A review by cozyhosie
The Shadow Cabinet by Juno Dawson

Did not finish book. Stopped at 34%.

 

"Witches are agents of nature. Death is natural. To fuck with it is unnatural. End of."

In the follow-up to her bestselling Her Majesty's Royal Coven, Juno Dawson brings back the world she created with both returning and new characters. Ciara, having come out of her coma dn taken over her twin’s body, struggles to remember why she was in the coma and has to try to fool all of Niamh’s adopted family and friends. Leonie is on a hunt for Dabney Hale, hoping that when she finds him, she’ll find her brother. 

Dawson has a grasp of pop culture and language that makes her writing a joy to read. She is able to weave pop culture references so seamlessly into the story that you might blink and miss it, but when you do notice them, they elicit a smile. Niamh, who was my favorite character, is replaced by her twin sister Ciara. I really disliked this element of the story and genuinely missed Niamh’s POV chapters. For me, Niamh was the character I related to the most and I did not enjoy being in Ciara’s head during her POV chapters. Ciara was difficult for me to relate to and the way she thought made me uncomfortable. The only characters I still cared about were the teens, Theo and Holly, and unfortunately, there wasn’t enough about them for me to want to finish the book. I read about 35% of the book and had to DNF it. However, even though this book was not a hit for me, that doesn’t mean that Dawson did not write an incredible story that is worth reading. Juno Dawson crafts her stories masterfully and I look forward to reading other works by her.