like this a little more than the first. I think the books could have been combined and be a longer book. Otherwise, this is a fun middle grade I can see many enjoying.

Comet Rising is the sequel to Shadow Weaver, and it's even better than the first book. In this story, Emmeline and her friends (and her shadows) travel across the kingdom to fight the evil MagicEater who is kidnapping kids with talents. But Lady Aisling has something up her sleeve - she has captured a SkyShaker who is bringing back the comet that grants children with magical powers, a little earlier than planned, to create more children she can feed on. This book felt more quickly paced and with more action than the first. I really liked the exploration of all the different powers kids could have. It reminded me at times of Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children.

Note: I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley. I was not compensated in any other fashion for the review and the opinions reflected below are entirely my own. Special thanks to the publisher and author for providing the copy.

I thought this was a very good continuation to Shadow Weaver! I enjoyed the author's style of writing and I thought she did a wonderful job in the pacing and adding more twists and turns to the story-line. Similar to the first book, I loved Lucas and Emmeline together and thought they had a great friendship. I also like that this second book in the duology ended most of the plots nicely. It was a bit rushed towards the end, but overall, I enjoyed it quite a lot.

This was a perfect sequel! My middle grade godkids really enjoyed this one and so did I! Connolly has a true gift for middle grade books.

While the publisher furnished a complimentary copy of this ebook book in exchange for a review, my thoughts and opinions remain my own. I plan to buy both this book and its prequel Shadow Weaver for my own collection

This is the second book of the Shadow Weaver duo and what a conclusion it was. It still has the darkness that Shadow weaver started but it brings out the person Emmeline really is. I was tied in from the first words, couldn't wait to see what was going to happen to the characters I had come to really like. Their stories begin to weave in with new ones and grow into a new, bigger picture and the landscape grows. I love how Connolly uses the shadows and the light in this book. The cover is simply stunning and I cannot wait to buy both books to put on my shelf.

I love that Comet Rising picks right up from where Shadow Weaver left off. It is a fast-paced thrilling conclusion to the series. As with the first one in the series, I feel like Emmeline and Lucas jump off the page and feel very well rounded. The danger in the book feels real—there are real stakes—and I found myself on the edge of my seat many times. I also liked seeing more of the various powers that the comet brings out. I am always fascinated by the villians in the story, so I really liked Dar’s arc, as well as learning more about Lady Aisling. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who likes fantasy.

This book picks up a few months after the events of the first book. Such as exciting as the first, this is a wonderful fantasy for middle grades. It's a bit dark in places.
Highly recommend this series!
I received an E-ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

We read Shadow Weaver last year and really enjoyed it, so we were excited to get into the sequel, Comet Rising. Even though I requested this from NetGalley and was approved, we also bought a copy for our home library.

The second book starts right where the first left off. Emmeline is living with Lucas and his parents. Everyone seems to be safe from evil Lady Aisling for the time being. Dar (Emmeline’s former shadow and best friend) is safely locked away in a cage and everything seems to be settled down, until Dar tries to convince Emmeline to release her from her cage. Dar knows something dangerous is coming and wants to keep everyone safe, but Emmeline and Lucas still don’t trust her, and they think she’s lying. That evening, they notice something in the sky and believe it to be the Cerelia Comet-the sole reason for their magical powers.

"Something brilliant sails across the night sky–pure white light, almost like one of Lucas’s orbs, with a long tail that sparkles like stardust trailing after it. As it passes over, tiny specks of light fall to the earth, dusting the ocean and the forest far beyond."

The comet wasn’t supposed to return for twenty-five years and they know it has something to do with Lady Aisling. What is she up to now? Somehow Lady Aisling has a sky shaker involved which holds the potential to disrupt the entire universe, and it’s going to be up to Emmeline and Lucas to get to the bottom of it. They’re going to have to protect the other children with magic abilities from being taken by Lady Aisling. Will they finally defeat her once and for all? Will Dar finally be able to gain back Emmeline’s trust?

We enjoyed this sequel to Shadow Weaver. The plot is interesting and the author does an excellent job adding in just enough detail to keep you wanting more. The characters are written well and we loved all the teamwork between Lucas and Emmeline–they always have each other’s back. We thought this book was a little darker than the first which was totally fine. I liked the way the ending was wrapped up. I’m all for happy endings, even though it was a little abrupt and too good to be true, although I’m sure children will overlook that anyway. It was just nice to finally get an idea of how Lady Aisling’s magic worked and to discover what her plan was. The epilogue was perfect and I appreciated that there was some closure with Emmeline’s parents.

We enjoyed both books and wish there could be a third. Just look at the these beautiful, stunning covers! The cover for Shadow Weaver is what originally pulled us in. Overall, this is a wonderful middle-grade duology. If you like middle-grade fantasy, give these a try. We’re looking forward to reading more by this author.

4****

Comet Rising is the stunning sequel to one of the fiercest middle grade fantasy novels today. It has all the charm and grandeur readers experienced in Shadow Weaver, and then some. The story follows Emmeline, a girl who can control shadows and thrives in the night, and her best friend Lucas who controls the sunlight, on their journey to find other children who are Comet-blessed in the hopes of rescuing Lucas’s parents who have been taken by the evil Lady Aisling and who could hopefully put a stop to her evil doings. Lady Aisling poses a huge threat to all who are Comet-blessed. She abducts them and turns them into flowers and plants them in her garden to use and abuse their abilities for her own power-hungry agenda. The more Lady Aisling uses a Comet-blessed child’s power, that child will eventually die. The two friends have an even bigger problem on their hands when Dar, Emmeline’s malicious shadow who is now detached from her, has escaped and is causing chaos and destruction during her own quest for revenge against her sister, who is none other than Lady Aisling herself!

With whispers of the adventure readers experienced in The Chronicles of Narnia and the friendship that we felt from reading the Harry Potter series, MarcyKate Connolly weaves a truly remarkable tale that not only touches the hearts of a younger audience but expands to people of all ages.

I really enjoyed Shadow Weaver, the first book in this duology, and was excited to be back with Emmaline and Lucas! I liked finding out what happened to Emmaline and Lucas after they put Dar, previously Emmaline's shadow, in a cage made with their light and shadow magic. I also wanted to find out how they were going to defeat Lady Aisling. Overall I enjoyed this book and thought that the action started right at the beginning and kept me enthralled until the end!

Emmeline is a much stronger character in this book. She has grown a lot and understands more about herself and others with talent. She still has a bit of a weak spot when it comes to Dar, but I understood why. She is helpful to the other kids she meets with special abilities and is willing to help them learn how to use their gifts to the best of their abilities. She carries a lot of guilt though for some of her acts in the first book, but she comes to accept that she can’t change things, but she can make amends. I love the special friendship she has with Lucas and was glad to see them still together in this book. Their journey together is a good one.

Dar is an interesting character, and one you never quite trust. I really think she wanted to help Emmaline and Lucas, but just went about it wrongly. But when they do start to trust her a bit, she comes around and really helps them out. Her shape-shifting is a amazing at times too.

We meet some new kids in this book with some very interesting abilities. There is also talk about some other abilities which would make for some interesting stories. There is one friend with no abilities that is worth mentioning, Cary. She is slightly older than Emmeline, but she is fierce in her determination to destroy Lady Aisling and get her brother and parents back. She is a strong ally and a pretty good strategist, but not always the coolest head in the group.

We see a lot more of Lady Aisling in this book, and she is a pretty evil villain. She is even willing to destroy the world as long as she is the most powerful being in the end. I really hate the way she manipulates the parents into giving up their kids and what she does with them gives me the shivers. How the kids end up dealing her was smart even though I wasn’t sure it was going to work.

Overall a very solid ending to this story. I really like the world that the author has created here. I hope to see more stories from this world.

Emmeline and Lucas are back, and this time they’re on the run from Lady Aisling herself. Comet Rising sets quite the pace compared to its predecessor, Shadow Weaver, and it also sets a different tone. Now, instead of only trying to hide out from her parents and the soldiers coming for her, Emmeline sets out with her friend Lucas to rally help from other talented children in order to defeat Lady Aisling once and for all.

I quite liked this sequel; I usually do not favor a sequel over the first in a series. Comet Rising went above and beyond Shadow Weaver in many ways. We have more characters, more settings, a bigger-more action-packed quest, and a deeper exploration of who Emmeline is, who her friend Dar was before she met Emmeline, and more of a range of talents from our comet-blessed characters. This one is a definite read for younger (and older) fans of fantasy.

Just like with the first book, I loved the magic system, and we got a closer look at it this time. We got to see a lot of new talents and meet a lot of great new characters. The action pulls you through the book and you won’t want to put it down until its finished.

Comet Rising comes out in early 2019, so be sure to check it out. It’s a fantastic Middle Grade adventure!

Interest Level: 3-6

What would you do if you thought you were safe from the enemy that tried to kidnap you, only to find out that she was a lot closer than you thought and your safety is in danger? Emmeline is now staying with Lucas and his parents since she has run away from home. All seems safe right now, especially since they are hidden from Lady Aisling, the evil woman who kidnaps children for their talents. Emmeline is a shadow weaver and Lucas is a light singer. Lady Aisling wants their talents very bad. The other good thing they have going for them is that Emmeline's once shadow, now human "friend" Dar is locked in an escape-proof cage in the attic. Despite her endless tricks and mind games to get away, she is safely tucked away so that she can not cause anyone harm. Everything seems fine until one night the comet that gives these magical abilities shoots across the sky twelve years too early. They know this is the evil workings of Lady Aisling to gain more talents. The problem is, when the comet gets off course it will affect all of the celestial beings to change course, and that is not good. They know they need to defeat Lady Aisling so they go in search of other children with talents to help go into battle with them, only to find that Lady Aisling has taken each one before they can get to them. In the meantime, Dar has escaped. Will she use her powers for good or evil? Will Emmeline and Lucas be able to battle and defeat Lady Aisling by themselves? Will they be able to find the sky shaker and set things right before the sun, moon, and stars collide? Or will Lady Aisling get to them first and have all of the talents for herself? Do not miss this exciting, action-packed finale in the Shadow Weaver series.

Connolly’s first novel, Shadow Weaver, was one of my favorites last year, so I was eager to read the conclusion to Emmeline’s and Dar’s story. Comet Rising picks up where Shadow Weaver left off - with Dar flesh, but captured by Emmeline and Lucas. Our two heroes are holed up with Lucas’ parents, hoping to evade the magic-eater Lady Aisling.

Within the first couple of chapters, their world is turned upside-down and Emmeline & Lucas find themselves on their own. Being determined & talented children, they set off to infiltarte Lady Aisling’s palace, free the talented people she has imprisoned, and end her reign of terror. Along the way, they acquire a few new friends, narrowly escape Lady Aisling’s guards, and eventually make it to their target.

Connolly demonstrated her writing chops with Shadow Weaver and continues to show us she can write a ripping good tale here. The characters here are well-rounded, the plot constantly driven forward by interetsing action, and the ending very satisfying. Middle grade fantasy readers will eat this up.