Take a photo of a barcode or cover
philippmk 's review for:
The Shadow Cabinet
by Juno Dawson
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-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
Unfortunately, the second book in the HMRC series did not hold up to the first. While the characters are still charming enough to follow along for the ride and there is satisfaction in resolving some of the mystery of the previous installment, The Shadow Cabinet is frustrating in several ways.
First, in a desperate attempt to advertise the next book in this trilogy while you're still reading the one in your hand, there is an exceeding number of plot points and twists which are quite obviously only set up in order to be resolved in a future book.
Similarly, this book reveals recons for at least three separate characters that should change entirely how you see them. As there was absolutely no lead up to these or any hint to the characters' true past whatsoever, each reveal was startling. Reading this makes it seem as if Dawson either neglected doing something of interest with these characters or completely changed her mind about them between novels. Overall, the large amount of characters was not handled well in my opinion, as important story arcs were temporarily forgotten about until the last two chapters.
If this had been marketed as a YA novel rather than Adult Fantasy, I believe a lot about this book could have been forgiven. However, for a supposedly mature book with a mostly thirty-something cast, The Shadow Cabinet is lacking both depth and advanced prose to keep a mature audience interested. Its more mature topics, especially violence, are not particularly well handled either.
The villanous main character is being forgiven for murder very quickly by her friends because... they saw the Spice Girls together I guess? Arguably, she also commits sexual assault by impersonating her deas twin and then having sex with her boyfriend, which is never really dealt with.
First, in a desperate attempt to advertise the next book in this trilogy while you're still reading the one in your hand, there is an exceeding number of plot points and twists which are quite obviously only set up in order to be resolved in a future book.
Similarly, this book reveals recons for at least three separate characters that should change entirely how you see them. As there was absolutely no lead up to these or any hint to the characters' true past whatsoever, each reveal was startling. Reading this makes it seem as if Dawson either neglected doing something of interest with these characters or completely changed her mind about them between novels. Overall, the large amount of characters was not handled well in my opinion, as important story arcs were temporarily forgotten about until the last two chapters.
If this had been marketed as a YA novel rather than Adult Fantasy, I believe a lot about this book could have been forgiven. However, for a supposedly mature book with a mostly thirty-something cast, The Shadow Cabinet is lacking both depth and advanced prose to keep a mature audience interested. Its more mature topics, especially violence, are not particularly well handled either.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Murder