Maureen Johnson’s The Shadow Cabinet Is a Thrilling Ghost Explosion
If you were to ask what the Eleusinian Mysteries of ancient Greece and a Louisiana haunted house have in common, the only possible answer is Maureen Johnson. I know it’s not much of a punch line, but Johnson has managed to pen a heckuva series out of that kind of juxtaposition. The Shadow Cabinet, the third installment of Johnson’s Shades of London series, ups the ante in its storytelling and for its teenage protagonist, Rory. Picking up right where The Madness Underneath left off, we find that life for Rory and the Shades is in complete disarray, because of that gaping life-and-death cliffhanger.
As the ghost-policing squad tries to deal with the ramifications of death, ghosts, and abductions, Rory also must come to grips with her feelings for the Fred of this little Scooby gang, Stephen. Things get a little bit messy, particularly when Rory’s world of ghosties collides with the cast of her boarding school past. There are so many reasons to pick up The Shadow Cabinet immediately, not least of which is the epic amount of Greek mythology, but here are a few. Just don’t read the book too quickly; you’ve got a long wait for the fourth installment. (Beware: very light spoilers for books 1 and 2 ahead.)
Lovable, Flawed Characters
What’s wonderful about the Shades of London series is that it always seems to be up to one young Southerner to save London. Rory’s no superhero. She’s a headstrong and confused young woman, who can at times be an American bull in a British china shop. But she’s smart, capable, and handy in a pinch. Oh, and there’s that whole new drop-a-ghost-in-its-tracks-with-one-touch ability. Her love interests aren’t beefcakes—her last boyfriend was an asthmatic prefect; the last boy she kissed is a professorial police officer. These are relatable peeps.
Pagan Rituals
So many rites to perform, so little time! The book opens up in flashback mode with a slew of characters you don’t know yet, and one you do: Jane Quaint, here much younger. The gathering’s purpose is to perform the Eleusinian Mysteries, the ancient ritual performed by the cult of Demeter and Persephone. The idea is to open the floodgates to the afterlife, to defeat death, to be forever young. As you might expect, things don’t go as planned. So there’s another crack at the whole affair, and Rory, in her Terminus mode, may be the key to unlocking what went wrong.
Sibling Psychopaths
What’s truly important about that initial flashback is the introduction of two new characters: Sid and Sadie, brother-and-sister antagonists who are both delightfully foppish and satisfyingly sinister. They are out of this world, both figuratively and literally, in their quest to complete the Rites of Demeter. And watching them ethereally coo one moment and venomously strike the next is both disconcerting and amazing.
Rampant Truancy
Not a lot of school going on for Rory, our favorite little delinquent, which means there’s ample time to discover new life lessons like: don’t hang out with shady characters in graveyards.
World-Building
All that time out of class means Johnson spends most of her pages exploring the world of the Shades and the myths of the eponymous Shadow Cabinet (not the government one, but the supernatural order-keepers). Readers get answers, and, of course, thousands more questions about what exactly keeps London, overrun with guests from beyond, running.
Redheads
Forget that supposed endangerment of natural redheads. They’re all being kept safe here in London, or mostly safe at least. It’s not like this is a pleasure cruise or anything.