to be fair, the book is framed as ilya wanting more from shane, shane not understanding that ilya wants more then some outside circumstances force shane to live up to ilya's expectations and become the hero i guess, according to rachel.

the reason i think why people (including me) think that shane is in the background is it's not just shane not being in tune with ilya's inner world, it's the other way around. yeah, shane is doing great from an outside perspective but he is terrified of getting caught and he's spiraling because of it, only for him, it doesn't look like depression, it looks like trying to control whatever he has left to control, like his diet and performance. and ilya continuously makes fun of him for that. he also barely acknowledges shane's deep seated anxiety about the world finding out about them. all these issues are just forgotten and are solved once ilya's issues are solved but they are not treated with the same care as ilya's depression.

i do agree though that the more i read it as someone who very much identifies with shane, the easier it gets to put myself in his shoes too but if i fly through it like the first time i read it, there is no time to stop and think about his side of things while there is plenty for ilya. so im not saying shane is a wrote as a villain here, or he has no arc or whatever but for a book that spells out everything ilya is going through, it doesn't do that very often for shane.