Girl - Edna O'Brian

"I was a girl once, but not anymore. So begins Girl, Edna O'Brien's
harrowing portrayal of the young women abducted by Boko Haram. Set in the deep countryside of northeast Nigeria, this is a brutal story of incarceration, horror, and hunger; a hair-raising escape into the manifold terrors of the forest; and a descent into the labyrinthine bureaucracy and hostility awaiting a victim who returns home with a child blighted by enemy blood."

This was a disappointing book. One that I really wanted to learn from and was expecting to enjoy due to the large amount of critical attention that this book has garnered. I really need to stop trusting Literary awards. 

One struggle I was not expecting to have with this book was with O'Brien's prose, but that actually ended up being one of the main issues for me. Structurally it left a lot to be desired; every time a new character was introduced, Maryam's first-person narration would be interrupted, and we would switch to an italicized segment, also first-person, where the character would narrate their life story for several pages. It felt like the linguistic equivalent of flashbacks. 

This is a pretty petty way to say that I was baffled by how bad the prose was. While I do kind of see why she chose to switch between tenses (it does add to the feeling of a fractured state of mind her protagonist has), overall I found this choice clumsy and the writing lacking.

There's a lot more that didn't work for me: the pace of the first half of the novel hurtled by at breakneck speed as if it were running through a checklist of every horror imaginable, and the second half slowed to such a standstill that all potential momentum was lost. I felt absolutely emotionally numb and disconnected reading this, which is particularly noteworthy given how graphic it is (trigger warnings for everything imaginable apply). The exploration of trauma only ever felt surface-level; all I ever really learned about Maryam was about her identity as a mother.  The more I read the less I understood O'Brien's aims with this book. Thus I am left having reading about the worse of human experience, yet I didn't feel anything. I didn't learn anything new and I was never drawn into the story emotionally. Disappointing to say the least. 

Age Rating 18+. Rape, stoning, involuntary pregnancy, horrifying birthing scene, humiliation, exorcism and pretty much everything you can imagine.

Spinning Silver - Naomi Novik

"Miryem is the daughter and granddaughter of moneylenders, but her
father's inability to collect his debts has left his family on the edge of poverty--until Miryem takes matters into her own hands. Hardening her heart, the young woman sets out to claim what is owed and soon gains a reputation for being able to turn silver into gold.

When an ill-advised boast draws the attention of the king of the Staryk--grim fey creatures who seem more ice than flesh--Miryem's fate, and that of two kingdoms, will be forever altered. Set an impossible challenge by the nameless king, Miryem unwittingly spins a web that draws in a peasant girl, Wanda, and the unhappy daughter of a local lord who plots to wed his child to the dashing young tsar.

But Tsar Mirnatius is not what he seems. And the secret he hides threatens to consume the lands of humans and Staryk alike. Torn between deadly choices, Miryem and her two unlikely allies embark on a desperate quest that will take them to the limits of sacrifice, power, and love."

Spinning Silver is a loose retelling of Rumpelstiltskin. I say "loose" because you will recognise certain elements from the original - turning things into gold, the importance of names, etc. - but this is a completely different story with different characters and many new plot lines. This actually disappointed me as I was looking forward to a more recognisable retelling. There's also not just one Rumpelstiltskin character, as several characters embody different aspects of the traditional imp. 

I love that it's a very pastoral fairy tale with forests and country magic. The setting of Russia, with the description of Russian foods and the heavy, oppressive snow was wonderful and made it all the more unique. The setting of the book gives it a lot of it's atmosphere, and it works very well. There are parts that follow the characters through quiet daily farming activities, but there is always magic and fear thrumming just under the surface.

I found it really interesting that Novik explored the idea of a Jewish moneylender in this Rumpelstiltskin. It was unique take and created a very clever way of making something magical into something made of a strong will, and how easily these two concepts can overlap. 

However, structurally I do have a few issues with the book. I counted no less than six different perspectives - honestly, I may have missed someone - and you have to learn the symbol/image for each character, as that is the only way you'll know whose point-of-view the book has moved to. This can get extremely confusing. Unfortunately this caused a disconnect between the characters and myself as I was unable to fully emote with them or become attached. 

Though I appreciate books with multiple layers and complex plots, I think shedding some parts of this would have only benefited it. Some chapters lean away from complex and interesting, and toward dense and confusing. Despite encountering wondrous and unexpected forms of magic, Novik's characters are neither astonished nor surprised. Their flat response evokes a perpetual sense of apathy, a problem that's exacerbated by glacial pacing, further compounded by two of the female protagonists having such similar plot lines and personalities as to feel redundant.

Spinning Silver holds all the ingredients of a magic spell and there are some truly wonderful moments, but the execution leaves one cold and unsatisfied.

Age Rating 15+. Domestic violence, murder, discrimination. 

Beneath the Rising - Premee Mohamed

" A coming-of-age story about two kids in the middle of a war of eldritch horrors from outside spacetime…

Nick Prasad and Joanna “Johnny” Chambers have been friends since childhood. She’s rich, white, and a genius; he’s poor, brown, and secretly in love with her.

But when Johnny invents a clean reactor that could eliminate fossil fuels and change the world, she awakens the primal, evil Ancient Ones set on subjugating humanity.

From the oldest library in the world to the ruins of Nineveh, hunted at every turn, they need to trust each other completely to survive…"

This is an alternate history, cosmic horror, globe-travelling adventure Science fiction that's primarily a study of the relationship between two young people: Joanna "Johnny" Chambers who is a 17-year old super-genius who has single handedly rewritten the history of the early 2000s with her amazing inventions and discoveries and her best and only friend, Nick Prassad, an ordinary Canadian teenager.

When Johnny invents a new shoebox reactor that seems to generate free energy she also opens a gate into our universe for creatures of cosmic horror known as "Them", to flood in a true Lovecraftian manner. They want Johnny and her invention so that they can enslave humanity and take over the world. So Johnny and Nick go on the run to try and stop them. Pretty basic plot. 

However, what was very interesting to me while reading this book was the dynamics displayed between the two characters. Joanna is the pretty, genius,ridiculously wealthy and slightly psychopathic girl Nick has loved for most of his life, after a violent incident brought the two together. Nick and his family are well below Johnny on the economic scale, and by putting us in his head for the whole book, the author gives us a chance to reflect on the “hero”, as well as the myriad ways in which Nick’s and Johnny’s very different experiences affect them as they suffer threats and attacks, and how the fear and anxiety of their situation exacerbates their differences and their feelings for each other. The racial aspect, the references to race, colonialism, and privilege are not incidental, and were a great addition into a Lovecraft inspire Sci-Fi, someone who was so racist and expressed so much racism through his works. 

While there are many otherworldly horrors present, it’s the many problems that lie at the heart of their relationship, as well as the very real economic and racial issues between them that affected me the most about this story. I struggled to feel anything but irritation for Johnny, and her often blithe approach, her unthinking dismissal to so much that someone without her options, or skin colour, has to live in the world. However she is a very interesting character, she came across as slightly inhuman. Cold, calculating and deeply unfeeling, but at the same time vulnerable and trying desperately to do good. Nick, while supposed to be the "normal" friend was equally interesting, the mixture of love and hate he felt for Johnny, the anger, the claustrophobic closeness of the friends. 

I also need to mention the writing. I really enjoyed it, it got under your skin and made you feel unclean and claustrophobic. 

This is imaginative and fun in parts, the banter was great, there where some dated pop culture references that where a bit weird but didn't ruin the book. However, it was a tad long and dragged in points, and something just didn't hit right with me. The ending disappointed me and the two characters, while interesting felt slightly separated from the reader. 

Age Rating 13+. Could easily be read, enjoyed and understood by a younger audience.

The Kingdom of Copper (#2)- S.A. Chakraborty

"Nahri’s life changed forever the moment she accidentally summoned Dara, a formidable, mysterious djinn, during one of her schemes. Whisked from her home in Cairo, she was thrust into the dazzling royal court of Daevabad and quickly discovered she would need all her instincts to survive there.

Now, with Daevabad entrenched in the dark aftermath of the battle that saw Dara slain at Prince Ali’s hand, Nahri must forge a new path for herself, without the protection of the guardian who stole her heart or the counsel of the prince she considered a friend. But even as she embraces her heritage and the power it holds, she knows she’s been trapped in a gilded cage, watched by a king who rules from the throne that once belonged to her family and one misstep will doom her tribe.

Meanwhile, Ali has been exiled for daring to defy his father. Hunted by assassins, adrift on the unforgiving copper sands of his ancestral land, he is forced to rely on the frightening abilities the marid, the unpredictable water spirits, have gifted him. But in doing so, he threatens to unearth a terrible secret his family has long kept buried.

And as a new century approaches and the djinn gather within Daevabad's towering brass walls for celebrations, a threat brews unseen in the desolate north. It’s a force that would bring a storm of fire straight to the city’s gates . . . and one that seeks the aid of a warrior trapped between worlds, torn between a violent duty he can never escape and a peace he fears he will never deserve."

Just a stunning, stunning series! I am loving it more with each instalment. I read City of Brass and while I had some problems with it, I really enjoyed it. One of my main issues with it was that it read very much like a YA novel at times, and while I do love YA novels, it made the characters seem childish at times that didn't mesh with the high stakes plot. 

However, with this novel taking place five years after the end of the first, and with the stakes having been tremendously raised, there was no time for being juvenile here. This change in tones is seen throughout the book, through the more gritty writing, matured characterisation and the deep exploration of personal loyalties and morals. 

This is the book where the characters fully come into themselves and are able to really develop, especially Dara. While I don't particularly like him as a person, his character is so interesting. Here we get to read from Dara's point of view for the first time and it was fascinating to see the world, war and all that was happening through his eyes. His contradicting beliefs and inner conflict when it came to both his and Manizheh's actions definitely added depth to his character and I loved every moment. 

Also, Ali! He has grown so much! While I liked him in book one, his chapters were a bit on the boring and long-winded side, but that was part of his personality in a way. In this book, we get to see some action and way more emotion out of him and it was so wonderful. He was coming into his own as a person. Stepping out of his brother's and father's shadows and becoming his own person with his own beliefs and morals. 

All the other characters were fabulous too. I really enjoyed all the minor characters, they feel too well fleshed out to be called minor, and their arcs. Muthandhir, Zaynab, Jamshid,and many others. I think that that is my main love of this series. No character feels extraneous. They all give us a different and valid insight into the politics, morals and society so you find yourself as confused and conflicted as the main characters. 

Now, the perfect segway into politics. I really enjoyed them in book one although they oftentimes felt overwhelming. This book, with a better handle on what was up, had just the right amount of intrigue, family drama and city politics. There was no one right side. Everyone is standing in a morally grey area, doing what they need for what they believe is right. Everyone believes themselves justified in their cruel actions and their hatred. Everyone was equally wrong, and yet, in a way, I could completely see and understand where each of them was coming from. Each had valid points and each group is shown to be equally at fault and equally innocent. It was an amazingly nuanced portrayal that mirrors modern day real-life racism, nationalism and tribalism experienced all over the world. To manage such a complex system in a book this big is certainly a talent that Chakraborty has clearly mastered. 

That ending though! I was honestly so stressed for the entire last 20% of this book. The pacing for this book is excellent and the tension only ramps up, without leaving it dull in the middle. I was at the edge of my seat, wondering what the heck was going to go down. So many questions have been answered in this book and now I have even more questions than ever before! I am super excited to see how it's all going to end in Empire of Gold! 

Age Rating 14+. Some adult themes. Reality of war (as much as a fantasy can provide), mass scale violence and hints to sexual violence. 

Anansi Boys - Neil Gaiman

"God is dead. Meet the kids.

Fat Charlie Nancy's normal life ended the moment his father dropped dead on a Florida karaoke stage. Charlie didn't know his dad was a god. And he never knew he had a brother.

Now brother Spider's on his doorstep -- about to make Fat Charlie's life more interesting... and a lot more dangerous."

Through the book we follow Fat Charlie as he becomes immersed into the world of the Gods, something he is inextricably linked to as the son of the trickster god Anansi- from discovering primitive magic to his secret brother. His life is quickly thrown into chaos. His fiancee leaves him, his brother swoops her up and Fat Charlie is set up to take the fall for a very terrible person. All the while, he has to deal with the fallout from his dad's embarrassing death.

I adore the humour in the book. This is easily the funniest Neil Gaiman book I read. I found my self laughing out loud and maniacally giggling with Gaiman's humorous observations on humanity. Everything was so real while still having this wonderful fantasy element. 

It was also great to read a fantasy using myths from Africa. It was a great idea and an unusual touch. I loved being introduced to the gods and found some of the writing really moving and thought provoking. Some lines I  had to just sit and reread. This book could definitely be read on two levels. One where is is just a really funny fantasy story full of giggle and mishaps. But there is another deeper level. One which explores the nature of humanity, how our trickiness makes us human and reduces our brutality. How fun gives meaning to life and gives another dimension to the act of merely surviving. 

While this book takes place in the same world as American Gods - there is hardly any overlap. This can easily be read as a standalone. My only gripe with this book it the pacing. The plot progressed at a glacial pace but once it started ramping up, I was hooked - there were so many side plots that were masterfully interwoven.

Overall another excellent book from Gaiman, employing his signature mix of exploration of humanity, mythology, humour and magic realism. Age Rating 13+ A murder takes place and there are some allusions to sex. 

The Help - Kathryn Stockett

"Three ordinary women are about to take one extraordinary step.

Twenty-two-year-old Skeeter has just returned home after graduating from Ole Miss. She may have a degree, but it is 1962, Mississippi, and her mother will not be happy till Skeeter has a ring on her finger. Skeeter would normally find solace with her beloved maid Constantine, the woman who raised her, but Constantine has disappeared and no one will tell Skeeter where she has gone.

Aibileen is a black maid, a wise, regal woman raising her seventeenth white child. Something has shifted inside her after the loss of her own son, who died while his bosses looked the other way. She is devoted to the little girl she looks after, though she knows both their hearts may be broken.

Minny, Aibileen's best friend, is short, fat, and perhaps the sassiest woman in Mississippi. She can cook like nobody's business, but she can't mind her tongue, so she's lost yet another job. Minny finally finds a position working for someone too new to town to know her reputation. But her new boss has secrets of her own.

Seemingly as different from one another as can be, these women will nonetheless come together for a clandestine project that will put them all at risk. And why? Because they are suffocating within the lines that define their town and their times. And sometimes lines are made to be crossed."

I have very mixed feelings about this book. On one hand I think that the subject matter was handed with delicacy. The writing was subtle and at times very beautiful. I think Aibileen's chapters where beautiful and full of soul. A perfect cocktail of love and melancholy. She reminded me of maids I knew. You get a good idea of the atmosphere of the time and place, I really felt transported to Mississippi. 

I also thoroughly enjoyed the character of Minny, she was sassy and more vocal in her anger. I think she and Aibileen contrasted each other well with their different attitudes. 

However, I was uncomfortable with the tone of the book; I felt that the author played to very stereotypical themes, and gave the characters (especially the African American ones) very obvious voices and structure in terms constructing their mental character. I understand that the author wrote much of this as a result of her experiences growing up in the south in the 1960's, and that it may seem authentic to her, and that she was even trying to be respectful of the people and the time; but, ultimately, I thought that it was written from a very narrow, idealised, almost childish perspective of race relations without a true appreciation of the humanity and soul of the characters. It had a nostalgic, feel good vibe that didn't sit well with me. 

As a white South African that grew up with maids my experience with the "help" was obviously very different to that of an American. However I am unsure that this book represented either side totally accurately. Stockett brushed over the true deep anger that I am sure that the Maids dealt with and shrunk it to the feeling of annoyance of picking up towels.

The structure of the book also focused more on the white characters and their struggles in their life and dealing with the first realisation that they might be in a racist world. So the ultimate theme & message (i.e. "why, we're all the same - there's no difference between us after all!") only reinforced my feeling that this is written from someone who has a very undeveloped or underdeveloped concept of race and race relations in the United States.

I applaud her effort and think it would be a great introduction to race relations in the South for someone new to the topic and might be a little hesitant to start. But it is very surface level without any real deep dive into the horrors inflicted during this period of time or the psyche of the people living on the other side of the train line. 

Age Rating 13+. Touches on some serious subjects such as domestic abuse but nothing very inappropriate. 

The Long Way to A Small, Angry Planet - Becky Chambers

"Rosemary Harper doesn’t expect much when she joins the crew of the aging Wayfarer. While the patched-up ship has seen better days, it offers her a bed, a chance to explore the far-off corners of the galaxy, and most importantly, some distance from her past. An introspective young woman who learned early to keep to herself, she’s never met anyone remotely like the ship’s diverse crew, including Sissix, the exotic reptilian pilot, chatty engineers Kizzy and Jenks who keep the ship running, and Ashby, their noble captain.

Life aboard the Wayfarer is chaotic and crazy—exactly what Rosemary wants. It’s also about to get extremely dangerous when the crew is offered the job of a lifetime."

I bought this book awhile ago while on holiday but never actually got around to reading it. I am now really happy that I waited for a few years to read it as I think a more mature outlook helps to appreciate this book. 

It is a heavily character driven book, that explores humanity, society and war and uses sci-fi as a wonderful vehicle to explore these themes.

First of all, I really liked the characters which is important due to the lack of action in the book. There is a highly diverse cast. Much like any ship-enclosed story, it largely becomes about the characters and how they interact. Characterization is one of the story strengths; through small, focused interactions, almost each crew member is fleshed out fully and beautifully. Rosemary, Sissex and Dr. Chef feel the most well-rounded but I love them all.  Kizzy and Jenks are the mechanical engineers who keep the ship running. Kizzy is often comic relief. At times, Kizzy bordered on the absurd, but her personality stayed solidly genuine and she did provide a few laugh-out-loud moments, particularly her (mis-heard) song about "My Socks Match My Hat." 

I adored the exploration of Sissex's culture and her character. I would say that was solidly one of my favourite aspects of the book. The creation of a culture that felt solid, realistic and fleshed out without huge amount of detail and exposition. It was also sooo different from any human culture but it was handled with a great amount of respect. 

This book emphasizes the importance of respect; respecting peoples’ pronouns, peoples’ bodies, and peoples’ feelings. The representation in this book is honestly unparalleled. From different species, to different races, to different genders, to different sexualities, to different mental health issues, to different bodies types, to different upbringings, to different cultures, to different traditions, to different religions, to different social settings, to so much more. 

I really appreciated how the human culture is as interesting as the alien cultures. Too often in Sci-fi does humanity become a homogenous group with the same beliefs and culture. I really loved how that didn't happen. Human culture has actually been shaped by history. For example, the culture of the Exodus Fleet has a pacifistic streak, which has formed Ashby’s strong aversion to weapons. The wealthy Martians have a superiority complex generations old. Certain sections of humans love technology, Modders, but some absolutely hate Tech. The complexity was a welcome change from the normal. 

Now that I have waffled on about why I enjoyed this book I have to talk about what I didn't. This book while it had many positive features wasn't in anyway perfect. 

It did fall in to being too didactic for my taste. It was obvious what issues where being handled and it didn't leave much interpretation up to the reader, it didn't spark discussion but rather preached. It was very in your face which moral point of view you should be following. There was little doubt as to the author's political and social beliefs. This was a bit of a problem for me, while a book is obviously written and a reflection on the author it shouldn't be so obvious. 

The plotting was also unsteady. A number of readers relate this book to the Firefly tv series, and it's easy to see why; a loveable, ragtag crew copes with various adversities in weekly adventures.

The wafer thin plot could be summarised as a bunch of super best friends have a great time pootling about the galaxy eating food and learning trite lessons on the importance of diversity with zero tension or conflict. The pacing of the smaller on-the-way elements to the overarching story of the big tunnelling job is incredibly uneven. The trip is supposed to take a standard year, but with a couple of very short stopovers, it seems no different to any other time period of the book. More significantly, the ending felt incredibly rushed and anticlimactic, again incongruous with the lengthy and significant trip. 

When I learned from one of my co-readers that Chambers had lost her job and created a Kickstarter to fund finishing the book, it made more sense. I can't wait to see what she does with time and resources. 
Over all a book worth reading and certainly with some very good elements. Not the most subtle or nuanced approach to the themes discussed however. I think it would have been greatly improved with more tension and action that could have provided a backdrop to the lessons being learnt by the characters. 

Age Rating 14+. Some quite adult themes are present. War, sex, sexuality, technology, culture and religion are all there. 

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 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. 

All the Crooked Saints - Maggie Stiefvater

FrombestsellingauthorMaggieStiefvater,agrippingtaleofdarkness,miracles,andfamily.Saints.Miracles.Family.Romance.Death.Redemption.

Hereisathingeveryonewants:Amiracle.

Hereisathingeveryonefears:
Whatittakestogetone.

AnyvisitortoBichoRaro,Coloradoislikelytofindalandscapeofdarksaints,forbiddenlove,scientificdreams,miracle-madowls,estrangedaffections,oneortwoorphans,andaskyfullofwatchfuldesertstars.

AttheheartofthisplaceyouwillfindtheSoriafamily,whoallhavetheabilitytoperformunusualmiracles.Andattheheartofthisfamilyarethreecousinslongingtochangeitsfuture:Beatriz,thegirlwithoutfeelings,whowantsonlytobefreetoexamineherthoughts;Daniel,theSaintofBichoRaro,whoperformsmiraclesforeveryonebuthimself;andJoaquin,whospendshisnightsrunningarenegaderadiostationunderthenameDiabloDiablo.

Theyarealllookingforamiracle.ButthemiraclesofBichoRaroareneverquitewhatyouexpect."Here is a thing everyone wants: A miracle.

Here is a thing everyone fears:
What it takes to get one.

Any visitor to Bicho Raro, Colorado is likely to find a landscape of dark saints, forbidden love, scientific dreams, miracle-mad owls, estranged affections, one or two orphans, and a sky full of watchful desert stars.

At the heart of this place you will find the Soria family, who all have the ability to perform unusual miracles. And at the heart of this family are three cousins longing to change its future: Beatriz, the girl without feelings, who wants only to be free to examine her thoughts; Daniel, the Saint of Bicho Raro, who performs miracles for everyone but himself; and Joaquin, who spends his nights running a renegade radio station under the name Diablo Diablo.

They are all looking for a miracle. But the miracles of Bicho Raro are never quite what you expect."


This book was unfortunately and disappointingly boring to me. Maggie’s lyrical writing style is present throughout the book. The writing is truely drop dead gorgeous. I had to stop to re read many passages just because of how beautiful they where. But I never once felt fully immersed with this actual story. I have so many tabs of gorgeous passages filled with whimsical prose after whimsical prose, but the beautiful writing didn’t help me to actually care about these characters. This actually pains me to say, but I came very close to DNFing this book by the half way point, just because I was so uninterested with the main characters.

There definitely are better aspects. The imagery is really stunning. I absolutely adored the thing she wanted / thing she feared character intros: they were the highlights of the book for me.  There’s a very magical vibe to this book, otherworldly and a great example of magic realism. I enjoyed the scope of the Soria family and how positive and loving their dynamic was. Yet they still feel like a flawed, dynamic family. The trio of Soria cousins are great.  I do really love how Stiefvater plays with language and metaphor; it’s a lot of fun, and I’m sure you could annotate this for just her wordplay till the end of time.There are a lot of great ideas, the emotional execution was lacking however. 

Age Rating 13+. Nothing untoward. 

The Deathless Girls - Kiran Millwood Hargrave

"They say the thirst of blood is like a madness - they must sate it. Even with their own kin.

On the eve of her divining, the day she'll discover her fate, seventeen-year-old Lil and her twin sister Kizzy are captured and enslaved by the cruel Boyar Valcar, taken far away from their beloved traveller community.

Forced to work in the harsh and unwelcoming castle kitchens, Lil is comforted when she meets Mira, a fellow slave who she feels drawn to in a way she doesn't understand. But she also learns about the Dragon, a mysterious and terrifying figure of myth and legend who takes girls as gifts.

They may not have had their divining day, but the girls will still discover their fate..."

Bram Stoker's Dracula is a creepy gothic thriller and a must-read - taking the premise of his brides (who get a one line mention in the original tale) and telling readers their story should have been amazing. There's so much freedom to explore their backgrounds, which is completely open to any interpretation, and what it was like for them becoming creatures of the night. Hargrave has a nice writing style and I suspect she prefers to focus on slow-burn narrative as opposed to action, which is fine for backstory but not so good for keeping readers engaged. The Deathless Girls gets so caught up in said backstory that by the time the story moves past it it's all over, and those of us who came to see 'Brides of Dracula' are left feeling severely underwhelmed.

Vampires aren't even mentioned until page 189 - that's over 50% of the book done before we even get a glimpse of fangs! I mean COME ON. Don't promise me Dracula's brides and then give me nothing to do with Dracula or anything mildly vampiric  for 70% of the book. 

The f/f romance was fine - it didn't feel shoe-horned in which was nice. I liked Mira; she was strong in that silent-but-smart kind of way. Lil our protagonist though, I found her to be completely (yep, you guessed it) boring. I also thought that the romance was quite sudden with little build up. 

Kizzy I really had a problem with though. Kizzy is perfect. So perfect that even when she refuses to do something which could potentially endanger the life of someone she considers family, aaaaall the characters smile and nod their heads in agreement because perfect Kizzy is perfect, and beautiful, and strong, and she is always right (because she's perfect), so we mustn't go against perfect Kizzy's wishes and will just go and nearly get ourselves killed and belittled because poor Kizzy has morals that must be upheld no matter the cost.

I enjoyed the introduction of the traveller element. It was unique, historically accurate and added to otherworldly and oppression motif.  

Overall it had sooo much potential but it feel short. It should have been an intense gothic retelling with complex female characters navigating their powers and powerfully menacing villans. Instead I get a frustratingly slow burn book with a handful of clichés and caricature worthy villans. 

Age Rating 14+. Deals with some adult themes such as rape, slavery and the oppression of minorities and women.