Parts of Shadowplay reminded me of The Prestige, with old style illusionists gripped in an ancient grudge. I loved the atmosphere of the theatre and the images conjured up by their performances. Yes, in the first book Micah/Gene ran away to join the circus and now he’s run away to join a magic show. Though life seems a little easier this time round.

Whilst Micah spent a lot of time in Pantomime worrying what other people thought of him, this is much more about acceptance. More people know his secret and everyone is accepting. It gave me a warm fuzzy feeling about the story, despite there being darker aspects.

Of course, Micah is still in hiding and desperate to stay out of the reach of the Shadow on his tail. But he also wants to learn more about Kedi and what that means about him. I’m starting to identify Micah/Gene as a young man in my head, because I think that’s how he identifies himself, but there are still aspects of Gene sneaking through, especially in the narrative voice.

The unfolding relationship between Micah and Drystan is lovely and chaste and completely believable. I loved the moments when they curled up in bed together.

It’s a worthy follow up to the utterly fantastic Pantomime. It had a lot to live up to, and like many second books, it’s not quite as good as the first, but if you loved the first book, do carry on and read Shadowplay too. Whilst there is a bit more on the Vestige, I think I wanted more magic, something I suspect we’ll see in the future.

Review copy provided by publisher.