Emmy is headed back to school at Wellsworth and is looking forward to seeing her friends, Lola and Jack again, but her mother has decided that Emmy needs a contact in London. The contact turns out to Emmy's mother's cousin who doesn't seem to want anything to do with Emmy. When she finally gets back to Wellsworth, Lola is framed for stealing money and expelled from school. Emmy finds out that the Order is behind the expulsion and plans to do much worse if Emmy won't reveal the whereabouts of her father.

The Secret of White Stone Gate does not live up to the promise of the first book. The mystery is engaging but gets way too over the top to be even remotely believable. As the story comes to an end, the conclusion seems rushed and too pat to fit the complicated circumstances developed in the story. It really appears as though there was to be at least one more book in the series that was dropped at the last minute, making it necessary to create an ending to all of the story lines, which is unfortunate. Overall, The Secret of White Stone Gate is a disappointment. 2 1/2 stars. ( )

I loved the first book in this series because of its dark and mysterious plot line. Emmy’s harrowing adventure in her first year at Wellsworth had me itching for more. It’s no secret that I love a good secret society, especially when there is a nefarious plot mixed in there. When I was finally able to get my hands on The Secret of White Stone Gate my excitement was palpable. So did it live up to my expectations? Oh yes, yes friends it did.

First off, Emmy was still the same intelligent and feisty young woman that I remembered from the first book. If she was a little more reserved, I understood that was only because the reality of her situation had hit her hard. This new Emmy was more street savvy, and so focused on protecting those around her that it made me heart hurt a little bit. Imagine being responsible for the safety of so many people at such a young age, and what a burden that would be. I knew that this book was likely going to be a bit darker than the first one was, and I was right.

The Secret of White Stone Gate excellently brings Emmy’s story further down the path to fully understanding who The Order of Black Hollow Lane is and what they truly want. I don’t want to spoil anything, so I won’t go too far into detail, but it was very satisfying to finally get more information on Emmy’s father. There is the perfect amount of tension here to balance out the growth that Emmy makes as a person. Plus, as usual, Emmy’s best friends are there to back to her up no matter what dangers face them.

Long story short, this was a wonderful follow up to Julia Nobel’s first book. I genuinely hope that there is more coming, and that Emmy continues to be the type of heroine that I love. My reader heart eagerly awaits the chance to find out what happens next! ( )

American schoolgirl Emmeline Willick returns for her second year at British coeducational boarding school Wellsworth in this sequel to The Mystery of Black Hollow Lane. Happy to be with her friends Lola and Jack again, Emmy thinks that she is done with the sinister Order of Black Hollow Lane. A secret society made up of some of the most powerful people in the UK, recruited during their time at Wellsworth, the Order had once included Emmy's own father, who had had to fake his own death to escape, and who had been absent from her life since she was three. The truth about Thomas Allyn, and about the Order had come to light in the previous book, and Emmy had barely escaped with her life. Now she finds that everyone around her, from her best friend Lola to her new roommate Natalie, is in danger. The power-mad Jonas has returned, and demands that Emmy reveal her father's location, in order to save her friends. Is there any way to counter the Order's increasingly destructive actions...?

I had no sooner finished The Mystery of Black Hollow Lane than I was reaching for this sequel. Oddly enough, I found that I had the same experience with The Secret of White Stone Gate that I did with its predecessor. Which is to say: I read a few chapters, then put the book down for some time before returning to it again after a few weeks, and finishing it in short order. I'm really not sure why I seem to have such trouble becoming engaged with Julia Nobel's books at first, given how much I end up enjoying them, in the end. However that may be, this was still an entertaining sequel, and I appreciated the opportunity to spend more time with these characters. I saw some of the developments coming a mile off - Oliver being involved in something underhand was obvious from the beginning - but others surprised me. The resolution of the story - Emmy's dad once again faking his own death - left room for another sequel, and I will be interested to see where Nobel takes the story. Recommended to anyone who read and enjoyed the first book. ( )