After reading the first book, Shadow House: The Gathering, I moved straight onto the second book without a moment’s hesitation. I HAD to find out what was next in store for our five main characters and I couldn’t wait to see what else the Shadow House had in store for them…

Poppy, Marcus, Dash, Dylan, and Azumi are all trapped within Shadow House, a sinister estate where past and present intertwine. As they fight to find a way out, the kids think the ghosts of the house are the greatest danger they face. Little do the kids know it’s the secrets they’re each hiding that will prove even more lethal.

They’re going to have to come face to face with their fears if they stand any hope of escaping the house alive. Is there anyone or anything in the house they can trust? Or is all hope disappearing, too…

Throughout the second book in this haunting trilogy, Poppy, Marcus, Dash, Dylan and Azumi are still trapped inside of the Shadow House and can’t seem to find a way out. They do find a way out of the house in the end, but it just means that they’re trapped on the house’s grounds instead (which is the premise for the third and final book in this trilogy).

What I absolutely love about these books is that you can be a child, teenager, young adult or adult and still enjoy this series. It has twists and turns that will keep you on the edge of your seat, it has a lot of character depth and secrets, and also has just the right amount of horror to scare all age groups (but is not TOO scary for the younger ones!) During You Can’t Hide, the house lures the children deeper and deeper into the heart of itself and forces them to confront their fears and each other. A lot of the characters’ personal secrets are revealed, and I didn’t see half of them coming. Even though the book is a middle-grade novel and it’s written to entertain the middle-grade audience, I didn’t think that the writing was overly simplistic. Poblocki has such a brilliant way of making the story accessible to all age ranges.

This book didn’t suffer from second-book-syndrome AT ALL! It was just as good as the first book and the pictures that accompanied the book were awesome and terrifying!  There were some new creepy ghosts that make an appearance in the sequel, there are even more twists and turns, and then we also see new parts of the house and ZOMBIES! Don’t worry, you zombie-haters, they aren’t a massive part of the book! They’re just something else to add to the terror of the house. AND WELL… THE GARDEN IS SOMETHING ELSE ENTIRELY. I really do feel sorry for these poor kids. They just wanted to go to someplace that would accept them, not KILL them!

I need the third book in my life. I’m so sad that I don’t actually own it, because if I did, then I would start reading it straight away. Wait, a second…

I think I hear my Amazon Prime calling to me…

What’s that? The third book is only £6?

Looks like I’m buying the third book, receiving it tomorrow and then going on to start and finish it tomorrow!