The Madness Underneath: Shades of London #2

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My preferred cover

Johnson, M. (2013). The madness underneath: the shades of London, book two. NY: G.P. Putnam & Sons.

YA Lit / Fantasy / Paranormal / Mystery
Expected publication 2/26/13 -- Thank you, NetGalley & G.P. Putnam for the ARC!

QuickNEasy, 354 pages, ages 13+
I gave this book 4 of 5 stars on Goodreads.

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ARRGH! I literally thought pages were missing at the end of my book. How could it end like that??? Again, a whammy eReading it since I never saw how many pages I had left.

Even though I hadn't read the first book in the Shades of London series, this one caught-up the reader well enough it wasn't needed to understand book 2, The Madness Underneath. (though book one, The Name of the Star, sounds good and I will probably read it now). 

I really like Rory, the spunky main character and how she deals with all that's thrown her way. The additional characters are fleshed-out enough that they are familiar, but also intentionally vague because even Rory doesn't know them too well.  An added bonus -- and I'm not generally a history lover -- was some background on London.  Places that old have so many interesting tales to tell.

The author, Maureen Johnson,, does a good job of building unease where there should be unease and throwing curve balls when they are least expected. (for example, on the last 3 pages of the book. Did I say ARRRGH yet??)There definitely will be a third book, and Johnson has allowed herself a way to go in an entirely different direction. (I'm thinking of some elements of Pushing Daisies, here.)

Not sure how Rory's practical life issues will be believably resolved, given her age, but we'll see! I will be waiting to find out.

On my Clean-O-Meter, have to give this a 8 out of 10.  There is no vulgar language, there is no sex, but there is a bit of kissing and borderline petting and references to make-out sessions. VERY mild. Much of the violence is in reference to the first book and the events of the Jack-the-Ripper copycat, but there are also a few violent moments in this book. Again, nothing overly graphic, but it's there.