“The Girl with the Whispering Shadow” by D.E. Night 

First off, I’d like to say thank you to ‘Stories Untold Press’ for offering me a copy of ‘The Girl with the Whispering Shadow’ to review through NetGalley! 

Synopsis:

Even a secret town cannot protect Ivy from a mysterious darkness…

Only hours after Ivy Lovely discovers that she is the fulfillment of the Moonsday promise, she is whisked away from her beloved school to Belzebuthe, a secret town for only those with magical blood.

Ivy sets out on a mission to uncover the second facet of the Kindred Stone while eluding the Dark Queen’s wrath. But even when she’s supposed to be safe, something is shadowing Ivy. She will need all her natural-born magic and more as she battles to find the rest of the Kindred Stone and return to the Halls of Ivy.

Before it’s too late… 

My Review:

Thank you again to the publishers for sharing the second book with me, because it didn’t disappoint! I enjoyed this story just as much as the first book.

I still had a distinct impression of Jessica Townsend’s Nevermoor, and the whole series so far has been very readable, with new dramas around every turn of the page.

In this second book we join Ivy Lovely after the events of the first book. Ivy travels to The Town, a place unmentionable for fear of being discovered by the Dark Queen. She’s on the hunt for the other two pieces of the Kindred Stone, but this is only part of the plot of the book. From the prologue you get the impression that something else nefarious is going on, and you get hints of this throughout the book. I felt there were two plotlines going on at the same time, and they connect together at the end of the book.

I truly enjoy the unique world building. We had more of it in the second book, with the game Quogo and other fantastical creatures, which were introduced to us through the learning at the school and at The Town.

The story was easy to follow, just as the first book, and I did find myself wondering what was next on more than one occasion, which was a surefire way to keep me on my toes. Wondering what was next kept me reading, and I would say that although I guessed Ivy would discover the answers to the shadow plot, there was still a lot happening that I didn’t guess, so that was a big tick for me.

I still enjoyed the character of Ivy. I feel she’s – quite rightly – becoming more confident as the stories go on. I missed Rebecca a bit in the story, as she has quickly become one of my favourite characters in the series. I like Fyn, but there were a few times I was considering his appearance at certain plot scenarios as a definite device intended to bring both Ivy and Fyn together, with the lead up to potential romance at a later date/book. Now he has graduated, I do wonder who will fill that plot device gap or whether the author will bring Fyn in, in some way.

Overall, I enjoyed the book a lot. I give it 4 stars out of 5.