New Book Alert: Shadows in the Light by Sophie Shepherd; Fascinating YA Dystopia About A World of Dance

 

New Book Alert: Shadows in the Light by Sophie Shepherd; Fascinating YA Dystopia About A World of Dance

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: Many people value the Arts over any other activity. They offer free expression, free speech, are mostly non combative, and it is assumed that the people who practice them are tolerant and believe in equality, and would therefore make effective leaders. Well, Sophie Shepherd's YA novel, Shadows in the Light shows that's not always the case. In a world built entirely on the Arts, the wrong people could use those arts to become just as much a dictator as any other, especially in their means to control that art.

In the country the Realm of the Light, everything belongs to the Dance. There are more dance studios than we have Walgreens, Wal Marts, and Dollar Generals. Everybody is trained from when they are young to study dancing. Those who make it to be Dancers are considered the elite. Every year a competition is held to determine the best dancer. That dancer is then selected to be a Grace and lead their own colony. All other positions and interests such as education, medicine, computers, and production design are only meant to encourage the art of dancing and no other reason. Anyone who can't fit their talent into dancing in some way is labelled an Alternative and is exiled or made to disappear. The country is ruled by Mrs. Wren who would be what would happen if Martha Graham ruled the world. She insists that her people follow light and beauty and not the combat and competition of the old days. Anyone who disagrees has a funny way of either suddenly conforming or disappearing.

In true YA dystopian fashion, it takes a young teen to wake up and suddenly see the cracks in this so-called perfect society. In this variation, that character is Rowan Cole. She begins to recognize the cracks when she overhears one Dancer told by his lover that he doesn't want to lose him in a way that doesn't mean a break up. She also questions it when she, her father, and her brother, Leon try to communicate with her mother who is a Grace, but her chirpy assistant keeps insisting that she is unavailable.

Finally, Rowan has a personal reason to go against the Realm's Dancer Only policy. She studies martial arts and boxing in private, two abilities that are outlawed by Mrs. Wren. Her friend, Mica, hacks into computers to study the world before the change to focusing solely on dance. It isn't long before these young ladies are being followed by sinister characters and people who are part of a rebellion against the despotic Mrs. Wren. Rowan quickly learns that Mrs. Wren is less Martha Graham and more Eva Braun and needs to be stopped.

Shadows in the Light is an interesting concept in dystopian fiction by placing the arts as the preferred pursuit by the dictatorship instead of military or combat sports like in other such works. Those choices show that anything, even those that seem the most innocuous and creative can be used in the worst ways by people with the worst motives. Mrs. Wren is the type of character who uses the dance solely for her own benefit so people look to her as a Goddess figure and no one else. She is a diva, primadonna with power and had the means to make sure any potential threat to her order is exterminated. There are times where she comes across as a scenery chewing villain, probably intentional because of her diva superstar fixation. (If Shadow in the Light ever becomes a movie, the actress playing Mrs. Wren would have a blast playing such a character who appears all sweetness and light and then acts so broad that she would put most Disney villains to shame.)

It is also no coincidence that the protagonist studies martial arts and boxing: fighting competitive sports. These chosen talents show that a little competition and aggression can be a good thing. Hiding those drives can be just as destructive as relying solely on and giving into them.

It also explores how important it is to explore and nurture different talents to make a better and complete society. 

Shadows in the Light is a fascinating foray into the YA dystopian genre. While that genre is extremely oversaturated, sometimes an author can give a new fresh look and perspective. Sophie Shepherd does just that.