2.5 stars rounded up.

The second half of this book was so much better than the first half. I honestly wonder if the author follows that novel writing advice where you start at the midpoint first. It was a helluva lot more exciting than the boring first half. Very thriller vibes with bits of horror thrown in.

Anyway.

I liked the author's debut, so I thought I'd like this too. But this felt like an early draft of a novel instead of something fully fleshed out. It was very light on the details and read like a bunch of scenes just happening sequentially, even with the flashbacks and some POV scenes from side characters.

Right at the beginning, the FMC, Mae, straight up goes on a road trip with her sister's neighbor that she just met. I get being young and stupid and desperate, but, umm, what. Throughout the entire road trip/investigation, there was no logical thought process where Mae was like, "Hmm... Maybe this is a dumb idea and I should ditch him."

I actually ended up liking the scenes that took place in 1891 >>> 2024 because the dynamic between Dev, Ravi, and Nik was really interesting. You've got brotherhood, friendship, and classism interplaying with each other. They were a lot more well-rounded than present day Mae and Dev.

But even then, the worldbuilding for the 1891 scenes was very light. The characters sounded and acted like modern day teens. Besides trains and horses, it didn't really feel all that authentic.

The ending feels like there might be a sequel, but honestly, after my experience with this one, I'm not that interested in picking it up.

Thank you to Henry Holt and Co. (BYR) and NetGalley for this arc.

Portrait of a Shadow was the perfect length and well written. I enjoyed the mystery and not knowing what would happen next. I would recommend this book to my friends!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

this book had a really good concept but it wasn't executed well to me. i feel like there was something missing from this which really makes me sad, the characters were interesting but i wish we had more development with their arcs.

I really was excited for this book! I'm a fan of The Portrait of Dorain Gray, so this book caught my eye right away.

Overall, it was a decent read. I'm just personally not a fan of flashbacks being used for reveals and the characters didn't feel very fleshed out to me. Otherwise, it was an enjoyable story!

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the arc. The cover of this is absolutely beautiful and is what drew me in first. I had such a high hopes. To be honest, 85% of this book was two stars from me. It was boring, the beauty of the concept and plot hidden behind flat words and dialogue. I didn't feel close to any of the characters, not that there were many. The last 15% of the book drew me in the way I wanted and bumped it up to three stars for me. I love a good ending, and even more so, a good twist ending. I want to post spoilers so bad but I will only say this: when you get to the twist, you realize the person is a piece of manure. Truly. Which hurt a small bit and would've hurt more had I truly connected with anyone. Dev and Mae's romance was too quick. I get attraction, and perhaps that is mainly what this was, but this isn't Disney. There are several points of views that we get here: mainly Mae's but with splashes of Dev's, Nik's, Ravi's, Delphine's, Inez's, and I believe even the portrait itself. They are not all necessary. Truly, the only ones we needed were Mae, Dev, Inez, and the flashback of Delphine. In case you were wondering, we do not get answers answered. This book is set up for a sequel, which I will be reading because I think it will be better than this one. I know it will. Though it took me awhile to read because I was bored and started skimming, I will recommend this because of where this will lead for a second book. Grammar is nearly perfect. My only true complaint is the slowness of the middle of the book.

"It is desire that draws her out, a want as staggering as her own imposing power."

A YA retelling of The Picture of Dorian Gray where the main characters are of Tunisian and Indian descent. One part mystery, one part teenage yearning, one part messy broken families and the siblings that cling to one another.

I thought this was both an excellent retelling, but made some updates to the myth (loved) and character motivation (also an improvement over the original for me). It's easy to read and easy to recommend, especially to someone in the target age demographic.

My one complaint is just in the pacing. I found that certain aspects started to drag a little, while Part Three was overly stuffed with flashbacks to 1891 that provided much-needed answers but threw off the pacing.

This book was such a fun and wild ride. There's one central question mark from me, but I'll get to that later, because overall, this was a very thrilling and interesting read! Just the premise alone was already so attractive, add in a few twists and turns, then include well rounded characters. The author did a wonderful job of keeping the storyline interesting and this book definitely moved!

I mean, the synopsis pulled me in: a missing sister, a mysterious boy, and a wondrous painting that could be very sinister. I liked Mae a good deal. but. I was so so curious about Inez, the missing sister. But that's the joy of the book - Mae trying to figure out what happened to her. As much action as there was throughout the book with Dev (and also another few characters but I don't want to spoil. it), the mystery of the painting was ever present and looming throughout the chapters. I pretty much appreciated that. It was such an ominous presence that made this book such a joy to read.

But...a thing I didn't understand... perhaps it was me not putting some pieces together, but there was one thing I couldn't put my fingers on. Apparently Inez had been missing for five years. FIVE YEARS. But now Mae, walking on eggshells with her parents, is finally going to clean out Inez's apartment, partly because the parents were no longer able to pay for it. But then... the book said that Inez had only been in the apartment for a year. But she'd been missing five years, though. The entire book made more sense if Inez had been missing for a year, so that was confusing.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ebook. All opinions are my own.

This was a solid, super-fast, propulsive read, though the well-placed copy of 'The Picture of Dorian Gray' (a 1st edition at that) really does give away the game to a large extent. I do wish Metoui's novels didn't place such focus on super-fast romantic developments, though I can see how those are almost required in YA spec. fic. these days.

Before I begin this review, I want to thank Net Galley and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group for allowing me to access Portrait of a Shadow by Meriam Metoui before publication. Check out this when it is released on July 15th of this year!

Metoui has created an intriguing story involving a missing sister, a mysterious painting, and a boy with a secret past. As secrets unravel, so do the mysterious properties of a painting hidden in the back of a closet and the disappearance of a young woman's sister. This story was fun, short, and had a relatable character at the center of it all.

This book is very easy to read through! Not only were the characters enjoyable, but it was short and gave the readers some lore behind the painting and the events taking place.

Mae is relatable, representing what many 18-year-olds go through. She is trying to find her path in the world and understand what she wants to do with their life, even if this may come with her parents' disapproval. Of course, though, any good story comes with a dose of the unusual in that she is trying to figure out where her missing sister is with the help of a mysterious boy, Dev.

Readers gain insight into Dev's past through the introduction of other characters, Nik and Ravi. Dev's past is highly connected to the story's plot; admittedly, it was pretty predictable, and the revelations of his past gave perhaps too many clues about which direction the story was heading in.

The romance between Mae and Dev felt a bit rushed. While it may be understandable that they are attracted to each other upon meeting, it felt too soon for Mae to feel any connection to or trust in him.

The book's plot involves Mae going to the city to pack up some of her sister's things after she has gone missing. Of course, Mae can't miss the opportunity to search for clues while there. Finding a secretive boy and an odd painting inside her sister's apartment, Mae ends up on a path that may lead her to Inez.

While the plot was interesting, it was a bit predictable. I can't really say that there is anything in the book that I didn't see coming. Yet, it still held my attention!

I would have liked to see more from the setting, including descriptions and perhaps interactions with it and the characters. That said, it was easy to keep up with the settings, and there were enough details to have a general and vague idea of their environment.

This is great for those who love YA books with a flare of some light horror and historical fiction. Romance, betrayal, and a diverse cast of characters help bring this story to life.

Thank you to netgalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This was a really fun book. I liked Mae a lot and really enjoyed reading her and Dev’s dynamic, as well as the interludes/1891 chapters. I really wish this book was longer - I wanted to get to know certain characters more. It also seems like the ending felt more like a cliffhanger or even a sequel setup (though I’m fairly certain this is a one-off?) and I wish it was just a bit more definitive of an ending instead of taking that vibe. That being said, it was a good fast read and I’m really glad I read it!

The narrative of Portrait of a Shadow unfolds at a measured pace, gradually captivating the reader's attention. Skillfully alternating between past and present events, the story effectively integrates the two timelines, although at times the transitions may appear slightly inelegant. The overall plot is compelling, yet as the conclusion approached, I found myself pondering how the story would conclude within the constraints of the remaining pages. Ultimately, the ending materialized rather abruptly.

I was enthralled with the novel's captivating plot, which combines mystery with self-discovery, and I couldn't wait to find out what lies under the surface. However, everything seemed rather straightforward and elementary to me. The plot didn't particularly shine out in any one section of the book; at one point, it had me fascinated, but then it lost my attention.

Thank you netgalley and MacMillan children's publishing for the ebook ARC

This book follows Mae as she tries to figure out what has happened to her missing sister Inez. All she has as clues are a notebook, a white painting, and the next door neighbor with a cane.

I felt like this book had so much potential. I wished they had developed Mae and Inez’s characters a bit more. The story does a lot of time jumps in the story so I wished we saw a bit more of moments with them or of Inez with the other characters in the book.

I did really like the reveal at the end and the time jumps they did. The moments we had with those characters felt exciting. I just wished the main character had a similar impact. I also felt like there could have been a more horror aspect to the book. It felt more like a mystery/romance book.

Still enjoyed it and I am wondering if there is going to be a second book and that’s why things ended how they did or we’ll touch upon Inez’s character more. I felt like we knew nothing about her.

A huge improvement over the first book from this author. I liked the emotional core of this story, the writing was solid and creepy. Young adults will like this one.

Thank you to Netgalley for giving me this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

*4.75* but Netgalley doesn't do decimals and I couldn't give it 4 stars, it felt wrong.

Where do I even start? You follow Mae as she deals with a challenging home life after her sister, Inez, goes missing. She is convinced she can find something the cops didn't and convinces her parents to let her go back to Inez's apartment to clean it out, where she meets Dev. You follow them both on an adventure as they try to figure out what happened to Inez. This book is set in different years so you follow Mae in the present day and Dev in the past while you try to put the pieces together.

This book was really good. It only took a few days of reading to finish it (stupid work getting in the way of my reading time 😒). There were so many emotions and after the 30% mark, there was no way of putting it down. You can feel the beats of the story, the author did an amazing job with pacing and I enjoyed Mae's chapters more than Dev, he was kinda boring but the writing was great, I just gave him a side eye the whole book so his chapters were an eye-roll 😂.

Though the ending felt intentional and final, I'd grovel for a follow-up novel or novel from Inez's perspective. There was so much to her character and seeing the last 4 years of her life leading up to this book would be epic. Publisher or Agent, if you're reading this, please let Meriam know this is a need not a want 😭.

Anyway, a great book, please read it so we can have a community discussion about this.

“Home is hard when you run from it the second it catches up with you.”

“Portrait of a Shadow,” by Meriam Metoui

Mae decides to go clean out her sister, Inez, apartment because Inez has been missing for months. At the apartment Mae finds a strange blank canvas that Inez was obsessed with, according to the notes that progressively got harder to understand. When Mae feels a compulsion that the portrait is how she will find her sister and the neighbor boy who seems to know more about Inez than Mae does. Together they set off to uncover the mysteries of the painting and find Inez.

I loved this book. It was a quick read, and I didn’t get bored with any part of the book. I liked that it was a retelling of “The Picture of Dorian Gray”. I liked how awkward the characters were with each other, seeing as they just met so it really fit that they didn’t become sudden fast friends, but it developed slowly and awkwardly at times. I liked how the characters were non-white. The ending was surprising, and I did not see it coming at all, at least not with the spin that there was. Some of the things I wish were different was that if the book was longer because I wanted to see more of a deep dive visual into Inez decline and why she made the choices she made a lot more than the brush strokes we got in the book already. I also wish there were more scenes and information about why the painting was made and all that, we got a bit, but I felt like there had to be much more. 5 out of 5 stars, I really loved it.

Thank you for the Arc.

Thank you Netgalley and Henry Holt and Co. for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

"Portrait of a Shadow" by Meriam Metoui is a compelling YA novel that blends elements of mystery, the paranormal, and self-discovery together. The story follows Mae, a determined young woman fresh out of high school, who refuses to give up on finding her missing sister, Inez. As Mae delves deeper into Inez's world, she discovers a mysterious painting, encounters a charismatic yet enigmatic boy named Dev, and unravels a complex web of clues and secrets.

The novel, loosely based on "The Picture of Dorian Gray," was engaging with its atmospheric blend of mystery and romance. I liked the mystery aspect of the book, and there was a twist at the end that I honestly wasn´t expected. There is a blend of present scenes and flashbacks scenes as well as interludes with past owners of the white painting, which I enjoyed, though sometimes the flashbacks revealed information before the MC was aware, taking away some of the suspense of certain revelations. The pacing is quick, and I was able to finish this book in just a few hours as I wanted to know more about the painting. I would say this is more of a mystery rather than a horror novel; I was expecting more horror elements because of how creepy and amazing the cover is, but I still think the mystery was well done.

Mae's development and realization of her own complacency contribute to the depth of the story as she learns more about herself as well as the pressures her parents put on her and her sister. I wish there had been more insight into her sister’s perspective. There were a few glimpses with the flashbacks, but I was extremely interested in Inez’s story.

The ending of the book felt a bit rushed, with a lack of a satisfying climax. If you are the kind of person who enjoys books with a more open-ended nature, leaving room for interpretation and potential sequels, then you would enjoy this ending. I prefer a more satisfying conclusion, but I definitely understand this ending if the author wants to write a sequel.

Overall, "Portrait of a Shadow" offers a mysterious and fast-paced read with paranormal undertones, perfect for those seeking a blend of secrets, mystery, and elements of the supernatural. I think this book would pair well with “The Picture of Dorian Gray” if, for example, English teachers wanted to pair the two in the classroom in order to analyze comparisons/contrasts.

Portrait of a Shadow follows Mae on a journey to figure out what happened to her missing sister. Mae meets Dev, a mysterious man who lives next door to her sister, Inez. Dev seems to know more then he's sharing. He joins Mae on a road trip to find out more information regarding the painting from Inez’s apartment. The answers they receive lead to more questions and uncertainty.

This was a thrilling mystery that kept me guessing the whole time. The characters, the setting, and the plot were all intriguing from start to finish. I barely put it down I’ll be looking forward to reading it again when it’s released!

Let's talk covers ... omg I love this cover just amazing!

The character build and the writing of the characters was amazing!!! There was some parts that felt rushed but fir the most part I really liked the book!!!

It was an interesting read!

Thanks NetGalley for letting me read and review

Mae’s older sister Inez is missing and with the help of Dev, Inez’s neighbor, Mae sets off to find what happened to her sister. A modern retelling of The Picture of Dorian Gray, Portrait of a Shadow had a promising plot.

The story begins kind of slow and then gradually draws the reader in. Told in both the past and the present, Portrait of a Shadow mostly does a nice job merging the two timelines but sometimes felt a bit clumsy. The story was good, but as I got closer to the end, I did wonder how exactly the story was going to end with the limited amount of pages I had left. In the end, the ending came very abruptly.

Overall, I wish there was a bit more resolution at the end; maybe even an epilogue to have helped round out the story. Even with the clunky and clumsy moments, I did actually like the story and would recommend it to others to read. I hope the author writes a follow up to give readers the satisfaction of a true ending.