A glorious sequel! Be warned... This book will leave you reeling and desperate for the third . Thomas crafts a devastating and delightful story with a rollercoaster of emotions and impressive world building.

The sequel to the excellent Threadneedle where life gets very dark in school as well as at home. Anna, Effie, Rowan, Manda and Attis have to work together to protect their Coven whilst solving and removing the curse that hangs over all of them. Even more is at stake as witch hunts abound in London and beyond with neighbouring as well as warring Covens having to unite to try and uncover the truth and to restore magic to its natural place. My thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley. This review was written voluntarily and is entirely my own unbiased opinion.

This book is the second in a series, and dives in where Threadneedle ends - Anna has survived an attempt to suppress her magic but is still haunted by her Aunt’s death and is living under the shadow of the curse that has followed their family for generations. As if that wasn’t enough to be dealing with, bouts of magical hysteria are ripping through London and even Anna’s school, and a shadowy organisation determined to uncover and stamp out witchcraft is gaining credibility and power. Anna and her sister Effie’s exploration of the curse takes them back to the witch trials of the 17th Century which was interesting, and I really liked how those echoes ominously point to the current situation the girls and their coven are facing - their curse fates history to repeat for the sisters but it looks like a broader, more terrifying history is also set to repeat itself in the growing power of the Hunters. I felt the world building was fantastic, as it was in the first book. There are strong fantasy elements set in current-day London, and I was easily swept along with descriptions of the different types of magic there were and how it all worked. I also thought the characterisation was excellent. Effie, Anna’s sister is a particularly complex character. We delve into her motivations and her fears sat behind her bravado more in this book, but her manipulations, lies and tendency to smash into action despite the consequences are so frustrating! I’m really interested to see how the sibling relationship evolves in the last book as it’s still so fraught - which is part of their curse. My only slight criticism is the pacing - I felt this story did linger for potentially too long while Anna and her coven worked out that the bouts of hysteria ripping through London were magic, were related and then what felt like a significant amount of time was spent deciding what they’d do about them. As soon as this decision was made, the pace ramped right back up to a huge cliffhanger ending! Although not strictly that historical (which is my usual thing) this was a brilliant book that centres found families, forbidden love and dark witchcraft. If you haven’t checked out the series yet I’d heartily recommend it!

I loved the previous book “Threadneedle” and hoped this would be as interesting. However, I found it somewhat tedious, I feel it would have benefited from being shorter and more succinct. I did struggle to the end but will not be reading any further sequels to the original.

While I ultimately chose not to finish Shadowstitch (stopping at around the 30% mark), I truly appreciated the chance to revisit the richly imagined world Cari Thomas has created. I previously listened to Threadneedle and was intrigued by its unique magical system and atmospheric storytelling—so much so that the ending left me curious to see what came next. That said, I found Shadowstitch a bit slow to get going, and I struggled with the pacing in the early chapters. At 30%, I realized I wasn't quite ready to commit to another 18 hours of listening, as I felt the plot hadn’t yet gained momentum. Fans who enjoy immersive, slow-burn fantasy may find this installment rewarding, but it just wasn’t the right fit for me at this time.