After staring at the artistic and alluring cover, the concept of this story was what really caught my attention. A book narrated by a shadow? I was intrigued.

Antares spends her days mimicking her charge’s movements with all the precision and fluidity of an artist--she is a shadow, bound to her task as a form of punishment. Both part of, and not part of Violet’s life, she witnesses  the tragedies that have prompted Violet’s downward spiral. But in one moment, their situations are reversed, and worlds collide.

The more I thought about Antares’ situation, though, the more horrified I became. What must it be like, I thought, to watch somebody constantly, to be there whether you like it, or not, and watch them slowly wither away? Admittedly the pacing and plot were at times slow, but the emotional grip that spawned in my imagination kept me reading.

The book has an interesting take on its dealings with image and human character. These days, with so much of our lives scattered about in cyberspace, we really do walk a fine line. Are we really in control of how others see us?

For me the plot became predictably dystopian, but I still enjoyed the concept presented in the story very much, and I will be eagerly awaiting the sequel in the series. There is a whole lot to the world that Ms. Mack wrote into this book that will (I hope!) be explained in the second volume.

Teen readers who enjoy books with hints of magical realism, or light science fiction would probably enjoy the story; there is plenty within the pages about friendship and its meaning, not to mention the imaginative atmosphere.

**note: Thank you to Apologue Entertainment and Netgalley for providing me with a copy for review purposes.

Cross-posted on Soaping.net

The Pentrals starts credibly enough, with a strange first person narration of a girl watching another girl. The vantage is odd and disorienting, and it's only when you realize that the narrator is the girl's shadow that the angles lock, and you can finally orient yourself in both space and understanding. The narrator, Antares, is the shadow of Violet, a denizen of the futuristic city of Talline, which gleams from a thousand mirrored surfaces in a canyon in the desert. The Pentrals of the title refers to beings of shadows or reflections, which in the supernatural architecture of the novel, are sentient beings enacting penance for something done in another life.

As a set up, this is neat stuff: the brightness of the future city juxtaposed against the Gothic shadow, the doppelganger reading and commenting on the bright lived life through its negative image. Unfortunately, this tense imagery is squandered, and quickly. Not only does The Pentrals deny the reader much in the way of resolution, but the basic mechanics of both the supernatural world of the Pentrals and the society of Talline are so confused (or, often, downright stupid) that any resolution is close to meaningless. Altogether, this was one of the more frustrating novels I've read in a while.

This title was provided by Apologue Entertainment (via NetGalley) for review purposes.

Okay, okay. I'll admit it--I judged a book by its cover. The cover art caught my eye immediately, and once I read the synopsis, I knew I had to read The Pentrals. The concept is so unlike anything I've read, and I was really curious to see how the author pulled it off!

Right off the bat, I had a hard time connecting with this story until the switch took place. The narrative from Antares' point-of-view felt a little hollow (and rightly so, I guess--I mean, she is a shadow). There are only so many times that you can describe the way a shadow shadows someone before it gets a little stale.

Things pick up once Violet and Antares trade places, but my biggest problem with this book (and it's always a big problem with any book) is that I still wasn't able to connect with the characters. I didn't feel for Violet or Antares. The reader follows Violet for only a brief while before she's suddenly plastered to the floor beneath Antares' shoe, after which period of time we don't really get any taste for her personality again throughout the book.

As for Thomas... I couldn't love Thomas at all. The author doggedly enforces how wonderful he is--good-looking and beloved and a star athlete and a perfect boyfriend--and I just couldn't buy it. I was far more interested in Ben and Sam than most of the main cast of characters (though Ben's total 180° turn after his confrontation with Thomas and Violet bothered me, too).

Another thing that bothered me was the mirripulation concept. While I'm sure it would be horrible to see your face so horribly disfigured and grotesque (and I do appreciate what's going on, metaphorically), and we certainly have no reason to doubt what we see reflected in a mirror... didn't anyone think to, I don't know, touch their face and feel that they didn't have scabs and protruding veins and things? Or ask someone they trust, "Hey, does this look like a rash or something?" instead of just assuming that their family and friends were just not bringing it up for the sake of their ego? Because I certainly would have.

The end is where this book finally caught me. I was captivated by the details of Antares' previous life (and death?) and her connection to Ben. The culminating of all the events so far finally added up to something I could get into and honestly, despite some of the predictable plot devices sprinkled throughout, I am curious to know what happens next.

Read more reviews at Celestial Carousel.