Book Review: The Madness Underneath by Maureen Johnson

Title: The Madness Underneath

Author: Maureen Johnson
Series:  Shades of London
Pages:  290
Publisher: HarperCollins Children's Books
Date of Publication: 26th February, 2013
Source: Publisher for review*
Synopsis from Goodreads: When madness stalks the streets of London, no one is safe…

There's a creepy new terror haunting modern-day London.
Fresh from defeating a Jack the Ripper killer, Rory must put her new-found hunting skills to the test before all hell breaks loose…

But enemies are not always who you expect them to be and crazy times call for crazy solutions.

My Thoughts:
(This is a review of a reread, because being the terribly inconsistent blogger that I am, I never actually reviewed this when I read it the first time round. Soz about that.)

So the Shades of London series has been in my favourites ever since I first read the first book, back when it came out. In preparation for reading The Shadow Cabinet, I decided to reread The Madness Underneath, and I am so glad I did. I'd forgotten almost everything that happened, including that bombshell of an ending, and now I am super stoked for book three.

Maureen Johnson has managed to create the perfect blend of contemporary and the paranormal. At the moment, fun contemporaries seem to be my genre of choice (just take a look at my 'Read' shelf on Goodreads), but I still love a good paranormal story sometimes so this book bridged that gap perfectly. I loved the boarding school life contemp bits just as much as I loved the ghost hunting paranormal aspects. There's a little bit of something to suit everyone, for sure!

I love Rory. The novel is so readable with her sarcastic and witty voice shining through. Maureen has captured the voice of the teenager absolutely perfectly. I could empathise with her worries about school, and her frustration with being kept out of the loop with the ghost stuff. I also really enjoyed reading about her thoughts and feelings post-attack: terror and unease, but also the empowerment that comes with surviving such an attack. I'd never really thought about it that way so that was really interesting and inspiring for me as a reader too. *fist pumps*

One thing I hadn't forgotten about the book was the one hundred mile an hour pace that keeps you on your toes throughout the novel, but without ever feeling that things are rushed. Events occur quickly and Maureen keeps the twists coming, making for a very exciting and thrilling adventure. Because of the pace it's difficult to put down and I could quite happily whizz through one hundred pages in an hour. It moved so fast there's no time for stopping!

The book ends on one almighty cliffhanger that makes me so glad that this time around I have The Shadow Cabinet right next to be, ready and waiting to be read. I cannot wait to find out what happens next and if the events at the end of this play out how they are supposed to (I doubt that very much!) and if they don't, where the story will take us next. The Shades of London books are an absolute must read for all YA fans because you are sorely missing out if they've passed you by. I cannot recommend them enough!


*Huge thanks to HarperCollins for sending me this in exchange for an honest review! In no way has this affected my opinion of the novel.