The Shadow Cabinet (The Shades of London Book 3)

The finale of the Shades of London trilogy was filled with action and excitement. Jane and the other members of her forty year old cult haven't stopped hunting for Rory so that she can go to the other world and bring back Sid and Sadie. Jane has had that as her goal since a failed ritual in 1973 left them in a half-alive state. To further her aims, she snatches the body of Stephen who is in the same state.A new character named Freddie makes her appearance as someone who has the sight and who has been studying the same mysterious things that Stephen studied. Stephen was getting ready to recruit her to the ghost squad when he has his accident while rescuing Rory.I liked the worldbuilding which made London a nexus for ghosts. I liked the idea of the Shadow Cabinet as a secret organization designed to protect the living from a ghostly invasion. I loved Rory's character and her voice. She makes a wonderful narrator.I think that there are still stories to be told in this world and hope that the author does revisit it at some time.

I've read the whole series twice through now, so clearly it was enjoyable to read.What this story is about: The third volume of The Shades of London books picks up with a grieving Shades team trying to stop the end of London and the world.What this story is really about: Grief, guilt and shame and boy does Rory have all of it in spades.YA tropes: 1st person, absent parents, the chosen one, teen angst. Maureen Johnson employs these more deftly than others and some of them make logical sense within the context of the story.Recommended for: People who like ghost stories, people who like going to that mystical shop with the pixie girl behind the counter pulling tarot cards

The Shadow Cabinet is the third book the Shades of London series. I was very anxious to see how things would play out with this one. ***HUGE SPOILER BELOW IF YOU HAVE NOT READ THE SECOND BOOK!!!***I didn’t really like how the second book ended. Stephen dying really through me for a loop and I did not see it coming. I kept thinking, how could she end it like that?!?? So when The Shadow Cabinet begins, it basically picks up pretty much where the story ended in book two. Everyone is in the hospital with Stephen, mourning over his loss when Rory makes a desperate attempt to bring back him as a ghost. Not to mention Rory’s classmate is still missing and she is possibly in danger.Because of everything that has happened to Rory, her and the team are secluded; more so Rory than anyone else. Callum and Boo attempt to go around town to see if what Rory did actually worked and Stephen became a ghost. Rory is not one to wait around wringing her hands, so naturally she goes out and tries to find some answers for herself. Which leads to some interesting and unexpected results.The Shadow Cabinet starts off a little slow for me. Nothing major seemed to happen until almost halfway through the book. It wasn’t a struggle to get through the book though. I wanted to see how things resolved and find out the why behind them.This wasn’t my favorite book out of the trio….The Madness Underneath is my favorite, but The Shadow Cabinet was still enjoyable. I am curious what exactly this mysterious groups needs from Rory and how major a part she will play in it. And what is up with those weird and creepy twins? I was curious, but never a big fan of stories involving ghosts and people seeing ghosts before, however Maureen Johnson has made me one. I am looking forward to her announcement of book four.

"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!!

~3.5/5I’m surprised that I didn’t love this book as much as I thought I would. That I’m not loving this series as much as others are, or that I thought I would.I’m a fan of Johnson, of course, and this is a very good series. I just don’t love it.This was a slow moving book, as the characters try to deal with what happened at the end of the previous one. Rory is in shock, convinced she can find Stephen, no matter what she has to do. We find out what Jane has really planned, and what she wants Rory for. The last part of the book was pretty exciting, and really an interesting concept.Jane is crazy, especially now that I see what she was really planning. Sid and Sadie are even worse, and I’m really not surprised by what they did at the end of the book. That makes sense, after everything else.I liked where Rory and Stephen and the group were by the end. I’m intrigued to see what happens in the next one, what they’re going to do about what Sid and Sadie have planned.Even if I’m not in love, I did enjoy this book. I like what’s going on, and I enjoy Johnson’s writing, how creative she can be. I will definitely be picking up the next book.[More of my reviews are available on my blog, Geeky Reading, to which there's a link on my profile.]

The Shadow Cabinet is certainly another stage in the evolution of this series. While The Name of the Star was a pretty straight ghost story, each subsequent instalment has moved away from this. In this novel, there are fewer ghosts than ever before and instead it's become a strange story about crazy cults, secret societies and Ancient Greek rituals to defeat death. Yeah...it's more than a little odd...The style of the story has also changed dramatically. This book is a lot faster moving than previous instalments, but I was amazed by how little excitement this built. There aren't really any big scenes in this novel. Everything is downplayed and never really feels as though it builds to anything. There aren't any real twists in this story, which was unexpected as the previous novels hinged on rather massive twists, and even the climax didn't really build to anything much.There is also a lot more exposition in this story than there was in previous instalments. We are told a lot of things in this novel - about the importance of standing stones, the Shadow Cabinet, the Eye of Isis - and this just feels clumsy. Worse still, even with this exposition, the book can be very confusing in places. It's decidedly unclear what is going on in the climax and why it is so much of a threat. Similarly, we don't really discover much about what the new villains - Sid and Sadie - are really up to. I suppose this is going to be held back for the inevitable next instalment.In terms of character, this book really was a bit of a let down. There is no development at all in this story, beyond Rory doing some slightly questionable things to try and save Stephen. We don't see any ramifications for her actions and she barely interacts with her old allies - Callum, Boo, Jerome - as they are forever being dismissed and sent off on their own missions. I think we saw more of Thorpe than anyone else in this story, and we still learned nothing more about him.So, all in all, I was disappointed. I loved the first book in this series but it just seems to now be evolving into something very different - lacking the tension and creepiness of The Name of the Star. I'm not sure where Johnson is intending to take this but I suppose we will find out when the next instalment is released next year.

This is the third book in a genuinely brilliant series. It not only manages to be entertaining and emotional in it's own right, but perfectly sets up the story for the next book. The writing has definitely improved and any issues I had with the first and second books with regards to their plot pacing have been dealt with.This series really is great, not just because the writing is good and the characters are likeable, but because it has that eerie element of something-ness that makes it not just a good read but a compelling one.I'm eagerly awaiting the next in the series.

I enjoyed it, not as much as the first two but if you have enjoyed the Name of the Star or The Madness Underneath it's a decent addition to the series. The type of story changes a bit, more thriller than mystery style, and frankly the stakes for our protagonist just don't seem as high in the plot this time.

No I don't think it was good as the first, but I always prefer the first book in series.I don't want to say anything about the plot in case of spoilers, but I'm so happy this isn't the last book in the series. Can't wait for the next book!

This book is no way as interesting or caprivating as the first and second books of the series. It IS obvious that the author wrote it for the money, and that she didn't plan for the story to continue after the second book.But it's still ok.