Novel Review: The Shadow Cabinet (Shades of London, #3) by Maureen Johnson

Rating (Out of 5): ~3.5

Genre: YA Paranormal Mystery Romance

Publisher: Putnam (Penguin)

Release Date: February 2015

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. Powells.

Teaser Tuesday. Wishlist Thursday. 

Goodreads Synopsis:

The thrilling third installment to the Edgar-nominated, bestselling series.

Rory and her friends are reeling from a series of sudden and tragic events. While racked with grief, Rory tries to determine if she acted in time to save a member of the squad. If she did, how do you find a ghost? Also, Rory’s classmate Charlotte has been kidnapped by Jane and her nefarious organization. Evidence is uncovered of a forty-year-old cult, ten missing teenagers, and a likely mass murder. Everything indicates that Charlotte’s in danger, and it seems that something much bigger and much more terrible is coming.

Time is running out as Rory fights to find her friends and the ghost squad struggles to stop Jane from unleashing her spectral nightmare on the entire city. In the process, they'll discover the existence of an organization that underpins London itself—and Rory will learn that someone she trusts has been keeping a tremendous secret.

The Cover:

I don't mind this cover. I think it works, especially this one for this book, and it is pretty. But it's not my favorite, and I don't find it particularly eye-catching.

Review:

I’m surprised that I didn’t love this book as much as I thought I would. That I’m not loving this series as much as others are, or that I thought I would.

I’m a fan of Johnson, of course, and this is a very good series. I just don’t love it.

This was a slow moving book, as the characters try to deal with what happened at the end of the previous one. Rory is in shock, convinced she can find Stephen, no matter what she has to do. We find out what Jane has really planned, and what she wants Rory for. The last part of the book was pretty exciting, and really an interesting concept.

Jane is crazy, especially now that I see what she was really planning. Sid and Sadie are even worse, and I’m really not surprised by what they did at the end of the book. That makes sense, after everything else.

I liked where Rory and Stephen and the group were by the end. I’m intrigued to see what happens in the next one, what they’re going to do about what Sid and Sadie have planned.

Even if I’m not in love, I did enjoy this book. I like what’s going on, and I enjoy Johnson’s writing, how creative she can be. I will definitely be picking up the next book.

Teaser Tuesday[139]: The Shadow Cabinet (Shades of London, #3) by Maureen Johnson

The Shadow Cabinet (Shades of London, #3) by Maureen Johnson

Genre: YA Supernatural Thriller, Romance

Publisher: Putnam (Penguin)

Release Date: February 10, 2015

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. Powells.
Wishlist Thursday.

Goodreads Synopsis:

The thrilling third installment to the Edgar-nominated, bestselling series.

Rory and her friends are reeling from a series of sudden and tragic events. While racked with grief, Rory tries to determine if she acted in time to save a member of the squad. If she did, how do you find a ghost? Also, Rory’s classmate Charlotte has been kidnapped by Jane and her nefarious organization. Evidence is uncovered of a forty-year-old cult, ten missing teenagers, and a likely mass murder. Everything indicates that Charlotte’s in danger, and it seems that something much bigger and much more terrible is coming.

Time is running out as Rory fights to find her friends and the ghost squad struggles to stop Jane from unleashing her spectral nightmare on the entire city. In the process, they'll discover the existence of an organization that underpins London itself—and Rory will learn that someone she trusts has been keeping a tremendous secret.

Excerpt:

“‘Who’s Jane Quaint?’ Jerome asked again.

But no one was ever going to answer him. I knew this. I wanted to answer, just to put him out of his misery on this point. What I wanted to do, actually, was crawl into the backseat and bury myself inside his big coat and wrap my arms around him and—“ (Hardback, pg. 122)

What are you reading right now?

Wishlist Thursday[94]: The Shadow Cabinet (Shades of London, #3) by Maureen Johnson

The Shadow Cabinet (Shades of London, #3) by Maureen Johnson

Genre: YA Supernatural Thriller, Romance

Publisher: Putnam (Penguin)

Release Date: February 10, 2015

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Powells.

Goodreads Synopsis:

The thrilling third installment to the Edgar-nominated, bestselling series.

Rory and her friends are reeling from a series of sudden and tragic events. While racked with grief, Rory tries to determine if she acted in time to save a member of the squad. If she did, how do you find a ghost? Also, Rory’s classmate Charlotte has been kidnapped by Jane and her nefarious organization. Evidence is uncovered of a forty-year-old cult, ten missing teenagers, and a likely mass murder. Everything indicates that Charlotte’s in danger, and it seems that something much bigger and much more terrible is coming.

Time is running out as Rory fights to find her friends and the ghost squad struggles to stop Jane from unleashing her spectral nightmare on the entire city. In the process, they'll discover the existence of an organization that underpins London itself—and Rory will learn that someone she trusts has been keeping a tremendous secret.

Why?:

I started this series late, but I really enjoyed the first two. The last book had a surprising twist in it, and a horrible cliffhanger. It feels like it’s been a long time since I read that second book, but I’m still really excited to see what happens next.

What are you looking forward to?

Novel Review: The Madness Underneath (Shades of London, #2) by Maureen Johnson

Rating (Out of 5): ~4

Genre: YA Supernatural (Light-Romance)

Publisher: Penguin (Putnam)

Publish Date: February 26th, 2013

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. Powells.

Teaser Tuesday.

Goodreads Synopsis:

After her near-fatal run-in with the Jack the Ripper copycat, Rory Deveaux has been living in Bristol under the close watch of her parents. So when her therapist suddenly suggests she return to Wexford, Rory jumps at the chance to get back to her friends. But Rory's brush with the Ripper touched her more than she thought possible: she's become a human terminus, with the power to eliminate ghosts on contact. She soon finds out that the Shades--the city's secret ghost-fighting police--are responsible for her return. The Ripper may be gone, but now there is a string of new inexplicable deaths threatening London. Rory has evidence that the deaths are no coincidence. Something much more sinister is going on, and now she must convince the squad to listen to her before it's too late.
In this follow-up to the Edgar Award-nominated THE NAME OF THE STAR, Maureen Johnson adds another layer of spectacularly gruesome details to the streets of London that will keep you on the edge of your seat until the very end.

Something Specific:

Quotes:

• "Funny thing when you don’t get out of the house for a while—you reenter the outside world as a tourist.” (Hardback, pg. 20)
• "This was failure. Doing all you could and yet knowing that it just wasn’t going to cut it.” (Hardback, pg. 98)

The Cover:

I'm not really a huge fan of this cover/the cover redoes. I'm pretty sure I mentioned it before, but I really liked the original cover for The Name of the Star, and just don't really find these ones pretty. It works, though, it's not horrible to look at, and it definitely fits the story, though.

Review:

This series has surprised me, quite a bit, and I like that. Also, the ending on this book? Horrible.

So, Rory goes back to Wexford, as was expected. She gets back to school, and everything just seems very different to her. She’s having a hard time hanging out with her friends, which is understandable given what happened to her and what she’s going through. It’s sad, but understandable. And she meets up with the ghost hunter people again, who are wary and she’s still getting the hang of being around, but who understand her a lot better than her school friends. And she’s getting used to her new-found powers of being able to exorcize ghosts with her touch.

She also starts talking to this councilor, who seems very nice and helpful, but is actually up to something much worse. I expected what happened with her to happen, but it was still interesting and exciting, how it all went down.

Rory is having a hard time, not really know who she is or where she belongs anymore. It’s all fully understandable, and she handles it very well. I like her enough; she’s fun to read, I like her thoughts. She’s not overly smart, but she has good instincts, and she seems like a pretty average teenage girl, in a very good, mature way, even if what she’s going through is not average.

The romance and the relationships were the surprising parts to me. Like the fact that, when she gets home, her friends are open to being with her, but she has a hard time hanging out with them because of what she’s going through. And the fact that the main love interest is not clear from the very beginning—it makes me unsure, but I still really like it. And I like the boy quite a bit, and what happened with him is horrible and I cannot wait to see what happens with him in the next book. I also rather like her ghost hunter friends, and am looking forward to seeing her relationship with them develop. 

The cliffhanger on this book was rather horrible. It was just so mean, and I am really anxious for the next book to come out, so I can see what happens.