The Shadow Cabinet by Juno Dawson.

Synopsis

In the second installment of Juno Dawson’s irresistable fantasy trilogy (Lana Harper), a group of childhood friends and witches must choose between what is right and what is easy if they have any hope of keeping their coven–and their world–from tearing apart forever.

Niamh Kelly is dead. Her troubled twin, Ciara, now masquerades as the benevolent witch as Her Majesty’s Royal Coven prepares to crown her High Priestess.

Suffering from amnesia, Ciara can’t remember what she’s done–but if she wants to survive, she must fool Niamh’s adopted family and friends; the coven; and the murky Shadow Cabinet–a secret group of mundane civil servants who are already suspicious of witches. While she tries to rebuild her past, she realizes none of her past has forgotten her, including her former lover, renegade warlock Dabney Hale.

On the other end of the continent, Leonie Jackman is in search of Hale, rumored to be seeking a dark object of ultimate power somehow connected to the upper echelons of the British government. If the witches can’t figure out Hale’s machinations, and fast, all of witchkind will be in grave danger–along with the fate of all (wo)mankind.

Sharp, funny, provocative, and joyous, Juno Dawson’s sequel reimagines everything you think you knew about her coven and her witches in a story that spans continents and dives deep into the roots of England and its witchcraft. Ciara, Leonie, Elle, and Theo are fierce, angry, sexy, warm–and absolutely unapologetic as they fight for what they believe in, all in the name of sisterhood.

Audiobook review

Narrator: Nicola Coughlan

6 stars

That book is SICK! In the best way!

I don’t know what I’ll write in this review but I want you to know that this story is just incredible! And as it’s the sequel of Her Majesty’s Royal Coven, you’ll probably have spoilers for that one so, beware!

First, when I began listening to the audiobook, I had difficulties understanding everything. But that’s because the narrator did amazing accents and as a foreigner, it took me some time to get used to it.

But once I was familiar with the various accents and cadence, I was fully immersed.

Second, you follow multiple POV but none is boring! Every character was interesting and very distinctive in her own way!

Ciara will have a steep character growth. Beginning with no memories of her past actions, of her very dark past, she’ll also have room to make a “do over”.  She doesn’t want to be an outcast anymore and deep down, she doesn’t want to kill mundanes. But having to navigate the situation and convince everyone she is Niahme is no picnic!

Ciara is a deeply “morally grey” character and one of my favorites in this sequel. Be aware that some of her past will be progressively revealed and it’s sometimes a mix of gore and sex soooo… very sexual witchery here!

She is also kind of b!tchy, prickly and very powerful! Yet under all these thorns Ciara cares for Theo, for Leonie and even for Elle!

Leonie is still the strong black woman who has decided to found her own coven. For mots of the story, she’ll be chasing the cruel warlock Dabney Hale, trying to find her brother who had set chase to Dabney too. Expect betrayals and twists on that side of the story!

Elle will certainly astonish you! The sweet and straightlaced, unassuming Elle will pull a move no one thought her capable of, least of all herself! She’ll be in a predicament that will poison her for a long time, seeking how to reverse something she has done.

Her move was total bad@ss witch, completely unexpected and she became even more interesting!

Theo has now become a girl physically, finally being her true self.

But living with Ciara while believing she is Niahme, she won’t have it easy either. Always fearing to be abandoned and trying to hone her powers that have mysteriously nearly disappeared. She just wants a family. She wants to belong. And she cherishes her friendship with Holly, Elle’s daughter.

The witches will face many dangers.

Not only is Dabney Halle on the run, more powerful than ever and vying for world domination but they have to appease The Shadow Cabinet, a few select mundanes from the government who want to use the witches as weapons.

Add to it a group of witch hunters determined to drown them all and you have lots of developments and threats in the story, making this absolutely riveting and breathtaking!

It’s packed with action, morally grey characters, gore, humor and sensuality. You’ll have betrayals and unexpected development with a big twist at the end that I never saw coming!

That ending!!!

I need the third book already!

Thanks for reading!

Sophie