Shadowstitch by Cari Thomas

Book Review

Matthew Johns

The second book in a series always has a certain amount of pressure and expectations associated with it, particularly when the first has been a Sunday Times bestseller. It has to be said though, that Cari Thomas manages to maintain the momentum built up in Threadneedle with this sequel, meeting and possibly exceeding those expectations.

Yet another meaty tome numbering in excess of 650 pages, this captures the reader from the outset and throws them back into Thomas’ magical world that lives alongside our own. In the first novel, Anna and Effie discovered that they were sisters, separated to try to prevent a terrible curse from destroying them both. In Shadowstitch, they are still getting to know each other as sisters – testing boundaries and learning how to be sisters.

The quieter, more scholarly, and timid Anna is excited to finally be part of a family even if her sister scares her at times with her impulsiveness and lack of heed for rules or authority.

As London is rocked by a series of unusual events – the ravens at the Tower of London all flying in a tight spiral above the Tower until they all die from exhaustion, people being taken over by a strange hysteria causing some deaths and more. Rumours begin that these were caused by witchcraft, and the Witchcraft Inquisitorial and Prevention Service (or WIPS as they are also known) fans the flames for this rumour. WIPS starts to gain power within the government, and before long there, is an inquisitor posted at the girls’ school, with prefects reporting to him.

Anna, Effie and their friends continue to meet at the school as a coven despite the risk associated with it, and find that other magical forces are at work within their school. They must figure out who is working against them, deal with the Mean Girls style inter-pupil politics, cope with the fact they are both in love with the same man, investigate the death of their mother and try to find out what is going on under the surface of the magical world. What happened to The Seven (the guardian witches of their magical world)? Are the legendary Hunters really trying to capture and kill witches again?

It is difficult not to see echoes of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix here – in the way that WIPS take over the school and the prefects gain extra power, as well as in the way that the adults refuse to share details of what’s going on with Anna and her friends. However, it is unfair to compare the two books as this stands on its own feet.

Thomas’ writing is very engaging – the magical underworld that she creates within our own is fascinating and very detailed. She adds yet more meat to the bones that she crafted in the first book. The dynamic between the sisters is also well depicted in the way they argue and bicker at times, and how Anna is always the peacemaker to her more adventurous and fiery sister.

All in all, a great book and well worth the time invested in reading it – hard to put down and with a compelling narrative. I can’t wait to see what happens in book 3!