going to the park with her Grandmother, and her two a little bit older siblings. The kids play “house”, and when the playtime is over, they leave the park. But Zylia seems to have been left behind, or that is what she thinks. This scene opens up the book nicely, and sets the tone for the rest of the book, as Zylia, now 13, must come to terms with the fact that she is indeed a little different. The author does a great job of setting scenes, you feel you are there experiencing them with the characters, and the characters themselves are well drawn and highly relatable. There is an intriguing mystery contained within these pages as well that moves along the plot, as the other world that Zylia is part of is slowly revealed. The author has created a believable fantasy world, one that serves as a potent reminder that many of us need to escape the real world from time to time. Highly recommend read from this excellent writer.

Kansas author Misty Mount published THE SHADOW GIRL in 2017 and has since published at least one other novel. Reading her initial book suggests she will be a continuing presence on the literary front.

Approaching the paranormal/science fiction fantasy world can be daunting to many authors, but begin reading Misty’s book and it becomes evident that she is quite at home in this genre. ‘I have always known that I am invisible—even way back then, when it first started to happen. In fact, it goes back even further; in my earliest of memories and for as long as I can remember, the sense of being unnoticed was there. I think it started on a muggy day when I was six years old. I can still feel the excitement as my grandmother poked her nose through the living room drapes and announced that it was dry enough to make a trip to the neighborhood park. It had been raining for nearly a week straight, and I was glad to be free of the stuffy, dim rooms in our old home. It had become my prison that summer, a place where my older siblings would unleash their rainy-day boredom in the form of self-esteem-crushing torment. We had watched as Grandmother pulled out the wagon from the shed and loaded it to the brim with goodies for a picnic lunch. It seemed like an eternity before we were finally following her down the cracked and uneven sidewalk. I was last in line behind my two older siblings as we passed by the familiar row of tall, skinny houses. Each home was built on a thin strip of a lot and looked identical to ours in structure and design. Grandmother had taught me that ours was the one with the black iron letters that read 3386. But I recognized it by the faded blue-gray paint and gaudy wrought iron shutters that overpowered the face of our family home. Blossom Park was four blocks up the street, and—much to my disappointment—had never lived up to its name. There was not a bud, bloom, or flowering shrubbery anywhere to be seen. Instead, the postage-stamp-shaped piece of land was fitted between two brick buildings and flanked by a parking lot on one end and a tall chain-link fence that overlooked an alley on the other. I was happy to be in the sun, nonetheless, even if it did happen to shine down in patchy pools of light over paint-chipped play equipment and a weed-encroached sand pit.’

Misty provides a brief synopsis as a path to where we are entering her world – ‘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 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.’

Beautifully written with a style that matches the bizarre (but seemingly credible!) world, THE SHADOW GIRL enters our psyche as we follow her journey.