Am I in a fragile state because the fourth book still hasn't been released? YOU BET. The Shadow Cabinet has sent me into a massive book hangover but it's fine. WE'RE FINE.


The Shadow Cabinet
by Maureen Johnson 

Rory and her friends are reeling from a series of sudden and tragic events. While racked with grief, Rory tries to determine if she acted in time to save a member of the squad. If she did, how do you find a ghost? Also, Rory’s classmate Charlotte has been kidnapped by Jane and her nefarious organization. Evidence is uncovered of a forty-year-old cult, ten missing teenagers, and a likely mass murder. Everything indicates that Charlotte’s in danger, and it seems that something much bigger and much more terrible is coming.

Time is running out as Rory fights to find her friends and the ghost squad struggles to stop Jane from unleashing her spectral nightmare on the entire city. In the process, they'll discover the existence of an organization that underpins London itself - and Rory will learn that someone she trusts has been keeping a tremendous secret.

In this exhilarating third installment to her New York Times bestselling series, Maureen Johnson brings the sinister streets of London to life with her signature wit and page-turning suspense. 

“But when we live, we believe that we have a right to everything in the universe - that everything is ours to touch.”

First of all, how DARE the fourth book not be published yet. Second, The Shadow Cabinet is proof that the characters of Shades of London totally own me. Third, this installment left me reeling from heartbreak and then hope and then introduced a pair of my new favourite villains. But, we'll get to that later. What you need to know about The Shadow Cabinet is simple: this book is somehow fiery and chilling--it has completely electrified me.

As a whole, the Shades of London series is a delight. Impossible to put down and truly entertaining. The series has yet to suffer a slump in terms of quality. In-fact, it only keeps improving on itself as time goes by and at the end of the day, it has aged beautifully. Maureen Johnson is able to craft an ever-changing and enthralling landscape of magic, ghosts, murder and more. The Shadow Cabinet leaves me feeling distinctly hungover in the best possible way and I desperately hope that the fourth book still happens someday soon.

The Shadow Cabinet sees Rory and her friends struggling through a new reality after the loss of one of the most important people in their lives. Even worse, new villains emerge from the shadows and with every page comes new obstacles. My biggest feeling throughout the series has always been that of suspense, but The Shadow Cabinet grips much tighter on this and the feeling of heartbreak.

Despite the sadness, and the bittersweet quality to some of the more central plotlines of The Shadow Cabinet, there's a blend of other emotions to be felt. Aching as many moments are in this installment, there is just as much intrigue and hope to be found within the pages. Even moreso? The inclusion, and threats, of the villains--and cheerfully so--Sid and Sadie prove to fill in the gaps of the story and take it to new heights.

(They are definitely the types that would stab first and sigh dreamily second. I am here for this brand of evil.)

As always, the use of multiple genres suits The Shadow Cabinet in a wonderfully coherent and witty way. Not only is Johnson's prose as breezy and vivid as always, there's this quality to it that makes us even more breathless than usual. The Shadow Cabinet is easy to fall into and impossible to forget--I'm completely consumed by it and I need more.

Immediately.

I laughed. I cried. I yelled. The Shadow Cabinet is truly a force to be reckoned with and I'm living for every moment.