Originally posted on Once Upon a Bookcase.

2.5 Stars.

It's taken me quite a while to read Shadowplay by Laura Lam. I really enjoyed the first book in the Micah Grey trilogy, Pantomime, but I've struggled to find the motivation to read the second book. And now I've read it, I wasn't missing out on too much. Considering how much I loved Pantomime, I'm quite disappointed in Shadowplay.

Micah and Drystan are on the run for the events that happened at the circus. They seek the help of Jasper Maske, a magician and an old friend of Drystan's. Maske can no longer perform magic to an audience due to losing a duel 15 years ago, and agrees to teach the two runaways magic to perform at the Kymri Theatre. Cyan, also an ex-circus performer, is hired as a magician's assistant, despite Drystan and Micah's misgivings and distrust. Discovering that Maske is teaching, his old rival, Taliesin, challenges him to a rematch duel; Maske's students against Taliesin's grandsons, the outcome of which could be disastrous. Meanwhile, the Phantom Damselfly turns out to be more than she seems, and as he tries to figure things out, Micah discovers so might he and Cyan.

Despite being gripped by Shadowplay, really eager to find out what happens, it left so much to be desired. I am a huge fan of magic. In a big way. If there's a magic programme on TV, I'm watching it. I've even been to see Paul Daniels perform live. I love magic! However, Shadowplay's magic was far from magical. I wasn't interested at all, and except for the fact that it gave Drystan and Micah somewhere to live at the theatre, and introduced them to Cyan who is quite important, I was struggling to understand why any of it mattered. The outcome of the duel was predictable, so other than being an environment where Micah gets to grow, in my opinion, there was no reason for all the magic. I was reading along hoping something interesting would happen soon far too often.

And when those interesting things do happen, I ended up with more questions than I had answers. I understand the Damselfly now, but there were no other distinct revelations in this book. We got hints, and clues, and questions, and I'm still none the wiser. I still know very little about Micah's nature, and - although for this story it's linked to what I'm interested in - I'm not talking about Micah being intersex. I'm talking about what happened with the Penglass, and why. What is so special about Micah? (With regards to my comment about Micah being intersex, it might seem dismissive to those who've yet to read Shadowplay, I'd like to just clarify, I'm not being dismissive of his being intersex, it's obviously a very important factor when it comes to how Micah views himself, to his identity. However, there's something that happens in this book in relation to him being intersex that I can't talk about that has me less interested in it than I am in other aspects of the story.) So the fact that we get possibilities about Micah - and Cyan - but nothing concrete, nothing definite, and that even these infuriating hints are so few and far between, I was so frustrated by the time I finished the book.

As for the romance between Drystand and Micah, what romance? I didn't feel it, I didn't believe it. Considering I started this book hoping something would happen between them, I'm so upset that I found it unbelievable, that it did nothing for me; I wasn't wowed, I wasn't hoping for more, I didn't particularly care about their relationship.

The brightest point in this book, other than the Damselfly, which I can't really discuss, is Cyan; she's a little funny and she's quite intriguing, and I found her to be a much more fascinating character than Micah in this book. Yet, saying that, I'm not sure I care about her enough. Too much of this book left me flat and unfeeling.

Considering how most of the story went, I was expecting a great deal from the ending, but it didn't deliver. Shadowplay is very much a middle book, with not much happening. Quite the let down. On the plus side, despite how disappointed I am, I am still intrigued by this world, even if I'm not so infatuated with the characters. So I will read Masquerade, the third book in the trilogy, sometime after it's release in 2016 from Tor - who bought the series after Strange Chemistry closed last year - but I won't be rushing out to get it. Don't get me wrong, I have read far worse books, but with Pantomime being so incredibly good, I can't believe how badly Shadowplay disappointed. It just didn't come close to the story I expected.

Thank you to Strange Chemistry via NetGalley for the eProof.

It was so good! I kind of missed the beautiful back and worth writing Micah's past and present but this book was just as gorgeous. I think I'll need to reread pantomime because I picture Dyrstan as this middle aged guy, but clearly he's not. XD I just love all the characters in this book they are so delicious and I just love love love this book so so so much.

An intriguing and entertaining story. I love how the history of Imachara is parceled out in tantalizing tidbits, and every time you think you get to know a character they change before your eyes. This world is complex and fascinating and dark and I love it. I can't wait to see how it all concludes for Micah and Drystan and Cyan and Jasper Maske.

I did put this one down partway through for quite a while - longer than I'd realized. But when I picked it back up I burned through it in just a few days. I think the problem had been me - I was just in the mood for something else when I started reading it.

(Find the original review and more at Jellyfish Reads.)

I know, I know, I gave the first book five stars, and I only gave this one four, so I'm hearing you ask me: was this book not as good? I'm not sure that's totally true. I think the first book gave me such a heady rush of delight because everything was so new and shiny and oh my god, a bisexual intersex character in a YA fantasy series!!!! Great world-building, intriguing mysteries, etc. etc. And Micah and the world of the Archipelago continue to be awesome in this book, but that's nothing new, so I am judging this book simply on its own merits. Hence it only gets four stars. I love this series from the bottom of my heart, and I am dying for the third book. But this book isn't quite a five-star read on its own, since I found the plot just a little weak.

There are so many things I love about it though! The romance between Drystan and Micah is pitch perfect, developing slowly over this book in a very realistic and heart-melting way, with many touching moments between the two, and many sparks of heat too. That was one of my favourite things about this book. We got Drystan backstory, and he is so complex! I love him. There's more darkness in him than there is in Micah, and I just find that so delicious. I love Drystan to bits (new book boyfriend!) and can't wait to read the first of the Vestigial Tales that Lam is going to publish very soon: The Snake Charm, all about Drystan and how he became the leader of the clowns.

Then there's Cyan. CYAN, cover girl of this book and awesomeness personified. I loved her bright, sharp personality, her easy acceptance of Micah and Drystan, and the way she and Micah get to know each other over the course of this book, finding out that they're more similar than they realised. Her storyline was very intriguing.

Micah just grows so much more comfortable in his own skin in this book. It was wonderful to watch, how he got closer to Cyan and Micah and could enjoy these very real friendships and have their support and trust. It was also nice to see he still kept up correspondence with his brother, Cyril. It's a pity there wasn't more of that, since that was one of my favourite relationships in the first book. But I loved getting to know Micah better too, to learn how he felt about his own identity and his place in the world.

The magic plot, however, wasn't my favourite. I didn't really connect with that, and I didn't feel like the way the plot was resolved was ever in doubt for me. There weren't too many surprises in this book, whereas the last book came to a really heart-stopping and exhilarating climax that I didn't really see coming. I still enjoyed aspects of it – the final performance was pretty cool! – but otherwise the storyline about Micah learning to perform magic and the magician's duel between Jasper Maske and his old rival, Pen Taliesin, just wasn't that captivating.

There was another plot running through the book, concerning the Phantom Damselfly that Micah brought with him from the circus, and Micah learning more about his true nature. This was a bit more interesting, but some of the reveals just lacked the oomph that I was expecting, and I felt like a lot of it was just laying down the groundwork for the next book, so I was a bit frustrated that all these things sort of felt like they hardly led to anywhere within this book. But I'm hoping the next book will solve that problem!

But yeah, where Shadowplay really excels is with its characters: their individual development and the relationships between them. MICAH AND DRYSTAN, seriously!!! So much squee. I can't wait to read more about them in the next book. They are both so wonderful and their romance is just... *swoon* I hope to see more of Cyan too! Sadly it looks like it'll be a while before the third book comes out, but I'm sure the Vestigial Tales will tide me over in the meantime...

More than sun loves moon

An engaging, imaginative continuation of Pantomime, and it even sought to rectify some of the problems I had in the beginning on the first book: Micah's problematic descriptions of who are supposed to be the marginalized people in this world are corrected. An example, Micah is told: "There is an air of mystique to the foreign, mostly born of rumor and ignorance." (Although the narrator only seems to learn this while in brown face, so...) The author also put in a great short scene wherein stalking and liking someone basically as a trophy is not ok or romantic. The word abortion was even mentioned (just notable as so much media dances around the word, although the minor (historical) character does unfortunately die of it).

Shadowplay manages to outshine the wonder that was Pantomime. It's hard to describe without spoilers, but their story is thrilling and touching, and Cyan opens a lot of new perspectives to Micah especially.

The book also begins to touch on themes of colonialism and racism as Micah is faced with the realities of life outside the nobility. This is such an important thing for fiction to acknowledge, and I was overjoyed every time it came up.

I am so, so eager and excited for the next book to come out.