Queen of the Night

This Is Shyness #2

by Leanne Hall

In the sequel to the Text Prize-winning This Is Shyness, the dark is dangerous. So are your dreams. For six months Nia has tried to forget Wolfboy, the mysterious boy she met in Shyness. Then he calls, and the things he tells her draw her back to the strange suburb of Shyness, where Nia decides to become Wildgirl once more.

Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy, Romance, Magical Realism, Dystopia, Fiction, Urban Fantasy

296 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 27, 2012

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Leanne Hall is an author of young adult and children’s fiction. Her debut novel, This Is Shyness, won the Text Prize for Children’s and Young Adult Writing, and was followed by a sequel, Queen of the Night. Her novel for younger readers, Iris and the Tiger, won the Patricia Wrightson Prize for Children’s Literature at the 2017 NSW Premier’s Literary Awards. Leanne works as a children’s and YA specialist at an independent bookshop.

Reviews

[Reynje · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everything on the street is still. No wind, no sound. It's as if the earth itself has stopped breathing.

*Long, wistful sigh*

If entering the world of This Is Shyness was like wandering into a darkened hall of mirrors, returning to it in Queen of the Night is like sliding from wakefulness back into a welcome dream. Hall continues to gently twist the seam between fantasy and reality, creating an alternate version of Melbourne that is shaded with the fanciful and strange, the curious and bizarre. But the perpetual night hanging over Shyness feels familiar this time, and crossing Grey Street into the darkness is more like a homecoming than a tumble down the rabbit hole.

Until I began reading Queen of Night, I don’t think I had realised just how much I had missed this world and the characters, Wolfboy and Wildgirl. We reconnect with them six months after the events of This is Shyness, and whereas the first book had a larger focus on their shared quest through Shyness, the second book takes a slower, more subtle approach, examining the delicate web of the characters’ relationships and the ties that bind them to Shyness. It’s a quieter book, in a manner of speaking, but perhaps deeper than the first – delving into the nature of dreams, hope, and cause versus effect. After finishing This is Shyness I was inclined to think it an excellent standalone, but Queen of the Night proves there was (and is) much more to be explored in Shyness.

Leanne Hall’s writing is incredibly beautiful. For me, it’s just the right blend of lyrical and local, the striking imagery tempered with the distinctly Australian voices. Wolfboy and Wildgirl’s narratives are clearly defined, and as much - if not more - is conveyed in their manner of speaking and actions than their respective dialogue. Wolfboy’s burdened heart and tentative advances, and Wildgirl’s impetuousness and courage make for a compelling dynamic between them, and I loved the way Hall developed their relationship, allowing her characters to make mistakes and grow.

Also: Wolfboy, I want to climb into your lap and stroke your cheek. Just sayin’. *blushes*

While Queen of the Night further tears back the layers of this world and reveals more about the darkness, Shyness and Dr Gregory, I appreciated that it still does not give away all the answers. Hall leaves space for the imagination, for speculation and questions. Allusions are made and hints are given, but there are no explicit answers and the book doesn’t talk down to the reader by spelling everything out. The unexpected still lurks around corners, from a blindingly bright underground club to a deserted velodrome, the mysterious Datura Institute and pale flowers growing in teacups on street corners. And despite how much “curiouser and curiouser” Shyness becomes, it feels organic and unforced.

As mentioned above, the pacing and structure of Queen of Night is somewhat different to This is Shyness, but the plot feels more nuanced here. The secondary characters play a larger role this time, and ideas about the nature of both literal and metaphorical darkness, and the role of dreams as a conduit for emotion, are explored.

It’s hard to pin down exactly what it is about these books that I love so much. The writing, definitely. The imagination, of course. But in Queen of the Night I was particularly struck by the tender way the various relationships in the book are portrayed. The characters are flawed, vulnerable, but the connections are palpable. The final scene in which Ortolan and Diana appear perfectly articulates this, the way so much love and understanding can be communicated in the description of a simple action.

If Beatle Meets Destiny was a flirty love note to Melbourne, then Queen of Night is a kiss blown to this eclectic, secretive city, and a gentle acknowledgement of the hidden worlds it holds within.

* * * * *

This pretty is up next.

Yes, I colour coordinated:

[Maggie · Rating 5 out of 5]

PSA: The paperback is $2.14 on Amazon as of Dec 1, 2016. What are you waiting for? GET IT.

Almost immediately after finishing the first book and leaving Shyness, I found myself thinking, "We have to go back!" This Is Shyness (and okay, Wolfboy) pulled me into its trance with its strange, enchanting lullaby and I awoke from the dreamy, all night adventure with a contented smile. When you have a night that special, that magical, it's safer to keep it encased in your memory. There, it's protected and lives forever. But would you rather have one perfect night with Wolfboy or risk shattering that memory for another chance to see him? Me, I'd take that risk every single time and I'm so glad Leanne Hall did as well with Queen of the Night.

Queen of the Night picks up 6 months after Nia left Jethro a note with her number -- 6 months where they haven't seen or spoken to each other. Why am I calling them by their given names instead of the names they gave themselves? Like Jethro says,

"I look at Nia. I can't think of her as Wildgirl now that she's in front of me. That name belongs to that first night."

I love this. It simultaneously acknowledges what was, what isn't now, and what can be. Hopefully. There is a lot of hope and longing in this book, and it isn't just Nia and Jethro's. It's also Paul's, Wolfboy's friend and Wildgirl's dance partner from Shyness. Nia may have left Wildgirl behind with Wolfboy, but she took Wildgirl's take-no-prisoners attitude with her. After 6 months of radio silence from Wolfboy, she says,

"I thought I'd have to wait until I finished school and moved out to change my life, but then I decided to start changing it immediately. [...] I'm sick of being patient, so here's my new theory: boys can go to hell. I'm going to focus on my schoolwork and get the best grades possible. I don't need anyone or anything to interfere with that."

See, girls? This is how you deal with rejection, not with blank pages in your life. Jethro has also recalibrated his life without Nia. However, that doesn't stop him from remembering Wildgirl's advice and reconnecting with Ortolan and his niece, Diana. It also doesn't mean that he's stopped thinking about Wildgirl.

"It seems to be getting more difficult to forget Wildgirl the more time passes by. That's the opposite of what's supposed to happen."

In contrast to Nia and Jethro's mutual longing, you have Paul. Paul broke up with his girlfriend months ago, but unlike Nia and Jethro, he refuses to even try to move on. Also unlike Nia and Jethro, Paul's girlfriend has directly and knowingly rejected him. Unable to accept reality, Paul seeks assistance from the ever present shadier elements of Shyness. Paul retreats further and further into another type of darkness and away from himself. When the story starts, Paul is beyond Jethro's help and thus Jethro finds himself calling once more for Nia -- and actually hitting send after dialing the numbers.

I absolutely loved this book. Whereas Shyness skewed more toward the fantastic, Queen of the Night is an equal blend of reality and dream, hope and disappointment, light and night. It doesn't try to recapture the lulling enchantment that was so special about Shyness, but rather walks you back hand-in-hand while fully conscious. And reality? It can be just as magical and unforgettable as a dream.

This review appears on Young Adult Anonymous. And yes, I was wearing my YAA BFF Long Blinks bracelet while writing it. :)

[Keertana · Rating 5 out of 5]

If This is Shyness was a portal into an unbelievable dream-world, Queen of the Night is the tender few moments suspended between that dream and reality. When I first read This is Shyness a few months back, I was exhilarated beyond belief at the remarkably original tale Hall had managed to create, yet, I never felt as if anything was missing. With Queen of the Night, however, Leanne Hall enables us to see just how much more there is to the unique world she imagined. While we are thrown, once again, into the world of Shyness, its mysteries, and the enigmatic lives of Wolfboy and Wildgirl, we are also given, for once, a much more slower, brooding, and thought-provoking experience than we ever had before.

It has been six months and thirteen days since Nia last saw Jethro in Shyness and not a day has gone by without her thinking of him. Jethro, however, has not called Nia in the long months they’ve been apart and although Nia doesn’t know it, Jethro is constantly thinking about her too. With the passage of time however, more than just Nia and Jethro have changed; Shyness has changed as well. While the city remains to be as dark as ever, stranger things than usual seem to be happening, one of which is Paul, Jethro’s best friend, wandering the streets with a group of trance-like people dressed in blue. Thus, with more questions than answers and no way to help his friend, Jethro is forced to turn to Nia and request her to return back to Shyness with him. Yet, this time, more than simply their relationship is at stake – their very dreams and reality are too.

One of the first things to strike you about Queen of the Night, either than Leanne Hall’s beautiful prose, is just how much you missed the world of Shyness, and, in particular, Wolfboy and Wildgirl although really we all just missed Wolfboy if we’re being honest. Hall’s imaginative land, whether you are aware of it or not, has wormed its way into your heart and returning back to these pages with their languid phrases and contemplative dual narration feels exactly like returning home. While the pacing and focus of this novel is far different from its predecessor, it is also, strangely, exactly right. We are exempt from the shy endearments of Wolfboy and Wildgirl’s first love and are instead treated to a subtle awkwardness as they attempt to re-learn each other without the craziness of one night tying them together. Queen of the Night spans, instead, over a longer period of time as Wolfboy and Wildgirl grow back together and I simply adored the realistic manner in which their romance played out as the novel unfolded.

Yet, even more than that, Queen of the Night focuses on Shyness, making this land the most mysterious character of all. Hall begins to peel back some of the clouds covering the origins of this city and while we are granted more answers by the end of this novel, we are also left with an even larger pool of questions. Even more than that though, with her sophomore novel Hall makes us think. While This is Shyness was a journey we were forced to undertake without too much thought, Queen of the Night is a novel that starts out much like any other romance and slowly transforms into a symbolic tale, forcing the reader to question the very substance of dreams, our imaginations, and the barrier between reality and our subconscious. It’s one of those rare stories that leaves you feeling satisfied at the end, but also leaves you hanging and praying fervently hoping for another venture into Shyness.

In reality though, Hall’s sophomore novel is far stronger than her debut ever was. It is a much more contemplative and thought-provoking story and I doubt that no matter how many times I re-read it, I will ever even begin to graze the hidden meanings and reflective themes incorporated into this tale. It contains the trademark imagination and gorgeous writing that Leanne Hall is known for, but it also goes above and beyond to show us a glimpse into a flawed world wrought with vulnerable characters and overshadowed by both a literal and metaphorical darkness. It is difficult for me to pinpoint exactly what it is that makes these books work, for I am not one to embrace unusually open endings or unexplained subjects, but despite all that, it is impossible not to fall head-over-heels in love with this tale. Queen of the Night is sure to satisfy fans of This is Shyness and win over those on the fence about Hall’s debut. Me? Well, it’s safe to say that I fell in love with Wolfboy Shyness all over again and can only hope that Leanne Hall chooses to write a sequel so that I can crawl into Wolfboy’s lap and stroke his cheek like I so desperately want to. ;)

You can read this review and more on my blog, Ivy Book Bindings.

[Kristy · Rating 2 out of 5]

First off, big thanks to Crystal for sharing this one with me.

Now, onto this hot mess.

So, while I was attempting to read this one, I had several spare moments where I could have chose to sit down and finish the story, but instead of reading I chose to do other things like laundry, dishes and watch re-runs. Yeah, not a very good sign for this book folks. When I enjoy a book, nothing, come hell-or-high-water is going to stop me from sitting down and finishing it. I will stay up late, take a longer bath, read while driving.......... no, scratch that one, but you get the idea. So, was this book just terrible? No, but it wasn't wonderful either. It's teetering more toward the bad side.

There was some cool ideas going on, don't get me wrong. The dreams, the little romance story, Diana all had me semi-intrigued, but nothing sucked me in completely. This is one of those books where had the same story just been written differently, I might have enjoyed it way more. (Does that make sense??) Usually I don't feel like a lot of the YA books out there are only written for teens, but this one made me feel old. Not good.

I hate to bash a book and sound so negative, it's not like this one was so dreadfully awful or anything, but there is just nothing special for me. I can't say I'd reccommend this to anyone.... maybe younger teens as it was pretty clean.

2.5 stars

just blah.

[Noelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Real quick:
This is Shyness required the reader to participate in a lot of leaps. With the out-there elements of the setting, the figurative distance between the protagonists' lives, and the general quirks of the premise there was a lot of ground that had to be covered in the first book. I was more than willing to make the jumps and ended up really liking the book a lot.

By The Queen of the Night, I was ALL IN. And rewarded big time. Spending more time with Nia and Wolfboy just felt so RIGHT. The prose made such a leap of its own in the sequel that I cannot wait to read what Leanne Hall writes next.

Hopefully a full review later...

[Penni Russon · Rating 5 out of 5]

No one is writing anything quite like Leanne Hall in Australia at the moment. These books print themselves on you like graphic novels, as Hall takes you from frame to frame, moment to cinematic moment. She manages to conjure satisfying comic book archetypes, but imbue them with deeply convincing characterisation. The story rollocks along at a cracking pace and I was utterly absorbed.
I thought the ending was immensely satisfying, offering closure, though Shyness is a complex world, filled with narrative possiblity and I would read any book Hall wanted to set there.

[ALPHAreader · Rating 5 out of 5]

Six months is not enough time to forget someone. Not when you spent one memorable, hell-raising night with them in an impossible town of darkness chasing tarsiers and playing on a pink ukulele. But that’s just what Nia has been trying to do, ever since she left Wolfboy sleeping in his bed as she slipped out of Shyness…

Six months later and Wolfboy (aka ‘Jethro’) never called Nia (alias ‘Wildgirl’) after their hedonistic night. So Nia moved on. She went back to her dull Panwood life, and tried to forget about the beautiful howling boy. She took a job at vintage clothing shop, Emporium, and changed schools. She kissed a new boy and made firm friends with her two Emporium colleagues, Helen & Ruth.

And then Ortolan walks into Emporium, and Nia is thrown back into Shyness and obsessing over Wolfboy.

Meanwhile, in the suburb of darkness, Jethro has been nursing his hurt after a failed reconnection with beautiful Wildgirl, Nia. He has been spending time with his niece, Diana, and helping out her mother, Ortolan. But he can’t stop thinking about Nia, and what could have been.

Jethro’s daydreams are interrupted though, when his best friend and ‘The Long Blinks’ band mate, Paul, starts acting strangely. He’s gaunt and distant, disappearing for nights on end and tight-lipped about his ex-girlfriend. Jethro starts noticing similarly odd behaviour around Shyness, from the ‘blue people’, and when Dr. Gregory redoubles his efforts to contact him, Jethro knows it’s time to ask for help from the one girl he can trust …

‘Queen of the Night’ is the sequel to the 2009 Text Prize-winning novel ‘This Is Shyness’, by Leanne Hall.

I absolutely, positively adored ‘This is Shyness’ – a crazily beautiful novel about two lost souls finding each other in the darkness of Shyness. So I was thrilled to learn that Leanne Hall was releasing a follow-up to her 2010 debut, and I was doubly-excited when an advance copy of ‘Queen of the Night’ landed in my mailbox.

Some people may have been surprised to learn of a follow-up to ‘This is Shyness’. Admittedly, it read beautifully as a stand-alone, and even its open-endedness suited the dreamscape of the story, giving it that extra little dash of magical realism, with hope on the precipice – when Wildgirl left her howling Wolfboy asleep in his bed, as she walked home and into daylight. But fans should quickly dispel any lingering doubts that Wolfboy and Wildgirl’s story ended there, as Hall takes us back to the darkness of Shyness, and explores what happened after ‘happily ever after’…

When ‘Queen of the Night’ begins (six months after the events of ‘This is Shyness’), Nia and Jethro only allow themselves fleeting thoughts of that night and each other as Wolfboy and Wildgirl. Both are nursing their wounds from the fallout of that night, while also glorying in their gains. For Jethro, Nia’s insistence that he get to know his niece, Diana, and her mother Ortolan, despite the hurt left over from his brother’s death, has seen him gain a family. Jethro also opened his home to Blake, an ex-Kidd sugar junkie who has turned her life around since leaving Orphanville. Jethro became a babysitter and gained a roommate, and now he doesn’t feel quite so alone in the darkness.

Nia, meanwhile, has an improved relationship with her mother. It helps that Nia’s mum is now attending night school, and that Nia left her old, hated, school behind… she has found a creative outlet at the Emporium vintage clothing store, and has gained two wacky lovely friends in Ruth and Helen, shop assistant and owner of the store.

But even with all these changes for the better, neither Jethro nor Nia can quite shake the feeling of something unfinished, a loose thread that needs tying. And Nia especially cannot shake the bitterness she feels after having had such sweet expectations of her Wolfboy;

I thought we would be more. I wouldn’t have said that about an ordinary one-night hook-up, but nothing about that night was ordinary. Not meeting Wolfboy, not getting mugged by the Kidds, not breaking into Orphanville to get his brother’s lighter back, not the rooftop showdown with the creepy Doctor Gregory. Not the feeling that we were just two stars in the endless night sky, as dazzling and dwarfed and stupendous and insignificant as that made us. I let my guard down with Wolfboy, and I think he did the same with me. I like to think that I’m a good judge of people, but I guess I’m not.

But pretty soon Shyness finds a way of throwing these two together again … Nia bumps into Ortolan, who frequents the Emporium, and an intriguing conversation with her about Jethro fans Nia’s curiosity about what Wolfboy is up to now.

Meanwhile, Jethro’s best friend and band mate, Paul, has succumbed to the ‘blue people’. Appearing like Shyness dreamers at first, Jethro has cause for concern when he crosses paths with Dr. Gregory again, and a mysterious ‘darchitect’ takes an unusual interest in Ortolan and Diana’s apartment. Too many coincidences and bad feelings forces Jethro to reach out to the one person he promised himself he’d forget.

‘This is Shyness’ was a beautiful tale compressed into one night; a night in which Jethro and Nia, Wolfboy and Wildgirl, used the dark cloak of a Shyness night to find themselves and help each other. In ‘Queen of the Night’, Leanne Hall is exploring what comes next. What happens when you wake from the dream into reality, and all is not as you dreamed it would be.

‘Queen’ stretches beyond a single night, giving Jethro and Nia days of normality to reacquaint themselves with one another, and be together in the ‘real world’. A good portion of the book takes place outside of Shyness, in the daylight suburb of Panwood. If ‘This is Shyness’ was the dream – a fantastical blend of real and imagined, skating the genres of speculative fiction and urban fantasy, then ‘Queen of the Night’ is a wake-up call. Indeed, some of ‘Queen’ reads like the blurred edges of an ungraspable dream – just the wisp of remembrance. Hall moves readers between Shyness and Panwood, juxtaposing Jethro’s life in Shyness (complete with tarsiers, Kidds and looming Dr. Gregory) with Nia’s normality (school, work at the Emporium, conversations with her means-well mum).

‘Queen of the Night’ also serves to expand Shyness. In the first novel Hall took readers on a curving adventure around the dark town’s landmarks – the Diabetic hotel, Orphanville and Jethro’s abandoned home. ‘Queen’ is more about exploring the history of Shyness, and its magic too. Jethro discovers a curious book about the town’s history, SHYNESS: A young lady’s treatise by Delilah Gregory, and Jethro starts to wonder about the years of unexplained darkness. And the big question, will the darkness recede? Jethro’s investigations also lead him and Nia to the ‘blue people’ – not-quite-dreamers who seem to be in a constant daze, blaming their forgetfulness and flights of fancy on ‘slippage’. It will take a visit to the Queen of the Night to understand how these blue souls came to be, and how Paul got suckered into their dream. . .

I loved Hall’s further exploration into the darkness of Shyness; it was exactly what I wanted from a follow-up book, but Hall doesn’t get so clinical or detailed about the town’s history as to shatter that magical realism vibe. Shyness still teeters on the edge of fable, even when Jethro and Nia start to poke and prod its origins – if anything; Hall manages to imbue the town with even more mysticism by writing a twisted history of the place.

‘Queen of the Night’ is, first and foremost, a love story. Jethro and Nia are delectable and infuriating in their lover’s dance, and their sweet romance is the big drawcard of this second book. Shyness may still be a place of dark mystery; full of dreaming blue people and looming sugar junkies, but Hall writes a good old-fashioned romance for Nia and Jethro that’s absolutely swoon-worthy and relatable. Both Wildgirl and Wolfboy learnt a lot about themselves during their night of revelry in ‘This is Shyness’, but in ‘Queen of the Night’ they have to live beyond the fairytale and be brave enough to take a chance on each other. I love these two; Jethro’s gentleman beast to Nia’s tough-girl act is completely adorable, and I won’t be alone in hoping that ‘Queen of the Night’ isn’t the last we see of these two. . .

‘Queen of the Night’ is everything fans are hoping of a follow-up to the mad-cap surrealism of ‘This is Shyness’. Leanne Hall returns triumphant with her delectable prose and whimsical storytelling, pulling readers back into the darkness to know what happened after Wolfboy and Wildgirl’s not-quite-happily-ever-after. I have my fingers firmly crossed that Leanne Hall writes a third instalment for Jethro and Nia, since ‘Queen of the Night’ finishes on a note of endless possibility – as vast as the night itself. Simply stunning.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I was devouring This is Shyness a few weeks back (ok, maybe months), this song was being played on the radio quite a lot. I don't think there has ever been a better book/song coupling. Unfortunately, when I was reading Queen of the Night, I was either on a train or staying at my mum's and her taste in radio station differs slightly from mine. Ranty DJs with suspect opinions wasn't quite the soundtrack I had in mind when I started this one. But it mattered not a jot. Well, maybe a tiny little jot. I never say no to a bit of atmospheric music to accompany my getting lost in a rather brilliant book.

So, Queen of the Night. Like the first book, it's still a bit of an enigma and one that's difficult to catagorize (which we all know are the very best sort of books), but because of of my familiarity with the world, this felt just that little bit more like a conventional love story, but still very much with a Shyness slant to proceedings. So still completely unconventional in most respects.

There was a different feel to the first book - the time frame, other characters being given a bit more to do and the juggling of a few more plot strands, although the driving force of the story is given a great resolution and the build up to that resolution is excellent. Yes, I'm talking about Wildgirl and Wolfboy. I shall say no more...

But some of the other changes were less satisfactory - I would have loved to find out more about Amelia, for example, seeing as she was so pivotal to the story. When I finish any fantastic book such as this I'm always left wanting more, but this time it was because I was certain we hadn't seen the end of these characters - this one felt a bit unfinished and I still had a whole heap of questions. However, *bit spoilery* when I took a sneaky peek on Leanne Hall's website, (which is gorgeous, by the way) I discovered that she has no immediate plans to write another Wolfboy and Wildgirl tale. NOOOOOOOOO! One particular story felt so quickly, and slightly unconvincingly, tied up that I was certain that it was just a rouse. But no, it was just very quickly tied up.

The thing I love most about both the Shyness books - if you're in a bit of a creative rut, like I've been for a few weeks, then reading these will get your brain buzzing in the best possible way. They're so brilliant and unusual - dipping into them is like drinking a tonic of words and colours and delicious darkness.

Now I'm just going to sit here with my arms crossed waiting for that elusive third book...

[Bec · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've got to stay tight lipped about this because my review is waiting to be printed in the next issue of Viewpoint, however I will say that it's incredible. In fact, I liked it even more than This is Shyness, which I liked an awful lot.

[Jo · Rating 5 out of 5]

*takes a deep breath*


AWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.


So good, review at some point next year.

Probably.

[Clare Snow · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved book 1, but this just wasn't the same. None of the questions from the first book were answered and the denouement was bland.

[Stacey Kym · Rating 4 out of 5]

ARC kindly provided by Text Publishing via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Review

‘Queen of the Night’ was a novel I had high hopes for. After reading the first novel, 'This is Shyness', and rating it a measly three star on my behalf, I really hoped for this novel would change my opnion of this series. There is something indescribable about it that captures the reader’s attention. It's so...mysterious and different yet completely wonderful at the same time. Yet for some reason I could not attach to ‘This is Shyness’.
The characters were REALLY engaging. They're all quirky in a way, but they’re also creatures of habit, and to return to them was awesome. Wolfboy is still my favourite by far of him and Wildgirl. Wolfboy's world is so much more vivid and strange yet also fragile. Wildgirl is the typical teenage girl who has problems with school and home so her world is not nearly as much fun to read.
There was great character development and dynamics. I got to discover more about Paul, Wolfboy's best buddy! I REALLY liked that the author had a variety of ethnic backgrounds for her characters: E.g. Paul who’s half Korean and half Anglo. I really enjoyed reading about Diana, Wolfboy's neice. She was such a spirited creature and reminded me of my own cousin SO much! I instantly felt attached to her! (I have a weakness for little kids in novels. They are always so damn adorable!) My only regret was that she didn't appear often enough for my liking.
'Queen of the Night' is also different from 'This is Shyness' because Wolfboy's world and Wildgirl's world is no longer separate. After Wildgirl leaves at the end of 'This is Shyness' things change in the strange little town. People are starting to leave it, the older Kidds are nowhere to be found and Paul, Wolfboy's trusty friend, seems to have become lost. During multiple occasions do Wolfboy and Wildgirl venture out of their own worlds and into each other's. I found this great to see as I often wondered what would happen to the pair if the two existed outside their own worlds.
For some reason this novel gave me a case of melancholia. I was so sad and doom and gloom after it! Lol, even my family noticed! This novel seems to really concentrate on the peacefulness and quietness of grief, sadness and trouble. In a way it created a sense of isolation and exclusion from those around you even when you are not alone. For example take Paul. Paul is heartbroken and wants to forget, so as a result he ends up caught in bad stuff. He becomes part of this blue group (they wear blue uniforms) and even though there are many of them, I get the sense that he is still alone and lonely. This novel really tugged at my heart strings.
I believe this novel should make its way into the list of diverse books that have taken the Young-Adult community by storm. It seems to feature a key aspect of many of those types of novels: mental conditions. Mental illnesses seem to be a recurring feature in the series. So many townspeople of Shyness are affected by a different form! For example, the Kidds are sugar crazed/addicted children who have run away from their parents and commit acts of stealing and other horrible stuff in order to get their next fix and sugar-rush. The blue people all wear uniforms and seem to want to lose themselves in the past. The Dreamers are people who want to dream and sleep rather than live and stay awake. They resort to taking massive amounts of sleeping pills in order to sleep and dream their days away in the darkness. There is also the villainous and corrupt Doctor Gregory who is probably at the centre of all these problems and likely the cause of them. I'm not sure how this all escaped me in the first novel but it I am now grateful that I have had the chance to read this sequel.
One thing I noticed were the many formatting problems with my ARC version of 'Queen of the Night'. It was confusing to read and the capital letters in pronouns were missing, so sometimes it was hard to tell what characters were talking about. New chapter also didn’t start on a new page.
The ending was once again beautiful. Leanne Hall has this way of ending a story but somehow also leaving it open for possibilities. I was filled with a rush of satisfaction once I finished reading and I really don't regret picking up this series.
Congratulations to Leanne Hall on publishing a lovely sequel to her debut! Can't wait for your future works!

Rating Plan
1 star : Strongly did not like the book, writing and plot was bad. Idea of the book was against my liking.
2 star : Didn't like it, didn't find it interesting or gripping. Seemed to drag on to me.
3 star : An average book. Wasn't bad or good. Everything else was well done. Original idea.
4 star : Like a 3 star but has potential to it as a series or the book grew on me as it progressed and certain scenes captured me. I Enjoyed it and read it in one sitting.
5 star : I LOVED IT! I stayed up late until 3 am. Author is a genius, characters, plot, idea, development, EVERYTHING was EXCELLENT. Nothing else can possibly be said except that its 5 STAR!

[Paula Weston · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent follow up to This is Shyness, which I also loved.

It's got all the things that made the first novel so good: strong characters, off-beat romance, original plot, evocative imagery, and a great mix of darkness, humour and snappy dialogue...

Queen of the Night builds on those strengths to further flesh out the world of Shyness and show us new sides of Wildgirl and Wolfboy.

I like that Wildgirl and Wolfboy's relationship is complicated - and that it moves into new territory. There's also a deeper look into what's going on under the surface in Shyness, and how the darkness brings out the best and worst in the people who live there.

There's closure by the end, but we still don't get answers to every question, so here's hoping there's another instalment (or more) to come.

(Oh, and absolutely stunning cover from the wonderful WH Chong.)

[Skye · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brilliant as expected. Can't wait for the launch!

[Alexa · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars

[Petris Schrodelis]

Can't wait for this one!

[Nell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely: surreal, dark and dreamy. Plus, features my favourite psychedelic flower, the datura.

[Ameya · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nia and Jethro in a dull affair
This is book 2 after “This is Shyness,” which won the 2009 Text Publishing Award in Australia.
Here in alternative chapters, we read the viewpoints of Nia and Jethro. Nia is hardly ever called Wildgirl in Book 2, and Jethro is called Wolfboy only by Nia. If this transition is meant to signify something it might be that Nia has gotten over the bullying problems at her old school and so is not such a Wildgirl anymore. Wolfboy, however, while less hairy, is still carrying physical changes due to the Darkness having fallen in Shyness.

The villainous Dr. Gregory is after Jethro to mine this idiosyncrasy, and he will stoop to insidious means to get at him. Why Dr. Gregory used the nefarious means he did (avoiding a spoiler here) and what he gained from it is unclear even at the end of “Queen of the Night.” How he used the technique, which involves drugs and dreaming, is also not explained – it is based on a fantasy element. And why Wolfboy is of particular interest to the dark doctor is hinted at.

Dr. Gregory wasn’t fleshed out as a character either and now that we kind of know his motive in pursuing Wolfboy, we are not really motivated to hate the guy either. He remains a kind of vacuous character.

We find out that Lupe is leaving Shyness. So what?

Even the title is not a clue to the purpose of the story. There is an eponymous character but it is unclear how and why she is significant other than as a means to the end. The book and the ending were unsatisfying to this reader.

How Diana is involved and who the darkitect is, remains unclear.

I felt that after 288 pages, I felt that I had not read a story. I was left feeling none the wiser about the purpose or the plot. No one seemed to grow and no mystery got solved. The only things that happened were the reunifying of Nia and Jethro after a 6 month gap and the rescue of Jethro’s friend. This wasn’t enough to propel a story along in my view and the ending did not feel worthwhile.

[Mariana Nguyen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Queen of the Night doesn’t let me down, as expected. While This is Shyness is full of oddness and strange things, this book is like a perfect mix between dream and awake.

The story picks up six months after where it left us in This is Shyness. The only problem is, our Nia and Jethro haven’t spoken to each other ever since they said goodbye. No text, no phone call, and that make Nia very frustrated. She moved back to her life, found a new job at a vintage clothes shop, and tried her best to forget the beautiful howling boy she met in the area where the sun never rise. But with a small trigger and a short voice mail, Nia was dragged back to her adventure with Wolfboy in Shyness.

Nia (a.k.a. Wildgirl) is awesome as ever. Every actions, every comment that she made in this book make me love her even more. The best thing that she’s ever said in this book (in my humble opinion) is “I’m going to impress him with my giant brain.’’ when her mom said that she is “hot”. I mean, it sounds quite informal, but hey, isn’t it the best thing a girl could say?

Jethro (alias Wolfboy) is charming like always. He helped out Ortolan, watched over his niece, Diana, and worked on his band. But when trouble came, and he had to find a way to get his best friend back, he contacted the girl that he had missed every day since that faithful day of goodbye. Well, let just say, the adventure begins again, amazing as always.

Queen of the NIght gives me another unexpected experience, again. The plot twists and action scenes are breathtaking. The only problem is, I expected this book will answered all of my questions from This is Shyness, but it doesn’t. This so-called “problem” doesn’t make the book less awesome, but my curiosity seems to attempt to kill me right now. So I hope there will be at least a third book in this series, and I’m very looking forward to it. And I recommend this book, I mean, how couldn’t I?

Check it out on Book Is Glee: Queen of the Night by Leanne Hall

[Hannah · Rating 2 out of 5]

"Not the feeling that we were just two stars in the endless night sky, as dazzling and dwarfed and stupendous and insignificant as that made us. I let my guard down with Wolfboy, and I think he did the same with me. I like to think that I'm a good judge of people, but I guess I'm not."

Jethro and Nia are back, but different from before.

They are both living outside of Shyness, the suburb that is mysteriously sunless. The world is different there.

After spending a night together in Shyness, Nia and Jethro haven't seen each other since then.

Until one of Jethro's friends gets involved in some trouble, and Doctor Gregory has gone missing, and it's time for Wolfboy and Wildgirl to come back.




Of course, knowing me and my luck with choosing books from Netgalley, I unknowingly chose a book that is a sequel while not having read the first book. Which I have done before.

Saying this, though, doesn't mean I was confused at the premise of this novel. Not knowing what happened in the first book didn't affect my reading experience in a negative way, so I commend the author. But, there are also books where the author overexplains the sequels, in a way thats irritating (not naming names).

Despite my initial confusion at points; with the dual points of view but no markers to show the changes, this book was easy to read and fun. A little confusing at times, but not bad.

The characters were not introduced in the same way they would've been in the first book, but I didn't feel that affected my reading experience negatively.

Although, a little more world building could have been nice, but again, I imagine that was in the first book.

All that said, this isn't my type of book.

This book has many different elements to it, but it is mostly a contemporary book and I am very picky on my choices for contemporaries.

But, mostly, I found the "mystery" of this book tedious and boring.

*This book was provided to me for review from Netgalley. I am not profiting from this review.

[N.W. Moors · Rating 3 out of 5]

First of all I did not read the first book and it took me a good part of the book to figure out who the characters were and what the story was about. It's not the fault of the author or publisher but I feel that this is one book where you need to read the series in order as there isn't much in the way of backstory here in the second book.
So the two main characters are Wolfboy (Jethro or Jet-Ro) and Wildgirl (Nia).. Wildboy lives in Shyness, a town that is under perpetual night, while Nia lives in a more regular section as far as day/night goes. Apparently six months before they shared a night of adventure with some sugar-addicted kids and monkeys (that's the first book). But they haven't been in touch since. But Wolfboy is worried about his friend Paul who is hanging with blue-clothed people under the aegis of Dr Gregory (again from the first book so I think he's supposed to be bad but it's not clear). Dr Gregory is running a sleep clinic using Datura to capture dreams. So Wolfboy gets in touch with Nia so they can work together to figure out what's going on?
By the end of the book I wasn't sure that they had found out anything. The characters are interesting and were what kept me reading, but I wanted to know more about Lupe, Diana, Blake, and Amelia than I ever found out. The concept behind the story, the town of Shyness that is cloaked in perpetual night, is a good one but there were so many loose ends in the story that don't seem to be resolved: why the fighting pit, what is the matter with Wolfboy, why did the sugar kids leave, why is Dr Gregory stealing dreams?
Ultimately this was an unsatisfying book for me. I love Martin Millar's books so this should have been a great read for me, but it never felt like a complete story. I received this book as an ARC from the publisher for an honest review.

[Larissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

The endless night that once brought Wildgirl and Wolfboy together is now the one thing holding them apart. The suburb of Shyness is changing, no longer filled with its dark creatures and strange happenings; it is now a place for the lost and the dreamers. But it is not just Shyness that has changed. Wildgirl has lost her spirit, her fearlessness that once brought her to Shyness and to Wolfboy. But Wolfboy too is changing, losing his howl and his identity along with it.

After six months Nia has given up on returning to Shyness, to Wolfboy and to her identity as Wildgirl. Jethroh too is moving away from his Wolfboy identity, spending more and more of his time out of Shyness and the dark endless night. But neither can run from the darkness of Shyness, nor the darkness within. For the darkness hides dreams and in dreams nightmare become more real then life, and in a place like Shyness where the night is endless who can tell the difference between a dream and what is real.

The Queen Of The Night takes you back to a place were fantasy and reality merge. In a dreamy landscape of endless night there are those that will sleep their lives away and others who use the dark for their own ends. As Wolfboy and Wildgirl once again reunite under the darkness of a Shyness endless night they are once again drawn into the strange and the extraordinary and drawn together by the light of each others warmth. And just as light is returning to their lives, Shyness is beginning to see an end to a very long night.

[Steph · Rating 5 out of 5]

I adored This Is Shyness, and have been looking forward to this immensely. I expected great things, which usually results in disappointment - but not this time. The entire time I was reading this, I was imagining it as an awesome graphic-novel-styled film - the setting is so ridiculously brilliant, and Shyness becomes even more magical in the sequel - the cardboard forest! the Queen of the Night's manor! the velodrome! I would very much like to steal all of Leanne Hall's wonderful ideas (when I finished reading I was very sad to have to return to the real world). So much inventiveness! Often I stay away from sequels and series, because the way each novel relies on each other means it isn't as conclusive and whole a reading experience as a standalone novel, but Queen of the Night works perfectly on its own, and (dare I say this!) is perhaps even better than This Is Shyness. It starts slow, but it gets brilliant as it progresses. There are scenes near the end that are everything I wanted Inception to be. Former Kidd, Blake, is my favourite character - she's smart and sweet. The hellcats seem awesome (so little detail!). I sincerely hope there is another book coming. The Doctor and the Gentleman have to have a showdown or something. I can't believe this hasn't been turned into a movie or graphic novel yet (or at the very least a three-part miniseries!). You would be very wise to check it out. I didn't even talk about the plot there, did I? You don't really need to know about it. Just go get the book.

[Ponytaorponyboy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Don't get me wrong here? I'm fine with Wildgirl and Wolfboy finally getting some more time together (to get to know each other) other than that one abnormally long night they spent together. I'm also happy that this sequel is in the span of a few days instead of being in a span of one night. It makes it a little more "realistic". I'm also glad to see that the characters have somewhat matured! That's a good thing!

However, and this seems pretty typical with the series so far: I didn't like the ending, just because the story's "villain" story drags on and on as if it believes we'll be letting our faces drag through its mucky road for the whole ride. Because let's get this straight: I'm not reading the third book, because I'm sure it will probably come into existence. The villain's motivations are unclear for two books now, how can I trust the third book to be any better? Not only that, but how could the resolution take so little time when the whole development and introduction to the story take so much time?!

Yeah, I'm not sticking around to see what'll happen next. I'm not attached to any of the characters enough to do that.

[Samantha-Ellen Bound · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hall’s first book (the Text Prize winner), This is Shyness, was one of my favourite reads in 2010. I thought it was brilliant and quirky and a stay-up-all-night read of the best sorts. Queen of the Night takes us back to this same world. The style, the hipness, the gorgeous dream-state is still there. Shyness is a fascinating world to get lost in, and Nia and Jethro (Wildgirl and Wolfie), are great characters to take us there.

I have found with Hall’s books that they are less about the plot and more about the experience. The adventure drives forward the themes, the relationships, the ideas. The suburb of Shyness is as alluring as ever. It creates such a wonderful space to explore the imagination. The writing is actually quite concise and straightforward, but the world and thoughts it gives rise to elevate it beyond the words on the page.

Full review at:
http://bookgrotto.blogspot.com.au/sea...

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is Shyness no 2 is even better than no 1, a fabulous fantasy which continues the story of Nia Wildgirl and Jethro Wolfboy as they return to Shyness to help one of Jethro's friends, Paul, who,has become involved with the Datura Clinic, run by the mysterious Dr Gregory, the baddie from the previous novel. Again, he is trying to find a way of trapping Jethro by tricking Paul into betraying his friend, so that he can use Jethro's wolffish characteristics for his own ends. Together, Nia and Jethro foil Dr Gregory's plans by sending Nia into Paul's dreams. Loved the inventiveness of Hall and her characters.

[Rebekah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Queen of the Night was a fun read, I enjoyed it more than the first book in the series, This is Shyness, perhaps because the story world is set up and there's less weirdness to get used to. I like the way Jethro and Nia continue to find out who they are and their loyalty to friends and each other. It's got a lot more mystery and intrigue to it than book one and sets up more intrigue to be unravelled in book three!

I'd say this is suitable for younger teens and up and is a fairly easy read that might appeal to kids who don't usually enjoy reading.

Will write up a full review later for the blog :)

[Romi (likes books) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to Text Publishing for this review copy!

I was, honestly, a bit disappointed in Queen of the Night from memory, though apoarenty not so that I would not give it a 5 star review. I didn't understand what had happened between This is Shyness's ending and Queen of the Night's beginning, and for a time I didn't understand why things were the way they were, and there was much more tension in this book, romantic tension at that, and it felt a little unnecessary. Still, it was an enjoyable book all the same!

[Yvonne Boag · Rating 4 out of 5]

Queen of the night is set six months after This is Shyness. Nia has tried to forget what happened that magical night because Wolfboy never called. She is about to start her last year of high school and she has a job in a vintage fashion shop that she really loves. Then her mobile rings and it is Wolfboy, he needs her help and Wildgirl returns to Shyness.

I can't believe what a good read this was. My only problem is that each book seems to raise more questions then answers them. An excellent, quirky read.

[Charity · Rating 4 out of 5]

For full review please go to: 5girlsbookreviews.blogspot.com, Twitter @camartinez and Facebook "5 Girls Book Reviews"

REVIEW BY: Michaela, age 11 years, 5 months

MAY CONTAIN SPOILER:

This was a superb book!

My favorite character is Wildgirl because she is adventurous and brave like I am. I am ready for any adventure, just like her!

My favorite part is when Wolfboy's mom calls because he is mad at her and she sounds like she is trying to come back when she left him in the first place.