Deeplight - Frances Hardinge

"The gods are dead. Decades ago, they turned on one another and tore each other apart. Nobody knows why. But are they really gone forever? When 15-year-old Hark finds the still-beating heart of a terrifying deity, he risks everything to keep it out of the hands of smugglers, military scientists, and a secret fanatical cult so that he can use it to save the life of his best friend, Jelt. But with the heart, Jelt gradually and eerily transforms. How long should Hark stay loyal to his friend when he’s becoming a monster—and what is Hark willing to sacrifice to save him?"

Hardinge is at her prime with this kind of world and writing; it's fantasy in the best way. There is a fleshed out world which is dark and intriguing, the premise of the recent history of this world has set up a perfect culture to explore whilst reading - an archipelago called Myriad once terrorised by these gods from the depths of the waters around them, who mysteriously perished after the cataclysm. Since then, an entire economy has been built (in an almost steam punk fashion) around the procuring and utilising of their remains also knows as godware.

This is the world in which we find our characters, a collection of deeply thought out, messed up, and bloody brilliant people who are flung into a rich and luxurious plot which is both fast paced and action packed but demanding to be read with slowness and pleasure. 

The narrative revolves around Hark, an orphan from a tough and challenging background, his dangerously troubling best friend, Jelt, who is so close as to be a brother to him. Their relationship may seem strangely bizarre, for Jelt is the most unpleasant of characters, cruel, manipulative and offhand about the dangers he leads Hark into, so intensely manipulative that you wonder why Hark does not boot him out of his life. However, their relationship provides an authentic exploration of the nature of toxic relationships. 

Hark is a wonderful character. A born story teller and actor he struggles to identify his true self. He's a good kid at heart but he's terrible at saying no and is completely blind to how toxic his friendship with Jelt is. It really frustrated me because I respected his loyalty but man was it misplaced. 

Selphin was an equally fabulous and loveable character. A young deaf girl, called sea kissed, is the youngest daughter of a smuggler queen but has become scared of water after a childhood accident. She is witty, sharp and incredibly strong. 

The world building in this story is incredible. It's limited to the Myriad, and while there is talk of 'the continents', they don't feature in this book. This is all about Hark's tiny world and it is full of the most amazing details. It's an interesting blend of science and mythology - I want to say magic but it doesn't feel like the right word here. It's more like ... the science in this world is just really different to the science of our world. These gods were real things and their makeup has provided advanced technology to those who have scavenged parts and experimented with them. It provides a lot to ponder.

The "Gods" where just brilliant. The way they where described was horrifying, I could feel the giant tentacles crawling up my leg as I read, and there was so much to them. There where plenty of plot twists in regard to their nature that I don't want to spoil. 

A lot less terrifying is how Hardinge made deaf-culture an essential part of this fantasy world. In the Myriad, losing one's hearing because of diving expeditions is quite common, and people who are "sea-kissed" are highly respected for braving the sea. Therefore, everyone here speaks sign language and is very inclusive; this is the kind of representation I want to see more of! It didnt feel forced and was incredibly realistic for the setting of the story. Really brilliant!

The writing was of the usual excellent Hardinge quality, who is rapidly becoming one of my favourite authors. Poetic but not over powering, it sucks you in and leaves you occasionally breathless. The characterisation of even the minor side characters was masterful. 

Don't be fooled by this book. It is not a light, happy adventure story about a boy and the sea. It is dark and clever and explores some of the more difficult aspects of human nature. Racism,responsibility, ignorance, religion, relationships and the way that's stories shape us all. 

Age Rating 13+. Nothing untoward but I can see younger children being unnerved by some of the darker aspects. 

The End We Start From - Meagan Hunter

"In the midst of a mysterious environmental crisis, as London is submerged below flood waters, a woman gives birth to her first child, Z. Days later, the family are forced to leave their home in search of safety. As they move from place to place, shelter to shelter, their journey traces both fear and wonder as Z's small fists grasp at the things he sees, as he grows and stretches, thriving and content against all the odds."
Set in the not so distant future when the oceans have risen dramatically and drowned much of England, the main character has just given birth to her son when she has to leave London to go North. We follow her from place to place, meeting people, losing people, finding people. The plot is near irrelevant though: it is more a meditation on motherhood, on beginnings and endings, on love and loss. All the characters are only referred to by their initials, leaving the reader at a distance and rendering this very personal tale relatively universal.

The story is told in short, sparse paragraphs, with quotes from the book of Genesis, creation and the flood, interspersed between certain segments. The writing is stunningly sparse, otherworldly and really unique. It gets under your skin. This was done so well, but there was one hurdle I could not overcome. The constant use of initials, bugged me to no end, and also made this short book confusing, trying to sort out and remember who was who. Possibly this was done to show that in a society collapse, an environmental disaster, names no longer matter, only survival does, but for me it lessened the impact of the story bring told. Having said that, I loved the structure. There are beautiful passages of a new mother's awareness of the baby she holds in her arms. Eerie and haunting, a little hopeful. 

I found the entire story to be terribly anticlimactic. After the following these characters through the events of the book, it just fizzles out. Nothing dramatic or life changing happens, we just end up where we started. 

Definitely worth a read from a prose point of view, but not from a plot or character one. 
Age Rating 13+. Nothing untoward happens. 

Far From the Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy

IndependentandspiritedBathshebaEverdenehascometoWeatherburytotakeupherpositionasafarmeronthelargestestateinthearea.Herboldpresencedrawsthreeverydifferentsuitors:thegentleman-farmerBoldwood,soldier-seducerSergeantTroyandthedevotedshepherdGabrielOak.Each,incontrastingways,unsettlesherdecisionsandcomplicatesherlife,andtragedyensues,threateningthestabilityofthewholecommunity.ThefirstofhisworkssetinthefictionalcountyofWessex,Hardy'snovelofswiftpassionandslowcourtshipisimbuedwithhisevocativedescriptionsofrurallifeandlandscapes,andwithunflinchinghonestyaboutsexualrelationships.IndependentandspiritedBathshebaEverdenehascometoWeatherburytotakeupherpositionasafarmeronthelargestestateinthearea.Herboldpresencedrawsthreeverydifferentsuitors:thegentleman-farmerBoldwood,soldier-seducerSergeantTroyandthedevotedshepherdGabrielOak.Each,incontrastingways,unsettlesherdecisionsandcomplicatesherlife,andtragedyensues,threateningthestabilityofthewholecommunity.ThefirstofhisworkssetinthefictionalcountyofWessex,Hardy'snovelofswiftpassionandslowcourtshipisimbuedwithhisevocativedescriptionsofrurallifeandlandscapes,andwithunflinchinghonestyaboutsexualrelationships.IndependentandspiritedBathshebaEverdenehascometoWeatherburytotakeupherpositionasafarmeronthelargestestateinthearea.Herboldpresencedrawsthreeverydifferentsuitors:thegentleman-farmerBoldwood,soldier-seducerSergeantTroyandthedevotedshepherdGabrielOak.Each,incontrastingways,unsettlesherdecisionsandcomplicatesherlife,andtragedyensues,threateningthestabilityofthewholecommunity.ThefirstofhisworkssetinthefictionalcountyofWessex,Hardy'snovelofswiftpassionandslowcourtshipisimbuedwithhisevocativedescriptionsofrurallifeandlandscapes,andwithunflinchinghonestyaboutsexualrelationships.IndependentandspiritedBathshebaEverdenehascometoWeatherburytotakeupherpositionasafarmeronthelargestestateinthearea.Herboldpresencedrawsthreeverydifferentsuitors:thegentleman-farmerBoldwood,soldier-seducerSergeantTroyandthedevotedshepherdGabrielOak.Each,incontrastingways,unsettlesherdecisionsandcomplicatesherlife,andtragedyensues,threateningthestabilityofthewholecommunity.ThefirstofhisworkssetinthefictionalcountyofWessex,Hardy'snovelofswiftpassionandslowcourtshipisimbuedwithhisevocativedescriptionsofrurallifeandlandscapes,andwithunflinchinghonestyaboutsexualrelationships.

"Independent and spirited Bathsheba Everdene has come to Weatherbury to take up her position as a farmer on the largest estate in the area. Her bold presence draws three very different suitors: the gentleman-farmer Boldwood, soldier-seducer Sergeant Troy and the devoted shepherd Gabriel Oak. Each, in contrasting ways, unsettles her decisions and complicates her life, and tragedy ensues, threatening the stability of the whole community. The first of his works set in Wessex, Hardy's novel of swift passion and slow courtship is imbued with his evocative descriptions of rural life and landscapes, and with unflinching honesty about sexual relationships."

There are some very memorable key characters in this book, and some that are worthy of a punch in the face. There is, of course, one of my greatest literary men of all time, Gabriel Oak. 

But it's the small, supporting crowd that really elevates the book. There's self-righteous but well-meaning Joseph Poorgrass, full of bible verses and pseudo-wisdom; sweet, simple Liddy Smallbury, Bathsheba's friend, confidant, doormat and indentured servant; Lana Tall, throughly under the cats paw; the ol' maltster, coming up on 184 years of age give or take; and the true heroes of the story, namely the sheep.

Bathsheba Everdene, our main character, is described as a free-spirited, independent, and strong-willed woman named after King David's queen and Solomon's mother is subject to much scrutiny. Many people find fault in her apparent fall from Hardy's descriptions. She becomes weak, slavish, and inconsistent especially with regards to her love with Sergeant Troy. Hardy is often accused of gender-stereotyping and sometimes rightly so. There are instances where he blames Bathsheba's weakness of character to her "womanliness". But I should say that it is unfair to accost him because of this. He did live in a society that practiced much worse treatments. You have to keep in mind that gender emancipation was not yet realized in 1874 and it certainly shows. Though, I should add that Bathsheba's inconsistency with Sergeant Troy is mainly due to the type of love that they share, and is no fault of Mr. Hardy. 

Three choices are presented to Bathsheba. The Sergeant Troy, the gentleman farmer Boldwood, and the shepherd Gabriel Oak, all three signifying different kinds of love. This, I believe is the main idea of the book, to enumerate and dissect the different kinds of love present in a lover's beating heart. Sergeant Troy's love, if it is to be called love at all, is known by the name of passion. It is physical attraction, the weakest of the three. It is easily suppressed and forgotten. Some may even call it lust, one of the seven deadly sins. If it is so, then it veers away from the goodness that we attribute to love. No wonder, Bathseba's relationship with Troy is destructive. It is also the reason, why I stated earlier, that Bathsheba becomes inconsistent when she is around Troy. For the temptation of lust weakens even the strongest and most virtuous of people. Bathsheba's flaws are clearly not a byproduct of gender, as some claim it to be, but it lies in human nature itself. This, I understand, should clear some misgivings about Mr. Hardy. Also, in application, I understand that most marriages are destroyed because a great number of couples mistake this passion for love and hastily vow forever. And so, when it is exhausted, as it easily is, the marriage falls apart. Exactly like Bathsheba and Troy.

Moving on, farmer Boldwood's love, on the other hand, is a kind of wild and strong, yet self-centred love. It is strengthened to an insane proportion but it only seeks to appease itself, it doesn't consider the person it is being given to. It is like a fire burning and scorching everything in its path; it is a dangerous kind of love that will turn everything to dust after the love has been consumed. And as exemplified, this is the kind of love that makes people do crazy things, like murder. It is a love so self-centred that it will deny its recipient of happiness when rejected. 

Lastly, we come to shepherd Gabriel Oak's love. In contrast to Mr. Boldwood's self-centred love, this love is so great that Gabriel is willing to sacrifice his own happiness for the sake of hers. I believe this is the strongest of the three. Willing to consider, willing to endure, willing to suffer for the sake of one it loves. It may not be as bright as Troy's passion, or loud as Boldwood's insane self-love, but it is never wavering in its steady stream of purity. Like Oak, it is often ignored by its recipient in favour of those kinds much brighter and louder. But, also like Oak, when it is given the chance, it is the one that will last forever.

While I understand the points that Hardy was trying to get at, I still found myself desperate to reach into the story and slap Bathsheba a few times. She comes across so self centred and falls into melancholic despair at the drop of a hat. For someone supposedly so strong she is barely self sufficient. 

Sarcasm and sketchy 19th-century sexism aside, Hardy really is a brilliant wordsmith and there are so many gems throughout the novel- wise commentary, clever dialogue, wry observations on human relationships. The writing is beautiful, if not a little long-winded and flowery when giving descriptions of the Wessex countryside. I get it, you've convinced me, it’s great to be far from the madding crowd. 

Overall worth the read, entertaining and relatively fast paced for a book of its time. 

Age Rating 14+. Nothing untoward except one instance of a man being shot. 

The Turnaway Girls - Hayley Chewins

"Delphernia Undersea wants to sing. But everyone on Blightsend knows music belongs to the Masters — and girls with singing throats are swallowed by the sea.

On the strange, stormy island of Blightsend, twelve-year-old Delphernia Undersea has spent her whole life in the cloister of turnaway girls, hidden from sea and sky by a dome of stone and the laws of the island. Outside, the Masters play their music. Inside, the turnaway girls silently make that music into gold. Making shimmer, Mother Nine calls it. But Delphernia can’t make shimmer. She would rather sing than stay silent. When a Master who doesn’t act like a Master comes to the skydoor, it’s a chance for Delphernia to leave the cloister."

A debut that sings! I devoured the book in one sitting. Chewins introduces both an enchantingly inventive idea of girls who weave gold from music, and a stunning lyricism rarely found in Primary School literature. The advanced diction, prose and complexity of the story however makes it suitable for much wider audience.  

Girls who turn away from their reflections as infants are trained as “turnaway girls,” growing up separate from the outside world to learn how to turn music into gold. Boys with a talent for music become music-makers and get to choose a turnaway girl for themselves once they become of age. There is no room for differences or otherness. On top of that, one man is trying to take complete control of the Kingdom for himself and does so in a ruthless manner. There are cautionary tales about one women who was different and didn’t conform, so she was swallowed by the sea; children are warned by this story to make sure to fall in line. 

Not only are the turnaway girls now isolated from the rest of society, but their matron has been taught how to take away all their curiosity as well; who they are as individuals is literally sucked away by a woman following orders so that they can fall into line. 

So you have the main character who is a turnaway girl; she is supposed to be silent, but she loves to sing. She learns through the course of the book that she actaully has the abiliy to sing souls into being, which I just thought was such a beautiful concept. So quietly spiritual. 

I absolutely loved that Chewins added a female Music-Maker who decided she didn’t want to act like a boy anymore. It was such a powerful moment when the main character realized that she wasn’t the only “other” in the universe; there were people like her who didn’t fit this mold that their society had created for themselves. Even just the descriptions of the main character hiding away to sing were so poignant and moving and so relatable; I think we’ve all had those moments where we take time for ourselves just to be ourselves without having to worry about others’ judgments.

This was a surprisingly diverse book, with many POC characters and main character. Thought is was lovely and a great touch, especially considering the themes of the book. 

There were moments of surprising violence within the book, meaning it is not all sweetness and light. I thought the author struck a nice balance. Mother Nine is a great villain that readers will have no problem hating! The Custodien was lacking as a villian however for me. He doesn't do anything particularly awful, we only really know of his awfulness through past events which doesnt really work for me. But I suppose that could be put down to the target audience. 

Overall a really good unique book. There are definitely moment when the target audience became apparent in the lack of in depth character motivation but it was so beautifully written and the concepts where so unique with such a great metaphor for female suppression. Really hats off. 

Age Rating 12+. The abuse of Delpherina by Mother Nine shocked me and is, personally, not appropirate for very young readers. 

The Northern Lights - Philip Pullman

"Without this child, we shall all die.’

Lyra Belacqua lives half-wild and carefree among the scholars of Jordan College, with her daemon, Pantalaimon, always by her side.

But the arrival of her fearsome uncle, Lord Asriel, draws her to the heart of a terrible struggle – a struggle born of stolen children, witch clans and armoured bears.

As she hurtles towards danger in the cold far North, Lyra never suspects the shocking truth: she alone is destined to win, or to lose, the biggest battle imaginable."

Lyra and her daemon, a animal companion and representation of their soul all humans have in Pullmans world, Pan have lived their wholes lives in Jordan College, Oxford. Lyra has been raised by the scholars there and has grown up half-wild, not listening to authority, always getting into trouble, not being the well-behaved little girl the scholars hoped she'd be. While her uncle, Lord Asriel, is visiting the college to ask for funding for his latest expedition, Lyra hides in a wardrobe and hears all about the possibility of other worlds, which Lord Asriel wishes to explore, and about Dust. This grief childish accident starts an long and treacherous journey with amazing alternate universes, scholars, witches, daemons, armoured bears, Gyptians and anything else you could possibly imagine. Pullman takes you on an incredibly journey from Jordan College to the Armoured Bear Kingdom of Svalbard. 
I've got to admit that Pullman created a wonderful new universe with all kinds of interesting elements taken from different cultures. Some if this did seem random (I noticed the odd Dutch name here and there, which to me came out of nowhere as none of the story is set there), but I do admire this element of the book enormously. The Witches and Panserbjorne where firm favourites!! However, at the end it suddenly becomes very clear that this is, in fact, a book critising religion, using the fantasy elements as a metaphor for religious terms we are all familiar with, most notably Dust as a scientific explanation to sin. To me, this came a but out of nowhere and I hope it is more fleshed out in the next book as it is a very interesting premise. 

Written as a childrens book but equally absorbing to any adult reader, I would not hesitate in recommending this first book in the Philip Pullman 'His Dark Materials' trilogy. It is wonderfully enthralling and paints a world that you long to visit. It is slow paced at the beginning but it soon ramps up with enough twists and turns to keep the pace of the plot zooming along rather nicely and many interesting characters along the way. 

Age Rating 13+. There where some adult- ish themes. The scenes of cutting the deamons where very visceral and the discovery and death of the little boy was disturbing. The battle between Iorek and Iofur was also quite brutal. 

Interview with the Vampire - Anne Rice

"This is the story of Louis, as told in his own words, of his journey through mortal and immortal life. Louis recounts how he became a vampire at the hands of the radiant and sinister Lestat and how he became indoctrinated, unwillingly, into the vampire way of life. His story ebbs and flows through the streets of New Orleans, defining crucial moments of self discovery and despair."


I was in early highschool/ late primary school when the vampire craze hit. So much of the YA I read was invariably chock full of them. However it is only now that I am getting around to reading this vampire story "classic." 

First of all on its own, it's not a fantastic book. However it definitely popularized the trend of Vampire Empathizing. Before this book, vampire where from the realm of horror books. Blood thirsty monsters without remorse or empathy, but here we can relate to them. They act in human ways with human reasonings and human emotional struggles. 

This is particularly shown in the main charcater of Louis. A vampire that proceeds to existentially whine through his eternity. He is wealthy, smart, handsome and this amounts to him being able to do whatever the hell he wants to for as long as he wants to. Yet all he does is WHINE and ponder the meaning of life... or undeath. Because, you know, humans have it all figured out.

I found the exploration of vampire pschycology incrediably interesting. How the mind changes and adapts or fails to adapt to the idea of immortality. This is a "cerebral treatment" of the vampire genre, an examination of good vs evil, what immortality really means, the first of its kind in "vampire books" and an allegory of the soul itself. It is all of those things, but it's not very fun to read. The pace drags along and, for being a horror novel, it's not horrific, mainly dull.

There is no denying Louis had an interesting life, but the man lacks any form of a backbone. He refuses to leave the people that are toxic and drive him crazy, or to forge a new way of being a vampire that is closer his moral code. The unending emo monologues just got a bit too much for me at times and I found myself skimming. 

The sexual aspect of vampire's was interestingly handled. Vampires being the "dark seducer" isn't new and using them to represent repressed sexuality has become stock standard. However this book deals with those two themes in a very different way. The dark seducer, Lestat, and the repressed sexual being, Claudia, both destroy and taunt Louis in vastly different ways and it's a nice change from the human being the one seduced. 

At least the movie made the wise decision to tone down the blatant homoeroticism that I really wasn't expecting and is never really mentioned in reviews or blurbs. Seriously, this book is, and I mean this in the most literal way possible, one of the gayest things I've read. It added an element of toxic relationship and more understanding to the dynamic between Louis and Lestat. Louis's relationship with Armaund is also very obviously non-platonic with it literally written in black and white that they love each other. It was actually a good inclusion to the story as it added to the inhuman vibe of the vampire as sexuality seemed to become completely ambigious and meaningless and all relationships became more intense and taut. 

However Claudia and Louis's relationship was disturbing and uncomfortable to read. She and Louis do everything except actually have sex with each other. They're always kissing and caressing each other and Louis is calling her his lover and his paramour and it is so fucking creepy.

For me, Claudia was the most interesting character. She was horrifying and monstrous, the way child vampires tend to be in any story. A child vampire is simply more terrifying than any adult vampire can ever be. They are immortally trapped in an age of innocence, while her mind grows and learns and becomes exceedingly adult while her body will never be able to catch up. She is cursed with a life of appearing “cute” no matter how monstrous and dark her soul and nature becomes. Doomed to feel sexual desire and want but never being able to act on it or experiance it. Being eternally depedant. Horrifying shit, that. There is also a selfishness to children which is amplified by bloodlust, which never seems to fully disappear. I enjoyed the way this was portrayed, as I said, but I was too disconnected from her by Louis narration to get my fill of this child-shaped horror show. 

Age Rating 14+. Nothing untoward actually happens. The murders are not described in detail and there is no graphic sexual content.