Whereas other second books may slow down, SHADOWPLAY by L.R. Lam does the opposite and intensifies the plot in the next instalment of the Micah Grey trilogy.

In Shadowplay, Micah transitions from one stage to another in multiple ways. From circus artist to magician is the most obvious one, but there's more ways, pertaining to his identity and relation to others. I won't say too much in order to avoid spoilers, but I did really love seeing Micah spread his wings.

This second book is a bit slower than Pantomime, but it does absolutely not suffer from middle book syndrome. Book 1 had a dual timeline that book 2 doesn't have, which means there's more time for things to develop in the primary timeline, and that makes it a bit slower. We also get introduced to new characters and the extra time that is given for the relationships to develop is crucial.

One thing that had me very intrigued is the magic system and the background of it. This book clears a lot of things up but also poses more questions, that set us up for a potentially very explosive finale.

Having read the ARC of the first book in May, I was very happy that the author included a little recap of Pantomime. It refreshed my memory and made the reading experience more smooth and pleasant.

Thanks to the publisher for the e-ARC!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy.

Shadowplay is the sequel to Pantomime, and it starts basically right where Pantomime ended. I love this edition because Lam includes a brief overview of what happened in Pantomime, which was helpful since I read Pantomime in May of this year. It refreshed my memory and I loved it.

As for the story itself, YES I LOVE IT. I love Micah, Drystan, Cyan, and Maske. I read the 2014 version of Shadowplay back in 2021, so I forgot a lot of what happened. Reading this new, revised edition was phenomenal and I’m SOOOO intrigued to see how this story will end (I never read Masquerade, so it’ll be new for me!).

Micah is such an amazing character and I really love him. If I had read this series when I was figuring out my gender, there is no doubt in my mind that I would’ve named myself Micah. Truly love him AND the name <3

There is not as much happening in some ways as Pantomime (because what else can you do when you've already run off and joined the circus) but we get so much more magic and background and mystery. And, gosh, I just love Drystan so much.

Shadowplay has so much vulnerability from literally everyone and this gorgeous concept of identity and finding your place and space in the world. There is also more found and built family. But also fought for family, which is a different kind of magic in this world.

I didn't trust all of the new characters, and some I was very mistaken about. Others I was right about and my comments about this were smug.

My only, only, ONLY complaint was the end. Not because of anything wrong, but because it happened.
Thankfully the excerpt from Masquerade soothed my uncontrollable shrieking.

Thank you, NetGalley and the author for letting me read this.

This book was so much better than the first one. There was more action in this one. I can't wait to see what happens to Micah and Drystan in book three. This was everything that I wanted in a second book. I really enjoyed it. Again, thank you.