The Shadow Cabinet (Shades of London, #3)

by Maureen Johnson

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.

• ISBN10: 0147517540
• ISBN13: 9780147517548
• Publish Date: 2 February 2016 (first published 1 January 2015)
• Publish Status: Out of Stock
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Speak
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 400
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780147517548

Reviews

[Stephanie]

This review was originally posted on Once Upon a Chapter



I have really mixed feelings on The Shadow Cabinet by Maureen Johnson. I really thought this was a trilogy and I'd be wrapping a series. Not only is this not a trilogy but it has the typical Maureen Johnson cliffhanger ending. In a way this sort of set me up for failure but it wasn't an entirely bad situation.

On the other hand I got something that I had really hoped was true so it seems like a reasonable trade off. Even if things end up being more complicated because of it. The Shadow Cabinet was a bit harder for me because everything and everyone was so splintered. I spent a lot of it fearfully hoping things were going to work out.

I honestly feel like Rory really knew who she was in this book. In the first two books she was trying to figure out who she was in the world. In The Name of the Star she was a Southern American girl in London and in the The Madness Underneath she was trying to figure out where she fit in among the Shades.

There is a lot that happens in The Shadow Cabinet. I loved how Johnson tied her book back to mythology. It was truly a pleasant surprise. I've really enjoyed how she has tied history and strong beliefs to the plots in each of these books. Jack the Ripper in The Name of the Star was exactly what I needed for a great hook. The Shadow Cabinet was a bit of a goose chase all across London and so much detail was used. This book went pretty quickly for me and I enjoyed my trip through it.

Truthfully, for me, the series really could have been wrapped here. It's been years between publication dates so I'm not sure how realistic a publication of book 4 is. It kind of stinks knowing that there is more to the story and we may never know it. Without getting spoilery the ending isn't 100% satisfying but it is enough for me.

I listened to the audio of this for about 4 hours on a trip to IL and back home. The narrator does a great job representing Rory as a Southerner. I'll continue to hope for book four but content myself with Johnson's new works.

[girlinthepages]

Actual Rating: 3.5 Stars

After the wicked cliffhanger that The Madness Underneath left off on, I had to pick up The Shadow Cabinet right away. While definitely an exciting installment in the series, it felt so very far from the events and tone of The Name of the Star and the Ripper story line. I missed the levity and humor of Maureen’s writing, and Rory’s personality seemed so dampened down (which could also be due to the premise of the story- rather than a fun yet creepy boarding school story, this book is basically Rory on the run, fully immersed in the world of the underground paranormal police force, for better or for worse).

While I missed the boarding school aspect, I liked getting to know more of the non-student supporting cast, such as Book, Callum, and Thorpe (especially seeing more of the human side of all of them, now that Rory’s fully integrated into their world). There are also some truly excellent villains in this book, Sid and Sadie, who were fascinating and creepy and ruthless and written so realistically and seamlessly. They honestly make the rest of the antagonists who have appeared in this series pale in comparison and the chapters from their perspectives are like some crazy 70s era fever dreams. The ending of the novel left their story pretty open ended, so I really hope there’s more resolution to their story in the next installment.

Along with the book feeling like it veered so very far from the events of the first installment in the series, it also delved heavily into more cult and political focused storylines, which I’ll admit confused me. Rather than having a clear historical thread to parallel (as the first novel did with the Jack the Ripper plotline), there’s a LOT of information about Sid and Sadie’s cult from decades ago, the political “Shadow Cabinet,” certain rules about stones and rivers guarding gateways to keep ghosts from running rampant around London. The book also was either going 1000 miles and hour or sort of dragging…I felt like the conclusion was REALLY fast and a LOT of things happened, but there was also a lot of waiting around for the first half of the novel.

Overall: The Shadow Cabinet is a interesting read that I enjoyed, however it has take The Shades of London series in a very, very different direction than when it started. If you’re down for paranormal happenings, cults, shady politics and ancient rituals, the series is heading down the right path for you. While I miss Wexford and Alistair and Rory’s sass from earlier in the series, I know I’ll keep reading until this series has concluded because I enjoy the characters and story overall, even if it does feel like a very different series from where it started.

[readingwithwrin]

"We were all afraid of the thing in front of us, and the reality of who we were fell on me all at once. None of us were fearless— we were four people too young to be doing this."

Simply put this book was everything I hoped for and more. So many questions got answered and so many things happened. I think this might be my favorite book of the series so far. I cant believe we have to wait over a year for the next one. I need the next one NOW!!

See more reviews like this on my blog

[jnikkir]

Honestly this was like a 3.75-star read for me. Plot was good, but I wanted ALL THE FEELS, and I didn't get many of those. ;_; *sets up camp to wait for book 4*

Full review to come later, though I'm not sure how detailed it will be, because hello spoiler quicksand everywhere.