My Rating ~ Four Stars

RELEASE DATE: 23 January 2019

Format: Ebook

Pages: 384

Publisher: Stories Untold

Blurb

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…

Review

Thank you so much to Stories Untold for providing me with a copy of The Girl With the Whispering Shadow, in exchange for an honest review!

Please note The Girl With the Whispering Shadow is book 2 in the Crowns of Croswald series, so there may be spoilers for book 1, The Crowns of Croswald in my review

The Girl with the Whispering Shadow

After the events of the Ball at the end of book 1, Ivy finds herself on the hunt for an address she was told to go to, but not how to get there. Once she arrives, she meets a group of friends who introduce her to a new game that could up her magical skills. It’s not all fun though, because Ivy is pursuing the pieces of a magical stone she needs to keep from the Dark Queen, and something shadowy seems to be stalking Ivy in return.

I must admit I did have trouble remembering the exact events and character names from the first book, as I read it so long ago! So, I was playing catch up for a while as the story just barreled on, with no real memory joggers in the first chapters. Once I got my head around the characters again, the story proceeded in the same whimsical, magical way of the first book. I know I mentioned in my review of the first book that these books have a very Harry Potter feel to them and that is still the case. There are SO many similarities, but that doesn’t mean I’m not recommending them, that means I’m saying ‘if you loved Harry Potter and are looking for something similar, this will fit the bill’. The characters are a lot of fun and I love the magical feel of the whole setting.

I felt like this book was a little faster paced than the first one, there were several little mysteries going on, that intertwined at the end. I really enjoyed the new creatures we were introduced to this time too! The friendships were a wonderful theme in this installment of the story and having the characters spend time out of the Halls, and in the town of Belzebuhe, kept the setting from going stale.

Overall I’d recommend picking this magical series up and I’m looking forward to reading the next book!