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bookishdaydreaming 's review for:
The Shadow Cabinet
by Juno Dawson
emotional
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Thank you so much to Netgalley and HarperCollins for an e-arc of this book!
The Shadow Cabinet has absolutely managed to avoid 'middle book syndrome' and is thrilling the whole way through. Picking up immediately where the first book left off, there's immediate drama and tension as Ciara is trying to hide her identity and pretend to be her now-dead sister. Watching this through the perspectives of all the different characters both builds excellent tension and also twisted amusement as you see them write off these things rather than realise the truth - or Ciara rewrites it for them.
Something I think Dawson does really well throughout this series is using the multiple POVs to keep the reader included on everything that's happening and have the inside knowledge whilst still keeping the relevant characters in the dark, which enables you to keep the element of mystery but also that frustration where you know exactly what is needed to fix the problems but have to watch the narrative play out anyway.
I don't think there was a single POV in this book I didn't thoroughly enjoy - I loved getting to read Theo coming to grips with her new identity and continuing to work through past trauma, Ciara grappling with her sense of self and trying to work out both what happened and what kind of person she wants to be, and the twists of characters that both Elle and Luke went through, neither of which I would have expected but absolutely loved both.
To be expected, the last 10% was filled with so many twists and turns that left me on the edge of my seat and I now can't wait for both the upcoming prequel novella and the final book in this trilogy.
Something I think Dawson does really well throughout this series is using the multiple POVs to keep the reader included on everything that's happening and have the inside knowledge whilst still keeping the relevant characters in the dark, which enables you to keep the element of mystery but also that frustration where you know exactly what is needed to fix the problems but have to watch the narrative play out anyway.
I don't think there was a single POV in this book I didn't thoroughly enjoy - I loved getting to read Theo coming to grips with her new identity and continuing to work through past trauma, Ciara grappling with her sense of self and trying to work out both what happened and what kind of person she wants to be, and the twists of characters that both Elle and Luke went through, neither of which I would have expected but absolutely loved both.
To be expected, the last 10% was filled with so many twists and turns that left me on the edge of my seat and I now can't wait for both the upcoming prequel novella and the final book in this trilogy.