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A review by ruthsic
Girl in the Shadows by Gwenda Bond
3.0
Girl in the Shadows continues the story in Cirque American, with a new protagonist - the daughter of a famous magician, who herself wants to make her name - Moira Mitchell. From childhood, her father has dissuaded her from pursuing a career as a magician, but that only made her practice harder in secret and run away to join the Cirque, where on auditioning, the real magic within her awakens. Readers who remember the ending of Girl on a Wire, will connect this to the magic coin; that plot line finally gains more importance in this sequel as an object that is being pursued by people around. In this case, it is a secret society *cough*cult*cough* called Prestiagae, that wants it. While at the Cirque she falls in love with this charming smooth knife-thrower Dez, who hides a lot of things in his past.
This sequel definitely was better written than the former, with more attention given to characters and their emotions. Moira's and Dita's friendship, Moira and her father's relationship - all these little details added immensely to the plot. But while it was better written with respect to characters, I could not say the same for the plot. In the first half it was good, when we did not know who the secret society was - there was a lingering tension in the air, the stakes were high. But after the reveal, I was disappointed. There was danger but it felt so thin, I could not bring myself to care enough. The ending was better, of course, but everything in the third quarter felt just rushed together. Overall, I would say this book is good sequel, but on its own, it stands weakly.
This sequel definitely was better written than the former, with more attention given to characters and their emotions. Moira's and Dita's friendship, Moira and her father's relationship - all these little details added immensely to the plot. But while it was better written with respect to characters, I could not say the same for the plot. In the first half it was good, when we did not know who the secret society was - there was a lingering tension in the air, the stakes were high. But after the reveal, I was disappointed. There was danger but it felt so thin, I could not bring myself to care enough. The ending was better, of course, but everything in the third quarter felt just rushed together. Overall, I would say this book is good sequel, but on its own, it stands weakly.