The Secret of Meadow Hill Manor - Stefanie Parks - ★★★★

AUTHOR: Stefanie Parks

SERIES: Butterflies of Meadow Hill, #2

GENRE: Middle-grade Fantasy.

PUBLICATION DATE: October 28, 2026

RATING: 4 stars.

In a Nutshell: A middle-grade magical realism novel continuing the story of the magical butterflies at Meadow Hill Manor. Continues in plot and theme from Book One but goes much deeper thanks to the increased length. Good to see all key characters returning in expanded roles. Gets a little slow and repetitive in the first half but the second half is wonderful. Recommended. Better if read in series order.

Plot Preview:

Six months after the events of Book One, Amethyst has settled in at Meadow Hill Manor, the house that now feels like a haven. With her paternal Aunt Mina, her earlier governess Ingrid, her best friend Gillian, and all her butterflies, Amethyst has finally been able to move on from her sister’s death. However, when she gets a call from her parents that it’s time for her to return home, Amethyst is devastated. Determined to stay at the manor, Amethyst turns to the butterflies for help. But their magic can only be used to help others. How can Amethyst convince her parents that she belongs at Meadow Hill Manor, especially when her aunt is still secretive about the butterflies?

The story comes to us mostly in the third-person perspective of Amethyst.

I had absolutely loved the first book of this series. ‘The Butterflies of Meadow Hill Manor’ had everything to recommend it: characters, plot, atmosphere, setting, themes, writing, and magic. Even with its short length, it managed to do justice to all the key ingredients. As such, my expectations from this sequel were quite high. And to a great extent, the expectations were met.

The plot of Book Two continues Amethyst’s story from the first novel. Because of the extended length this time – 200 pages as opposed to the 112 pages of Book One – the writing is able to do better justice to the world-building and character development. We get a much greater glimpse at how the magic of the butterflies came into being, why Aunt Mina is so reticent about their magic, why Amethyst’s father and Mina were not on speaking terms, and so on. In many ways, any doubts we might have had after reading Book One are clarified.

At the same time, the book isn't a traditional sequel because its approach is different in so many ways. For one, the story is in Amethyst’s third-person POV, unlike Book one where she had the first-person POV. Further, a few chapters are from another character’s perspective, which adds a bit of suspense to the storyline. Grief is a common theme to both books, but the extent of the pain feels greater this time.

The pacing of the book is a bit slower, especially in the first half where a lot of questions are raised but the answers take some time coming. Amethyst’s thoughts in this half are also a bit repetitive. The book shines much better in the second half as all the threads start coming together.

The cast has a good mix of returning characters and new ones. The new characters don’t get that much development, but given the ending, they will probably be more explored in the next book. I liked seeing the old set of characters once again and getting to know them better. It was especially good to see more of amiable Gillian and talented Ingrid. But the two girls – Amethyst and Gillian – regularly do things like bunking school and lying to the adults. Even if their intentions were good, I wish middle-grade books didn’t include such content without any mention of why such things are wrong.

No review of this series can be complete without mentioning the butterflies. I do not wish to go into spoilers, but let’s just say, there’s no way you won’t love the butterflies of Meadow Hill Manor. There is so much more about them in this book and I loved discovering more about their nature and their magic.

Overall, I enjoyed this sequel almost as much as I did the earlier book. The first half might have been a bit weaker because of the repetition and slow pacing, but the second half more than made up for it. One key plot point is left unanswered, leaving open the doors to a potential third book. I am keen to see where the author takes the story next.

While this book can be read as a standalone, it makes several references to the events and characters of Book One. As such,. It would be better to pick this up only after reading ‘The Butterflies of Meadow Hill Manor’. I reread it prior to reading this sequel and refreshing my memory about the key plot points helped a lot.

Definitely recommended to middle-graders who love magical stories. Note that grief is a dominant theme in this book.

My thanks to The Book Guild for providing the DRC of “The Secret of Meadow Hill Manor” via NetGalley. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.