The Shadow Between Us

I received an advanced copy from the author via NetGalley for an honest review of this book.
This is a melancholy and sorrowful story. It is very slow-paced, but it is building the story up, allowing you to get to know the main character who is suffering from heartbreak and is keeping a secret that has rocked her world. All of the characters are going through something in their personal lives, and you can really feel the sadness and camaraderie through the writing.
I wasn’t sure where this book was leading or what Olivia had suffered through, I had initially thought it was just problems with her husband, but the end of the book really took me by surprise. I really didn’t see it coming. The ending really shook me; it was really moving.
I loved that there was an emphasis on books, reading and writing. This made it feel quite homely.
The only reason I am giving this four stars instead of five is that I found it quite hard to get gripped by the story at the beginning as it was really slow going but once you get to know the characters this changed.

A good read if you enjoy this type of book, unfortunately it was too slow for me and I wasn't interested in the characters personally.

I think this is because my genre is psychological thrillers but thought I would try this for a change but unfortunately it wasn't for me.

Thank you to Netgalley and Amazon Publishing for giving me the opportunity to read this book.

A fascinating story about loss and healing, marriage and love, and how you can find friendships and new beginnings in the most unexpected places and with the most unimaginable people.
Full of sadness and secrets, “The Shadow Between Us” features a “not overly sentimental or romantic” heroine, hiding deep hurts of her own, and a wounded former SEAL who helps her heal.

Olivia feels her world has imploded, with her marriage floundering and problems with her teenage daughter, she takes herself off to the small town of Port Jefferson. When she joins a letter writing club, she meets Ned, an ex-navy seal suffering from horrific wounds and Beth, the owner of the local coffee shop who are both fighting their own demons.

As Olivia pursues a friendship with both Ned and Beth and learns their secrets, she finds herself confronted by her own demons, but can she move on with her life?

A slow burner of a book about coping with unimaginable trauma and with the help of others coming out the otherside. An emotional read with a shocking ending.

Thanks everyone for letting me review this fantastic book which was very emotional and a real sad story. The writing is excellent. 5 stars

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to preview this ARC of The Shadow Between Us by Carol Mason.

Olivia is a middle aged woman who has run away from her life. She arrives in Port Townsend looking for a new start and fresh experiences. On the surface it might be assumed that she is having a bit of a midlife crisis, inventing issues that don't exist in order to escape the everyday mundane of empty nesting. But her story is slowly unraveled as she gets a job as a barista, joins a correspondence club, and befriends a young wounded veteran. What is Olivia really escaping from? And are things really as bad as they seem?

This was a sad, and quiet novel, ultimately about two friends who are both searching to find their way back home. I loved the character complexity, the letters, and the ending just about made me cry. It was a beautiful reminder on why we need to always be kind.

Linda’s Book Obsession Reviews “The Shadow Between Us” by Carol Mason , March 21, 2019

Carol Mason, Author of “The Shadow Between Us” has written an intriguing and entertaining novel. The Genres for this Novel are Fiction, Women’s Fiction, Mystery and Suspense. The time-line for the story is in the present and goes back to the past when it pertains to the characters or events in the story. The author describes her characters as complex, complicated, secretive and dysfunctional

There are dark secrets and twists and turns in this story. I never expected what the ending reveals. Olivia seems to be running from her problems, and her marriage. She seems to be grasping at straws when she moves to Port Townsend, a small town. Olivia meets some other quirky characters that seem to be keeping secrets as well. Olivia isn’t clear if her marriage is over.

Olivia decides to join a writer’s correspondence club, where she meets Ned, a soldier with physical and emotional injuries. Can one truly run from their memories? I would recommend this novel for those readers who enjoy a mystery. I received an ARC from NetGalley.

Olivia and Ned are both wounded people. You can see his physical wounds but not his mental ones, nor can you see that Olivia is also hurting. Both of them have landed in Port Townsend, a lovely town, where they are trying to rebuild their lives. They meet in a correspondence club (I'd never heard of this before). As the chapters go, their personal secrets spool out. You'll understand more as you read more but there are twists. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. This is nicely written and the sort of novel that will make you want to know what happened next.

A heartrending story with a shocking twist that will leave you feeling giddy and bewildered…

One of the things I like best in a good story is how seemingly inconsequential things scattered throughout the book all link together, resulting in a reeling final twist that is totally unexpected but so very plausible. Carol Mason has executed this to perfection.

The Shadow Between Us is quite different to the author’s usual genre: more Female Noir than Women’s Fiction. It is clear from the outset the protagonist is running away from something. Olivia is unstable and flawed but also kind and generous; and whilst true to genre the protagonist is an unreliable first-person narrator, these personality traits also make her identifiable and easy to empathise with.

Whilst The Shadow Between Us, is different in genre to Carol’s other books, her unique narrative voice and style still shines through. When people ask what the difference is between Women’s Fiction and Chick-Lit, I always tell them to read After You Left. That is my definition of Women’s Fiction. Don’t get me wrong, I am far from a Chick-Lit snob, quite the opposite in-fact, but I do believe there is a difference between Chick-Lit and Women’s Fiction and this is largely to do with the narrative voice. This same narrative voice is present in The Shadow Between Us but coupled with a darker plotline this places the genre nearer to Female Noir.

As with all Carol’s novels, The Shadow Between Us is very character driven, giving almost a literary feel. The story is all about Olivia: she is the protagonist but her own fear of what happened in her past is also the antagonistic force. This makes for one hell of a read and I can’t recommend this book highly enough. Go reserve your copy NOW!!

Carol Mason, the best-selling author of ’After You Left’ has written an incredibly moving and poignant novel in this slow-burn, very beautiful work of fiction.

Olivia moves to the pretty coastal town of Port Townsend, with her marriage on-the-rocks, and her life in pieces. She doesn’t know if things with her husband Mark are truly over, or quite why the phone call she longs for on her daughter’s birthday will never come.

After joining a letter-writing club held at her local cafe she meets Ned, an ex-soldier badly wounded in Afghanistan. This chance friendship revives unexpected emotions and memories she’d rather forget.

Can Olivia find the courage to confront what she’s hiding from and finally begin to heal the wounds that have torn her life apart?

Liv, as she is known to her husband, is an extremely intriguing character. Regularly displaying a cocktail of emotions, I could still really empathise with her. She could be caring and thoughtful one minute, but then be frank, blunt and very much to-the-point, the next moment. At times she was positively distant and unkind. She was not alone in her attitude and behaviour as some of the other characters in the story shared similar traits such as cafe owner Beth. For me, this added to and complemented this wonderful character-driven story.

THE SHADOW BETWEEN US was a very insightful and thought-provoking read about reflecting on the mistakes we sometimes make and finding hope in second chances. I very much liked the emphasis on letter-writing, reading and quotes from favourite books, running throughout the story.

The dialogue between Olivia and Ned was lovely and liked how they had an almost immediate connection. I was very keen to see how their relationship might develop. I found THE SHADOW BETWEEN US a very enjoyable read, helped by Carol Mason’s beautiful writing which has depth and substance. The ending was very fulfilling although with an unexpected twist. I will definitely be reading more of her books in the future.

[Thanks to #NetGalley, Lake Union Publishing and Carol Mason for my ARC of #TheShadowBetweenUs in exchange for an honest review.]

Mental, consuming flashbacks of a terrible car accident haunt Olivia in this heart grabbing story. Each page brings shadowy information on the circumstances that drove her to take a break from her life and her marriage. Meeting horribly disfigured war veteran Ned and listening to his philosophies may be the key to Olivia’s finally healing.
It is a touching novel filled with sadness and revelations that will reach your heart.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The Shadow Between Us

Well written, and great character development, but slow going. I heard good things about this book, but I didn’t enjoy it. I would describe this as tedious reading. I felt like the book was dragging on while I waited for something to happen. It lacked suspense and anything gripping. Very underwhelming and anticlimactic. Although, there were a couple of things that happened, but not until the end of the book. It just didn’t keep my interest at all. 2 stars for being well written and having great character development.

Thank you Netgalley and Amazon UK for this advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review.

Great read. The author wrote a story that was interesting and moved at a pace that kept me engaged. The characters were easy to invest in.

I can’t pinpoint exactly what appealed to me about this book, but I was instantly drawn to it. Having still never read a synopsis, I dove into it completely blind with little knowledge of what to expect. It was every bit as perfect as I was hoping it would be— Poignant, heartbreaking, powerful; tugging at my heartstrings from cover to cover.

Carol Mason somehow manages to tell a story, giving the reader very little background knowledge of the main character and the narrative that is unfolding, all while still keeping them wholeheartedly invested. The writing is beautiful. The characters are flawed and real. My mind, and perhaps my heart, is still reeling from the ending. It’s going to be tough picking up another book on the heels of this one.

I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Heartbreaking novel about reclaiming life after a devastating loss. The ending was painful and unexpected. I did love that the characters made peace with their tragedies and were able to find purpose in their lives.

It would be a great novel for a book club--there are so many divergent story lines.

A beautifully writtwn domestic drama, sure to tug on your heartstrings and make you appreciate your relationships more . Will definitely read more book by this author.

An amazing book.
Poignant and emotional read.
The authors equisite writing style and storytelling will make you want to keep reading.
The ending is such a surprise.
A real tear jerker

I like that this book kept me guessing at to what Olivia is running from. It seems like she has been wronged, or hurt throughout the book. She moves into an area where she had spent time previously with her spouse trying to figure her life out. She meets an interesting cast of characters that help her get through this time. I wish the character would have been a little more relatable to me. There were a lot of parts where she seemed aloof and stuck up. Overall, I thought this was a pretty good read.

We meet Olivia on her daughter's birthday. "SOMETHING" has happened in the recent past that we are not privy to, but it has ripped her family apart. She's moved out of the family home - renting a little house in another town. This "thing" hangs like a dark shadow between her and her husband, Mark, while their daughter, Jessica, is off on a gap year in Europe.
In this new town she is a mystery to the townsfolk - someone unknown, to be discussed and pondered about. On a whim she joins a Correspondence Club hosted by Beth at her coffee/book shop. This is where she meets Ned, an injured young veteran, and feels a connection of sorts.
The story moved very slowly for me and I just couldn't get a feel for Olivia or understand the issues she was grappling with or the things she did.
The revelation of "the shadow" towards the end of the book blew my mind. It was NOT what I had imagined and had an immediate effect of raising the book's rating from 3 to 4 stars. It was as if someone had adjusted the filter and SO much of what I'd read earlier suddenly made perfect sense. You understood Olivia's (for a lack of a better word) craziness.
It didn't make me like her any more than I did before, but I started to understand her actions more.
The final chapters rocked me - my initial theory (which I'd dismissed early on as totally impossible) turned out to be true and left me in tears. And also explains why this book ended up with 5 stars from me.
I'm so glad I persevered with this book, I came so close to throwing in the towel many times in the first 60% of the book. I'm so glad I didn't. I finished the book actually liking Olivia.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for allowing me the chance to read this book.

Olivia Chapman moves to Port Townsend, her marriage to Mark is in serious trouble and her life has shattered into pieces. She doesn’t know if she will ever be able to return home to her husband, her house and she needs a break.

She joins the letter-writing club at Beth’s café, here she meets Ned Parker, he was serving in Afghanistan when the Hummer he was driving in hit a landmine, he was badly burnt and has terrible scars.

Their friendship is unexpected, both Olivia and Ned want to be left alone, both are suffering from PTSD and Ned's the only person who understands how Olivia feels. By speaking to Ned, it gives Olivia the courage to face what’s happened in her own life, it’s extremely painful and she can’t continue to live in her pretend world she’s created to protect her broken heart.

The Shadow Between Us Is a story about life, loss, grief, finding the courage to continue to face each day, thanks to NetGalley for my copy and three stars from me.