Keeper of the Lost Cities by Shannon Messenger starts with a good premise: a tween who’s not like everyone else.This is a generalisation or more accurately a truism, that most people want to feel necessary, be important and it’s set up from the beginning of the novel that Sophie is all that and more.
This is a world of magic and the fight of good against evil abounding with religious allegory.. I wanted to like this book, in fact I wanted to love it given the plot: it had all the themes that I typically enjoy. But I didn’t., which was a crying shame.
Orphans of the Tide weaves a tale of history, loss, and love in a joyless, mysterious city, with fantastic world-building and charming characters.
The Island of Animaux by Milo McGivern is a lovely book. Tried to hold off until it’s published in May 2020 but too intriguing. Mysterious island, incorrigible and amiable animals, fantastic tales. One not to miss.
The premise of The Last Smile in Sunder City is good: A land where magical creatures (dwarves, goblins, gremlins, vampires, witches, you get the idea) are left redundant in reduced circumstances: without their magic, the fundamental part of themselves.
I liked the sound of it as soon as I read the synopsis, so a shame it didn’t quite hit the spot.
I’m still at a loss for words to sum up this book which is a rich, lyrical retelling of two Greek myths. I am glad that I read it, but it was a difficult read on a number of levels. It was enthralling and harrowing in equal measure. Not for the faint hearted.
Eerie-on-Sea is revealed to be a wonderful place – thought I’m not sure that I want to live there, but would be extremely happy to visit – which is filled with peculiar happenings and strange wondrous everyday things, that the inhabitants take for granted.
The message I got from this book was when you believe in yourself when you acknowledge the belief that someone has in you, everything is possible. You find a strength you didn’t even know you had to fight, to stand up for yourself and be a leader. This invokes the times Amani has referenced Binta telling Amani to be brave, as if Binta knew that despite appearances and past behaviour, Amani could be brave.
It was beautifully written and thoroughly engaging but left me feeling empty afterwards despite what had been gained: greater insight into Lyra herself, the world around her and the tendrils which were reaching out to her. It felt like filler. Nothing substantial happened on this quest.
Please read this book, even you think these themes are not for you because it’s not just about those themes, it about excellent writing, real personalities which live off the page and the feeling of well being that remains with you for a long time after reading it,
