There were parts of this story that I absolutely enjoyed, and then parts that kind of fell shorter for me. So let us dive in!

What Worked For Me:

►I do love me an apocalypse! And some parts of it are handled really well. There is a great quote that summed it up for me: "As it turns out, for no apparent reason, something can break in your world, and suddenly, all around you, people are dying bloody and screaming every fucking day. It’s horrifying. Then it’s weird. Then it’s inconvenient. Then it’s just every fucking day." I mean how damn true does that seem? Even compared to other global events like COVID or wars or what have you, how on point does it really seem? Basically things did not just cease, but you can also tell that it is not great. Every day, more seems to be lost, and wow, that is depressing but also seems legit.

►It is quite compelling, when you put yourself in Riley's shoes. You know that this is a messed up world, and things are awful, and lots of people are dead, and society is basically in collapse. And Riley is so alone and it is really sad, and when she finally interacts with someone, you just cannot help but want to see what will happen with that.

►I enjoyed the backstory and finding out what happened to the world. I mean. It is pretty nuts, right? I loved getting bits and pieces of the past from Riley's thought flashbacks.

What I Struggled With:

►The bird part was weird, and didn't really totally fit into the story for me. I mean you know I don't love them in general, but they just felt... extraneous I guess here? Nothing I love less than an extraneous bird.

►I felt like they both figured out this apocalypse impossibly quickly, while simultaneously not understanding glaringly obvious things. Like- how the heck did they all figure it out within a couple weeks?! Guys. It took us like three months to figure out that a virus was killing people. So for people to crack the code so quickly seemed a little... iffy. But then! They have been living like this for a minute, right? But no one can find like, proper eyeball-filtering goggles or something!? They still have Amazon, and you're telling me Bezos hasn't been selling those bad boys for beaucoup profits? It just... it can't be both, right? Either you get it, or you don't, but I struggled with the in between.

►Not much actually happened. I can't tell you everything of course, but the present-day story is rather quiet. Makes sense in a way, since the world is pretty quiet at this point, but there weren't really any major surprises for me. (See below for more on that.)

Just a Sidenote...

Don't read the synopsis if you haven't already. Honestly I feel like it gives away far too much of the story.

Bottom Line: A quieter post-apocalyptic fare with some great insight but a few issues.

This book was horrifying and I loved it.

One of my absolute favourite things to read is an unreliable narrator, and I loved that there wasn't necessarily a fully cohesive ending in this book - often I think with psychological novels, everything gets tied up into this little pretty bow at the end and it negates some of the creepy unsettling vibes that make the book so good. I have no idea if the MC in this book was infected, or mad, or if there really was someone out to get her. And I really appreciate that it ended that way.

If I had any issues, it would be that there was a feeling of distance from the MC and the story in general. I think that was great in terms of creating a feeling of uneasiness but it did feel a little disconnected at times. It only took me the afternoon to read, but I think the length was good - if it were longer I think the points of tension would have started to feel old.

Personally I love horror books that are based on tension and *vibes*, with more of a speculative lean. I think that people who are looking for more action in their books wouldn't like it as much, but I was super happy.

Your Shadow Half Remains is an interesting discussion on isolation, paranoia, and what we have left in the world other than our shadow when we rid ourselves of much that we consider to be our everyday reality. On top of that, it plays with the idea that we no longer connect in real life as people or don't really look at each other anymore, instead opting to prioritize our plugged-in life.

There were sparks of brilliance in this novella, but I was left wanting more throughout the entire experience. Yes, the main character's perspective is interesting to read, and each scene feels meticulously picked, but ultimately it felt, at all times, like I was trying to grab something that was barely an inch out of my reach.

I wish the writing were a little better - a little more poetic, perhaps, because it almost seemed like that's what it really wanted to be. I wish it were a little more gruesome. I wish we'd gotten more information - similarly meticulously picked because I wouldn't want to lose the looming sense of ambiguity.

My three-star rating isn't bad, though. I'd still recommend it pretty broadly because it's really interesting fictional finger food. I just wish it fed me a little more.

I was so excited to start Your Shadow Half Remains by Sunny Moraine.
Superbly entertaining and lots of fun, this post-apocalyptic, horror novella kept me reading until late in the night.
The book is very well written and the descriptions are brilliant. I felt I was in the plot with the characters. The characters were strong, interesting and believable.
With the action, great characters and loads of atmosphere. This was a riveting read from start to finish. 

Thank You NetGalley and Tor Nightfire for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

Nothing got me more excited than seeing The Last of Us meets Birdbox but this book said a lot and nothing at the same time. In fact the narrative almost reads like slam poetry and damnit, I just wanted a cool survival horror story but you don’t get that at all.

Your Shadow Half Remains is a short but *wild* ride. Our narrator, Riley, has been living solo in the aftermath of a global crisis that may or may not be a pandemic: people who make eye contact with one another become instantly and unstoppably homicidal and/or suicidal. Now she's met another human being for the first time in over two years, a neighbor named Ellis. With this encounter, Riley's world gets turned even more upside down than it was before. The story is both a dark descent into madness and the sweet budding of a relationship. OR IS IT? If you're looking for a clear-cut story in which you feel like you understand everything that happens, this ain't it! If you're okay with blurred reality/fantasy boundaries and open endings, you've come to the right place.

It's definitely in the vein of other post-apocalyptic horror like Bird Box (the film at least; I haven't read the book), The Last of Us (the series; I haven't played the game), and M. Night Shyamalan's The Happening. It also reminds me of the Elle Fanning and Peter Dinklage film I Think We're Alone Now, but this feels much darker—and has the added tension of the characters not being able to look one another in the eye.

Sunny Moraine does a solid job of narrating their own audiobook. I would definitely read/listen to more of their work in the future!

Review posted on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5811169587

'Your Shadow Half Remains' by Sunny Moraine feels a lot like Malerman's 'Bird Box' with a smidge of the unease we felt at the start of the COVID pandemic, mixed up with the isolation and paranoia of ongoing lockdown.

The premise is intriguing, and the reader is immediately drawn in to a claustrophobic and isolated world, where human connection comes at a dark and deadly cost. Riley, our protagonist, navigates this landscape with a palpable sense of fear, paranoia and longing for human contact. Moraine's narrative unfolds in a nonlinear fashion, weaving together past and present, dreams and reality, in a way that is both disorienting and unsettling. The natural world is juxtaposed as both idealic and horrific, and the pacing becomes more erratic to align with the events. I would have preferred a little more character development in both Riley and Ellis and I think the ambiguity surrounding certain plot points may leave some readers feeling unsatisfied by the end, but overall, I enjoyed getting caught up in Moraine's post-apocalyptic speculative novella, as it unsettled me (not an easy task).

My thanks go to the author, to TOR publishing Group and to Netgalley for offering me an eARC of the book. All opinions are my own.

3.5 stars

Thank you so much Tor Nightfire for the #gifted copy and @netgalley for the ebook! ✨𝑯𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒚 𝑷𝒖𝒃 𝑫𝒂𝒚!✨
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First of all, can we just discuss how cool and creepy that artistic cover looks thanks to @seidmanart ?! You must be wondering what’s with the eye and crow but they’re both integral to the story. This is a dystopian horror where humans can no longer see eye to eye…quite literally…because looking directly in the eye incites a disease that causes people to become violent and kill each other. Hence people are living in solitude, devoid of human contact. Can you imagine how terrifying that would be?!

If you’re concerned that the book dwells on a COVID-style pandemic, fear not. The book focuses more on the isolation and the need for human connection between two individuals, Riley and Ellis, who have been living alone for a very long time but are now somewhat neighbors. Riley experiences all kinds of emotions from anxiety to mistrust to avoidance but also a longing for Ellis. Because this is a novella, we only get so much background information about Riley and even less of Ellis, and the final pages come BOOM with an abrupt ending.

Reading this story made me think of an actual future that’s possible on the horizon where we are all glued to electronic devices devoid of real human interactions, and I can’t help wonder if that was a point the author was trying to make. I loved this novella but would have loved it even more as a full-fledged novel due to its very unique plot.

I fell asleep in the middle of reading this and had some unsettling dreams, so it really does have a way of getting under your skin! I've never read from this author before, but I did like this story. It gives pandemic-era lit without the oppressive realness of COVID fiction. I thought the first half was really strong, but it lost me a little in the back half. I think this would've been really good as either a short story or as a full-length novel. Still, I like this spooky, gory read!

Your Shadow Half Remains by Sunny Moraine takes us to a post-apocalyptic world where the most basic of human interaction can lead to an unexplained madness. This book had all the vibes and hit all the right notes. Constantly unsettling and eerie throughout, it packs a punch and faces us with some hard questions.

Set in a dystopian future where looking into the eyes of another can cause extreme violence and death, Your Shadow Half Remains explores isolation through the eyes of Riley.

Riley has been alone, living in her grandparents old house. Her life depends on online ordering and staying away from others. When Riley unexpectedly runs into a neighbor named Ellis in the woods, Riley spirals as she tries to figure out if companionship is worth the danger and if she can even trust letting someone into her life now.

Your Shadow Half Remains is an intriguing horror novella about isolation and society. It asks the very real question of what it means to be completely alone, but also what it means to trust others. I love the ideas this novella explores and also that it is extremely eerie. I was questioning everything alongside Riley, trying to figure out what was going on.

I'd recommend this to people who like horror and also to readers who enjoyed the concept and vibes of Birdbox, The Walking Dead, The Last of Us, etc.

One look can kill. First of all, I love the premise. I found myself almost immediately invested in the story.

This perfectly encapsulated the horror and quiet dread that so many experienced during the pandemic. How life became so strange, and yet we somehow adapted and got so used to our bizzare new existence. How the horrors happening became just part of everyday life.

This wasn't about our pandemic. It was about people not being able to look at each other. In this world, once you look at someone, you'll lose your mind and kill anyone around you then yourself. The way people had to isolate and weren't able to connect was reminiscent of real life.

This kept me on the edge of my seat throughout. It was dripping with dread, anxiety, uncertainty, and madness. I'm going to be thinking about this one for a while.

I'd recommend this to anyone. Especially if you liked Come Closer by Sara Gran. Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Nightfire for the ARC.

This was an edgy, queer dystopian horror novella, and it was just the kind of book I love to read! This story was fast-paced and engaging the whole way through, and I consumed it in one sitting. So if you like something you can finish in one day this one is it. If you don't mind a little gore and you like zombie-type infection-spreading stories you will definitely like this. It reminded me so much of when the pandemic and quarantines first started happening. Not the ripping each other to shreds in the streets but the loneliness and isolation from each other. The wanting and needing human contact but knowing it could come with a price. Be forewarned though if you still suffer from PTSD from the pandemic then tread carefully. I really struggled with my mental health during that period of time and this just brought it all back for me. It gave me a sense of dread and brought back a lot of those memories. I will be thinking about this book for many days to come it will more than likely be what my nightmares consist of!

I received an arc for this story in exchange for my honest opinion so thank you, NetGalley, Tor Publishing, and to the author Sunny Moraine.

3.5/5!

Your Shadow Half Remains is a dystopian novella that features a society where humans can no longer look into each other’s eyes. To do so is to risk madness. To risk death.

How would you react if you couldn’t be around anyone? Moraine takes this question and examines the psychological effects and how they manifest within individuals throughout this story. It was equally fascinating and relatable. Imagine a more isolating situation than quarantining during our own pandemic times. The raw emotions, the irrational reactions, the heartbreak are all here in this brief story. Experiencing Riley’s reactions felt incredibly realistic and at times were very hard to watch.

I love psychological horror stories and that’s exactly what this was. Don’t get me wrong, there is plenty of good old fashioned horror story gore in this one, but at times I felt like the tension of the unknown was more powerful for me. What would Riley do? What was happening in the woods surrounding her home? Who could be trusted? I loved a lot of this story, but ultimately, I wanted just a little more bang at the end. Regardless of my personal preference for the ending, this is definitely one I’ll be recommending people check out.

There is an irresistibly captivating quality to a well-executed dystopian pandemic novel. In the wake of the recent COVID-19 pandemic, it becomes unnervingly easy to immerse oneself in such a narrative. "Your Shadow Half Remains" explores a violent pandemic that engulfs the nation, but the contagion is far from conventional. Rather than a virus or bacteria, the menace thrives through human connection. Through mere eye contact, individuals succumb to a murderous impulse, tearing apart others and themselves with abrupt brutality, devoid of warning, remorse, or discernible cause.

Sunny Moraine skillfully delves into the disturbing yet undeniably truthful cyclic nature of pandemics. The initial terror and disbelief gradually give way to a sickening apathy, a theme exemplified by Riley, the novella's protagonist. Riley, portrayed as peculiar, unreliable, and somewhat suspicious, seeks refuge in her grandparents' lakeside home. As isolation ensues, she undergoes a gradual descent into unreality. The arrival of an unsuspecting neighbor accelerates this disintegration.

When a dystopian pandemic work is done well it is my FAVORITE type of book and Your Shadow Half Remains fits the bill. Through beautifully written and entirely engrossing passages, Sunny draws us into a world not so far off. We can sympathize...we've been there, asked ourselves the same questions, felt the same despair.

"And then again, as with so much else, it's increasingly difficult to gauge the degree to which any given thing matters very much."

This is definitely a book I requested for its cover. Look at it! Can you blame me? Unfortunately, the story inside didn’t quite meet the mark. Your Shadow Half Remains is a psychological horror in an isolated small town. Some time ago, a new phenomenon has emerged, where humans who make eye contact with each other have a chance of going mad and killing everything around them, and then themselves. To combat this, humanity has isolated themselves further and further from each other, until society has begun to fray at the edges. The Covid vibes are extremely strong in this one and I wouldn’t be surprised if this was the author’s Covid coping mechanism. Our main character, Riley, has sent herself into an isolated small neighborhood after what’s implied to be the death of her immediate family, with no long-term plan beyond survival. There, she comes upon her neighbor Ellis and weird things start happening around her that she has no memory of. I’m usually a fan of these types of descent-into-madness stories, but there was something about Riley’s narration that made her sound distant to me, something about the story that just didn’t connect. Still, the atmosphere was indeed delightfully creepy. Overall, I rate this book a 3/5.

Much shorter than I expected, but a fast paced horror I read in one sitting
Loved the set up, but it lost me at the end. Wish it had more world building and was a bit more clearer

**3.5-stars rounded up**

Your Shadow Half Remains is a difficult book to talk about. Frankly, I'm not sure I really understood it. At least not in the way the author intended. Nevertheless, I shall try...Regardless of how much I actually comprehended though, I still enjoyed the reading experience. It's a puzzler.

This is presented as a sort of post-apocalyptic world, where a virus has caused those infected to go into a violent, murderous rage if they look into another person's eyes. Our main character, Riley, hasn't looked at, or interacted with any other humans in at least two years, maybe more. In fact, Riley hasn't even dared look in a mirror, just in case.

She's done a great job at keeping herself shut off from the rest of the world, if there's even a rest of the world left. That is until she stumbles across a new neighbor. Ellis, the newcomer, throws a kink in Riley's routine and causes her to feel things she hasn't in a long, long time. Unfortunately, this new swell of emotions causes her to question reality in the most extreme ways.

How much does Riley really know about the world around her? Can we trust her perspective at all, or is it all just the jaded creation of a diseased mind?

We are give the story entirely through Riley's perspective. Initially, she seems confident in what she is relaying to the Reader. She seems to have a good handle on her situation, even though some details are hazy. Once her interactions with Ellis begin though, Riley's grip seems to slip. Before you know it, you are hurtling along through a fever dream of Riley's own making. It's unsettling to say the least.

For the most part, I enjoyed trying to decipher what exactly was real in this world. It was confusing, but not in a way that I found to be grating, or annoying.

I was surprised how much the author was able to pack into so few pages; it felt complete. I think it's a great example of their skill as a writer, because this makes quite an impact in under 200-pages. That's hard to do.
Overall, I found this to be eerie, disturbing, confusing and compelling. I was initially drawn to this because of the cover. It was giving me serious The Dark Half vibes and I was totally down for that. While it's a completely different kind of story than that, I feel like the unsettling cover still matches this story perfectly. I'm glad I picked this one up.

Thank you to the publisher, Tor Nightfire and Macmillan Audio, for providing me with copies to read and review.
I'm really looking forward to reading more from this author!

I loved this! This story kept me entertained til the last page. The only critique I have is that I wish it was longer. The concept is so interesting and well thought out, but there is so much more to explore in my opinion!

One of the things I always feel like is missing in zombie or post apocalyptic stories is the human side of things. Especially after COVID, I think it’s clear that the biggest threat and danger is always ourselves. So this really worked for me as it was more about the internal struggle when the world goes mad.

I thought it was very well-written and the first half especially reminded me of the loneliness, fear, and existential dread that came with the early days of the pandemic.

Overall, very good. A bit short and I feel like I wanted more, although it wasn’t necessarily that anything was missing. I just wanted to explore the world a bit more, I suppose.