7.5/10.

The pros: Shadowplay is a book filled with magic and a world that's being built more and more with very interesting lore and mythological inspiration. This was a really great continuation of this trilogy! I enjoyed following Micah's journey from the circus to the magic show, and I really loved the new characters of Maske and Cyan. The world is so fascinating, I love the chimaera elements which are quite Daughter of Smoke and Bone-esque, which is one of my all time favourite series, so that pleased me. Some aspects of the backstory involving this are a little confusing but I'm hoping the third book will answer questions that I have. I liked how in this book, along with gender and sexuality, the characters also begin to deal more with the ideas of racism and class division, with the main character starting to understand the privilege he grew up with and being confronted more with that. I feel like the political parts of the series are definitely getting more prominent.

The cons: The only issue I have is that unless I read it wrong, Drystan is 6 years older than Micah who is 16-17? That makes their relationship a bit uhh, questionable. I love what they have but an adult with someone who is definitely not an adult yet is a bit creepy regardless of how well they get along.

The conclusion: This trilogy is so unique and has representation I've never read before (intersex bisexual main character). I definitely recommend it!