Reviews with content warning for Sexism - The Shadow Cabinet

Reviews tagging 'Sexism'

The Shadow Cabinet by Juno Dawson

17 reviews

minervacerridwen's review against another edition

dark lighthearted mysterious relaxing tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Just like Her Majesty's Royal Coven, this was a fast-paced read with spy movie elements in a magical world. I did feel like it dragged a bit in the middle of the book, though the point-of-view changes helped to keep me intrigued about other things that were going on enough to keep reading. Overall the atmosphere was a little darker and less magical, with more focus on characters fucking each other over than on sisterhood (which makes sense, considering the new main character, but also made it a little less appealing to dive back in after a reading break). The pacing of the ending was a lot more satisfying to me than in the first book, and once again there were some interesting twists to make me very curious about the next part!

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erin_lusk's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I LOVED IT!

I am gutted there isn’t a third yet and the next thing out is a prequel. The ending had me gasping and yelling - even my kid wanted to know what had happened (and he’s 4).

I enjoyed this more than the first but that’s likely due to the fact I had a better understanding of just now grounded Dawson’s work is in our own reality. Her ability to create a pocket world inside the actual reality we’re currently living is extraordinary but it made for a slightly jarring experience at first.

I cannot wait for more of this story - prequel which will talk about one of my favorite historical figures (Anne Boleyn) and the next installment from present day can’t arrive fast enough.

Love love love

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readwithria's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

The Shadow Cabinet was an amazing continuation of the Her Majesty’s Royal Coven series! The plot thickened, the characters developed, and everything expanded while also weaving threads together.

I’m so sad that this book is over. It is an excellent exploration of redemption, self identity, gender politics, morality, addiction, and so much more! I love this series, and Juno Dawson has given us a world with high stakes where anything can happen and nothing is as simple as it seems.

I cannot wait for book 3! Five stars

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funkylitchick's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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imds's review against another edition

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Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

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lena_2106's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny lighthearted mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I love it, disregarding the plot it’s really gay and funny and perfect. Never read a book with more accurately portraid lesbians. People kept dying and everyone is really casual about it, which I was unsure about at first but it’s a great book.

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3arth2kaye's review against another edition

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5.0

I’m actually fuming, like steam’s coming out of my ears. 5 stars.

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hobbithopeful's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Thank you Penguin for this ARC
This book tore my heart out and then served it back to me on a silver platter. What's worse is that I loved every second of it!
Dawson perfectly captures what's like to experience life as a woman, it feels like she reaches into my brain and puts my darkest experiences to page. Part of the reason this trilogy is so difficult to read is because how close to real life it is. All the hate, fear, and bitterness isn't fictional. The only thing fictional about this book is the magic and witchery. Everything else sadly, you can easily find anywhere in the world.
This is in no way shape or form a light and happy read. There is sisterhood, family, and love, but what they all go through and experience is difficult at best, depressing at worst. Definitely check your tws before reading because there is a lot of death, murder, homophobia, sexism and more fun stuff.
I was so ready to hate Ciara, everything we learned in the last book really had her painted as "evil" plain and simple. If there's anything I should have learned from Dawson's writing, is that people are messy, complex, floundering creatures. There is no good or evil, only the choices we make, and we can always come back from it. ‘No. There’s always a way back,’ he said, trying to convince them both. ‘You just . . . turn around and go the way you came.’
My favorite pov is from Leonie, she is such a badass and I loved her adventure. On the flip side I always have such a hard time enjoying reading Elle's chapters. She just really annoys me and the way she behaves would drive me to therapy if I were her child. I didn't expect Luke's plotline to take him where it did, I enjoyed it, but it almost feels like too much out of left field.
Another MUST READ from Juno Dawson, this is shaping up to be one of my favorite series! Please I need the final book! DAWSON LOVES CLIFFHANGERS TOO MUCH!!

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aseel_reads's review against another edition

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challenging dark funny reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

For the first part of the book, I was very confused about the plot but I was here for the vibes! Using witches to talk about sexism, racism, transpobia etc is a sure fire way to make me love a book. But as it kept going, I saw the plot unfolding and I'm super keen to see where this series goes and I hope it's a long one!

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just_one_more_paige's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

I read the first book in this trilogy, Her Majesty's Royal Coven, just a few months ago and thought it was a fantastic start to the series. I had a few critiques (which you can read more about in that review), but for the most part I was on board, invested in where the rest of the plot was going to take me, and ready for this next installation.

This book picks up pretty close to where the last one left off. (I'm going to include a few spoilers for the first book in this little blurb about the plot of this second book, so beware if that's a concern for you!) We open with Leonie, Elle, and Niamh (or really, Ciara), along with Holly and Theo and some of the rest of the HMRC witches, at the funeral for Ciara (or really, Niamh, though none of them know it yet). And the novel quickly opens from there into a new set of dramas and threats: Ciara in Niamh's body trying to figure out who brought her back and why and preparing to take over as High Priestess (a role she never dreamed of having) while not letting on to anyone that she's an imposter, Leonie takes off to search for her brother who is missing in his efforts to recapture Dabney Hale, Theo is struggling with how she got her new body and what it means for the rest of her life/future and a mysterious lessening of her powers, Elle is trying to hold it together as all her friends have scattered and are struggling in their own ways and she becomes aware of her own troubles at home, and Holly is probably the most typical of them all with her worries about her best friend Theo falling for her brother (ew!) and her father's familial betrayal. And of course, along with all their individual struggles, the greater forces around them are coming together: mundane politicians, secret witch hunter societies, Hale's bloody search for power and control, and the oracles' constant visions about the plans of the demons to bring down the world as we know it to an end.

Alright, the growth from the first novel to this one, in Dawson's writing and plot development and general depth, was so solid. There was a lot more background and bigger picture look at the interactions between witches and the mundane world and how they coexist. It's hard not to make this comparison, so I'm going to, but I want to recognize that it's not an uncommon trope in coexisting magic/non-magic societies fantasy novels, but there are some aspects that are reminiscent of HP, with magically hidden building facades, parallel governmental structures that the "mundane" leaders find out about after election, etc. But also, Dawson takes it further, recognizing the actual current-day politics of the developed world (and how they're getting ever more intolerant) within all those tropes. The gender politics in these overlapping groups have gotten deeper and more nuanced here, including the same witch-warlock tension as before, but now with an additional incel-vibes mundane-males group, and more. I appreciated that increase in complexity as the story unfolds more, it's great series-level arc growth. Related, these additional nuances and development extended to other areas as well, even within the witch community, and while there is always room for growth on this front, I thought the intersectionalities of womanhood and femininity were definitely better addressed here than in the first.

Another thing I loved about this second book was the growth past the characters of the first. There were a couple of characters that played huge roles in the first novel that are no longer around, and Dawson filled those gaps with new voices and/or with developing other voices more and I was impressed with how smoothly she made that transition happen. As part of that, a couple explorations in particular were well done. One sort of reminded me of a concept from Wrath Goddess Sing - feeling guilty about actually getting the body that you want, while so many can’t - and how that shows up really makes you think about all the different ways our brains and society can sabotage our happiness, no later how joyful something could/should be. Another is that, as Ciara's memories came back and we learn more about Luke's background (and things got gorgeously complex!), there was a real reckoning with the individual responsibility versus being forced to do things because you have less power or are under someone's (or a substance's) will/influence or exist within the confines of a system that you cannot fight or bring down alone. Dawson addresses difficult questions like where does that line of personal culpability exist and what can you be forgiven for doing under those circumstances and what takes it too far and how do you atone (internally and externally)? She also brings up questions around what is acceptable in the fight to make a better/more equal power structure. Just, such multifaceted issues to grapple with and it's done really well as this second book helps grow the series into something more.

A few final notes. I still love the magic. So much. It's such classic feminine witch power and while that's not everyone's jam, it's definitely mine (more concrete than, but similar vibes to, the magic in VenCo). I still hate the body-switching trope, but since it got resolved within this book, I'm letting it go and moving forwards because the rest is good enough that I want to. The ending was great. (I was confused about Milo for a while, but there was a break between my reading the first and second books and I have spotty detail memory so I just kinda went with it, but then the final little twist was like, whoa.) And it was a well-balanced cliffhanger situation - enough for me to be somewhat edge of my seat for the next one, but not uncomfortably so (which I really dislike the feeling of, so I'm glad for that).

So yea, a great second book. I didn't get any of the slow bridge-between-opening-and-closing that the middle book in a trilogy sometimes brings, which is fantastic and hats off to Dawson for that. The plot was action-packed and interesting (still no punches pulled with deaths and the responses of remaining characters - so good) and the human emotions and traumas and decisions are so messy and nuanced. This book really took all of that to the next level. It was a dramatic ride and I'm very excited for the finale!

“Other people’s memories of your life are unreliable narration at best.”

“Inside every witch there are two crows: one saying you can't use your powers to fix the world to your liking, and another cawing, why not?”

“She hadn’t even started to think about her life beyond becoming a girl. That had been her only goal. It turned out there was a whole lifetime of stories waiting after that happy ending.”

“Absolute certainty is the language of fools, and the demagogues who exploit those fools.”

“They say love is blind, but it makes you blind.”

“I will live to see the day when men no longer fear powerful women.”

“He believed he was in love with her, and isn't that more or less love itself?”

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