I struggled to get into this one. I usually like novellas / short story collections, but this one just didn't hit the mark. Felt too disjointed and not engaging enough for the lengths.

It was a fun little idea, but I’m not really sure it succeeded.
Firstly there was things I enjoyed, like the different races, and the idea about you can’t live without your twin. I was also glad that it wasn’t just a sad story, where everybody hated Lily, even though a lot of them did, without reason.

Now to the part about things I didn’t like, i hated the way the author interacted with the reader in the last part of every chapter. I don’t want to be interacted with when I’m reading, or watching a movie for that matter, it just throws me off the whole experience.

White Beard also reminded me a lot of Gandalf, both because of the way no one knows how long he has been alive for and the way he travels and visit villages only once a year, and he got an eight legged steed.
He was a good character, but not quite original.

I also didn’t think it made a lot of sense that White Beard has been alive for that long, when he has never seen Duban Twins or know what they are, it just seems unlikely.

Lastly I thought Liam was pretty unnecessary, he didn’t really bring much to the story and you don’t need to introduce a lot of characters in such a short story.

I received an advance reader copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review via netgalley and the publishers.

Lily is a short story about Lily, who's a Duban. Dubans are born twins, but in Lily's case, she was born with a shadow, which is seen as a bad omen amongst her people. Her beloved father tries to save Lily from a death sentence by stealing another twin, but this causes the situation to worsen as the twin he steals is a baby rolldark creature. When the rolldarks mother arrives, it leads to tragedy for Lily, who then gets taken care of by a man with a white beard. This was a short but captivating story and well worth the read!

Thais was an interesting book. I quite enjoyed it. its a bit of a dark short story. Seeming quite lonely but also lovely.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

It was such an enchanting short tale inspired by Norse mythology which made me liked it even more. The story of Lily who is a Dunban but unlike all the normal Dubans whom each one was born with its twin , Lily was born with a shadow which is considered as a great curse.

Such a cozy little book! I love how you are building up The immortal world! It's nice to see such beloved characters as Emma and Stacey. I can't wait to read how Lily will be doing in this realm. It would be awesome if Gena was also published here (pretty please?).

This is quite a dark fantasy story with a bit of Norse mythology. Lily is born with a shadow rather than a twin and that’s the beginning of some quite violent episodes although the writing seems to be aimed at quite a young audience. The cover is beautiful and the story has great potential to continue as a fantasy series.

It was difficult to give this one a rating simply because it’s such a very short story, and it seems like it’s actually a prequel to another, longer story.

If you’re a follower of this author’s work, or have read her novel The Immortal-which apparently has a character in common for those who wonder what happened to him- or would like to dip your toes into the author’s work to see if you want to follow up with this fantasy world, you might want to give this one a try.

This was very short and very intriguing!
I enjoyed the vivid discriptions and small stories for different things and people throughout the story, and Lily especially is a very interesting character!
The story did feel like more of an introduction to a much larger, more intricate story, and I’d love to know more! The author has truly hooked me, in less than 20 pages!

Thank you to the publisher and to NetGalley for letting me read this little story!

This story was really cute. Definitely for a younger reader, but I still enjoyed it. I saw some other reviews saying the narration was a bit dramatic, and that's true, but that's what younger readers enjoy. The story was interesting and the characters were enjoyable.

i absolutely love this story. Everything about it was fun and adventurous. i loved all the little details that were placed everywhere and all the beautiful imagery. I wish this story was so much longer i want so much more!

Personally, I am kind of a wuss. Anything dark has me hiding in my blankets. This has always been the case, but somehow I still want to read things that are not just lovely and sweet.

Despite this being a (very) short story, it was quite gripping from the start. The story is about Lily, who is a Duban. Dubans are usually born as twins, however, Lily doesn't have a twin. What she does have is a shadow. And Dubans don't like that. Shadows are considered bad luck, so they make an attempt to throw the little baby off a cliff.
Luckily, things happen and we get to follow Lily for a while. And despite all that this story wasn't nearly as dark and scary as I worried it might be. It actually ended up kind of wholesome..

I just wish there were more of it so the author could have elaborated on things. Might consider reading The Immortal, because I'd like to know more about this world.

What a lovely book, well written and such a sweet story of Lily and her shadow and what goes through when trying to make it without her twin

So much was packed into this small novella! It moved quickly and despite so much happening, I found myself enjoying it and asking what was going to happen next. It did end on a cliffhanger and I have no idea if there is a longer book that goes along with this novella, but if there is, I would love to read it!

A fun interesting short story set in a world I am absolutely interested on reading more about. I love fantasies that feel as though they are creating new fairytales, and that's exactly what Lily is doing.

I'm only recently expanding my horizons when it comes to fantasy and so while I found this at times confusing, I feel that's more of an inexperience issue on my end than anything else, I'm confident a more weathered fantasy fan would find this to be the perfect quick bedtime read.

I was looking forward to this but am sad that it turned out to be a mostly confusing mess. There were grammar issues and there were confusing explanations, which is a nice oxymoron really but accurate.
I have no idea what the point of it was, who the audience is supposed to be or why it was about everything but Lily really. She was there, and there were things she did, but she didn't feel all that central to the story somehow.

With a lot of editing I think this could actually be good though!

A very sweet and tender story. I felt such fulfillment and enjoyment reading Lily's story. With a soft writing style and fun exploration of the story's plot, it was an adventure I was glad to partake in.

All Dubans are born twins…except when they aren’t. And when they aren’t, the extra magic has to go somewhere. That somewhere is a shadow, uncontrollable and dangerous.

At least, that’s what we’re told, but it doesn’t bear out—not in a fun subversion of what characters believe way, just in an author couldn’t commit way. Lily’s shadow does one nasty thing at the beginning, and then seems fully under her control and completely harmless.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. This story has a fun premise and could have been a sweet fairytale-style story, but it falls incredibly flat. The writing itself is lackluster, clumsy, and littered with an unforgivable amount of typos in its 20 pages. There’s less plot than there is a series of happenings, and it doesn’t really say or do anything. Overall, it feels like Creel hasn’t found her voice as a writer (which I hate saying in reviews, it sounds so condescending, but in this case it’s the best way I can explain it), so this potentially charming and fun idea unfortunately got lost in the weeds.

Thank you to Netgalley and to E. G. Creel for the opportunity to read Lily.

This was a very entertaining short cosy fantasy. I loved the Vikings references and can't wait to read more about Lily and her shadow.

Will definitely be reading Gena and The Immortal.

Thank you to Netgalley and the author, E. G. Creel, for an advanced copy of this book!

This short story follows Lily who is a Duban. Every Duban is born as a twin. So when Lily is born with a shadow instead it is expected that she will be killed by her community to her parents’ dismay. Lily ends up surviving, but unfortunately, her parents do not. As a result, she ends up being passed between two adoptive families who care for her until she is a toddler. Along the way, this short story explores how powerful the fear of the unknown can be through Lily and other characters. There are also magical elements woven throughout the story with other worlds and creatures. After reading this, I learned that this story is connected to some of the author's other novels where we learn more about Lily and her adoptive father. I would be interested in learning more about the characters and this world, especially since this ends on a cliffhanger.