review: crown of feathers by nicki pau preto

Title: Crown of Feathers

Author: Nicki Pau Preto

Release Date: February 12th 2019 (US)/April 25th 2019 (UK)

Publisher: Simon Pulse/Ink Road

Pages: 496

Rating:

 

 

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Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Crown of Feathers follows the point of view of three characters in the aftermath of a large bloody civil war that had people with the ability to communicate with animals (animages) villianised and the powerful warriors, Phoenix Riders, to be completely wiped out.

Or so it was thought.

Nicki Pau Preto’s writing is easy to read and wraps you completely in this new world of her creation. The pacing of the plot and the character development was well done, each character seeing the story from completely different parts of life and each twining together to create this detailed story.

The three main characters are Veronkya, a girl who dreams of becoming a Phoenix Rider; Tristan, part of the resistance, and Sev, a solider for the Empire who has much more to his story than it seems. I adored each of them. Sev was complicated with conflicting thoughts surrounding his current duty and his place in the world. Veronyka is someone who has always been at odds with her much colder twin sister, Val, and her story is one of finding her own footing and deciding on her own future. Tristain is weighed down with expectations and his own ambitions and fear, and over the course of the story, he fights to overcome them.

I loved reading each of their stories and when they overlapped and weaved together when you understood how connected they were, it just made it so much more enjoyable to read.

While this book focuses on current events and how they affect these characters, the importance of the past and how it affects everyone is obvious. The civil war, known as the Blood War in the book, the one of battling sisters sixteen years before and the tragic events that lead to the ending, is incredibly important and influences every event and every character that you meet.

The importance of this is shown at the end of each chapter, where an extract from a book about Phoenix Riders and the history of the world, or a letter from one sister to another, is placed to just enrich this world all the more. It’s such a good way to get worldbuilding and other important information across, without slowing down the pace of the book.

And as for the big reveal at the end of the book? Goddamn, I am excited for the second book in this duology.

I don’t think I had any complaints about this book. There were aspects of the story that had more tell than show, particularly in the characters’ thought processes, but honestly, that didn’t take away anything for me.

Crown of Feathers is a book with a rich world, engaging characters, and fantastic writing. I really enjoyed my time reading this book and I can’t wait to finish reading the story of the Phoenix Riders whenever the second book is released.

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Have you read Crown of Feathers? If you haven’t, has this review made you want to pick the book up or not? Let me know what you think in the comments!

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books i should have reviewed ages ago but didn’t – whoops

Okay, so, sometimes time runs away from us – it just seemed to happen to me a lot in 2018. I had a long reading slump, I had other commitments (the last submission for my master’s degree especially taking up so much of my time and energy) and as a result, I didn’t review as many books as I had planned to last year.

Since it’s the beginning of 2019, and since most of these reviews were half written anyway, I decided to combine them together into a single post that truly demonstrated my reviewing failure of the year.

So here are six books that I should have reviewed ages ago but didn’t – whoops!

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The Wicked Deep by Shea Ernshaw

Wicked Deep was a wonderfully dramatic and beautifully written novel. It follows Penny Talbot, who lives in a town cursed to have the spirits of three sister witches return to get their revenge – by taking the lives of three boys before the summer is up. It is full of twists and turns, unexpected surprises and some beautifully eloquent writing. I adored this book so much, it may be one of my favourite reads of the year, and if you haven’t checked this out, I would totally advise that you do as soon as possible!

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Legendary by Stephanie Garber

Legendary is the sequel to Caraval (the first book review I ever wrote for this blog) and follows Scarlett’s sister, Donatella (better known as Tella) as she investigates what happened to her mother all those years ago whilst the aftermath of the previous Caraval game complicates matters. I found this book even more enjoyable than Caraval as it expanded the story, answered a lot of the questions I had and gave us insight to a complex character that didn’t get a lot of time in the first book. If you enjoyed Caraval, or perhaps even wanted more than the original story, Legendary does deliver.

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Between The Blade and The Heart by Amanda Hocking

This is a book about valkyries and I love valkyries. Set in a modern world where supernatural creatures live among us, this follows the story of Malin, a valkyrie in training who must deal with the consequences of a choice her mother made decades before. I thoroughly enjoyed this book whilst reading it, although in retrospect it wasn’t as much as a striking tale as it could have been. I liked Amanda Hocking’s writing style, it was fast-paced and easy to read, and the world she wrote about was immersive enough to keep you reading. I haven’t read the sequel yet, but I do have plans to in the future, just to see how this story ends.

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October Is The Coldest Month by Christoffer Carlsson

A snapshot of a moment after a murder and the teenage girl that gets washed up in it. A really quick read. Attempts to deal with serious issues such as sexual assault and trauma, and has varying degrees of success. Sexualisation of the main character – a young teenage girl – is frequent and uncomfortable in places. Overall, an interesting book that was quick to read and had a decent murder mystery within.

 

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The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

A favourite of many, I finally got to read The Night Circus and it became immediately obvious why this book is so beloved. Morgenstern’s writing is detailed and precise. The world of the circus was incredible and the concept of the game of magic within the circus tent is very well executed. Because of how expansive this world was, it was quite slow going in places and the build-up took a really long time to actually finish building. It took over half of the book for me to actually be invested in what was happening but once I was, I did enjoy what I read. I can see it as the original circus based book that other circus based books have branched from and I appreciate that.

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The Gold-Son by Carrie Anne Noble

Written as if it were a fairytale, The Gold-Son encompasses all the things that make a fairytale something beloved. It’s easy to read and enjoyable most of the way through, A story about Leprechauns is completely unique in the YA Fantasy market and definitely takes all these old ideas about the mythical species and making this something new and yet familiar. There were only two downsides – the tropes of the romance and the fact that the main focus of the book Tommin is overshadowed by second protagonist Eve – she was far more interesting and honestly should have taken the lead in how the story was told. Despite this, if you want something new and simple and fairy tale inspired, this is a book that is worth you trying.

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Have you ever fallen behind in reviewing? Have you read any of the books mentioned above? I’d love to hear what you thought about them (and how you cope when you have a lot of work to do). Leave your comment down below!

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bullet-point review: the twisted tree by rachel burge

Title: The Twisted Tree

Author: Rachel Burge

Publisher: Hot Key Books

Release Date: January 10th 2019

Pages: 180 (Kindle edition)

Rating:

 

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Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

+ So first off, Rachel Burge’s writing is hella solid. Very descriptive, very emotive. Makes it easy for the reader to picture both the isolated island upon which Martha travels to and the monstrous creatures that reside there.

+ The suspense was definitely the strongest point. Burge kept tensions high and you on the edge of your seat for the majority of this novella. Plus the horrorish nightmare fuel involved here was hecka powerful for such a short piece.

+ The mythology and the world = perfection. I really enjoyed all the Norse mythology and how it connects to Martha’s family.

+ I enjoyed Martha’s character and she had decent character development. She went from a person hiding away to someone who embraces who she is, even questioning some of her past actions. Solid growth for a book that is so short.

+ The ability to feel people’s emotions/see their history through touching cloth is ACE. Completely unique, I’ve never read anything like it. Thought it would be quite weird and pointless but it really wasn’t. Top notch ability!

+ I liked Stig as a character! He was mysterious and contradictory and basically left you with so many questions about who is his and what is in his past. Honestly, I wanted far more about whoever this dude is.

– Why romance ????? Considering how short it was, a lot of time was focused on this relationship between Martha and Stig but it didn’t seem necessary??? Felt like it was there because it’s something that YA books have, ya know? It could have easily been a platonic relationship and Martha’s development still would have happened exactly as it did.

– Also, far too short. Burge does well to fit as much tension and suspense and action into such a short space but it would have benefitted for even a few more pages

– There’s like a weird cliffhanger about Stig and it just doesn’t go anywhere??? a few more pages could have solved that.

The Twisted Tree was a good read. It was super atmospheric and I really did enjoy Rachel Burge’s writing style. I loved the unique twists on usual mythology YA books and it managed to get a lot of interesting story into few pages. I would recommend it those who enjoy suspensive writing and new takes on mythology.

However, I felt it was a lot shorter than it should have been and when those few pages are focused on a fledgeling relationship that seems kind of pointless and still leaves loads of questions to answer, it does feel like aspects of the story are missing.

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Have you read The Twisted Tree? What did you think? If you haven’t, has this review made you want to pick the book up or not? Let me know what you think in the comments!

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review: the poppy war by r.f. kuang

Title: The Poppy War

Author: R. F. Kuang

Publisher: Harper Voyager

Release Date: May 1st 2018

Pages: 544

Rating:

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Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Poppy War is a ridiculously intense, brutal and nerve-wracking work with so many twists and turns and moments that made you gasp and wince. It is immersive, completely absorbing and succeeds in keeping you hooked from beginning to end.

I had heard so much about this book before I picked it up. It had been circulating online – Instagram, booktube, other book blogs – and the more I read about it, the more desperate I was to get my hands on it. A fantasy based on Japanese and Chinese history? Yes please! Incredibly luckily, I managed to find an ARC copy to download on NetGalley.

And boy, was it worth the wait!

One of the main reasons that The Poppy War is so entertaining is the multitude of engaging characters that can be found on every page. Rin, as the main character, definitely steals the show. Her voice is so strong and consistent, growing in depths with her journey throughout the course of the book. You understand her struggles and confusions, her anger and her happiness which all add to making the difficult decision at the end of the book all the more powerful.

All the characters managed to have this strength, the good and the bad. The motives and reasoning for each character’s actions are interesting whether you agree with them or not. It was especially interesting to read about how they grew and changed over the course of the book, making it feel incredibly organic and real. This was reflected in the relationships between characters too, friendships growing and enemies being made in one moment and then quickly changing within pages. This also helps keep the pace as it is quite a hefty book.

Another strength is the worldbuilding. This land is so well described from its physical appearance to its history and its people – no piece of information is missed out and really makes these seem like a real place. This is definitely one of the places where Kuang’s research into Japanese and Chinese history has paid off!

But despite the amount of detail, it doesn’t seem overwhelming or affects the pace, which is a real benefit to the writing. In particular, most of the information is given to you in the training chapters, when Rin herself is learning and growing and becoming more aware of the world outside of the tiny town she grew up in.

Kuang’s descriptions are incredibly visceral – which is both a strength and a weakness. Most of the book is about war and with war comes atrocities. Kuang does not shy away from them. This book is not for the faint-hearted or easily squeamish. As someone who doesn’t usually react to such grotesque imagery in books, I did have to stop in one particular section (and if you’ve read this book, you know what I’m talking about) just because the harsh reality of what was being described was so horrific that I needed a few moments to settle myself.

Overall, I adored The Poppy War. I have been in a massive reading and reviewing slump recently, and this was the book that dragged me out of it. If you like South East Asian history, if you like fantasy and magical worlds, if you like epics and character growth, this is definitely the book for you. At the moment, it seems to be shaping to be a fantastic story with at least one more book already announced and I cannot wait to read it!

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Have you read The Poppy War? What did you think? If you haven’t, has this review made you want to pick the book up or not? Let me know what you think in the comments!

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book review: to kill a kingdom by alexandra christo

 

 

Title: To Kill A Kingdom

Author: Alexandra Christo

Publisher: Feiwel Friends

Release Date: March 6th 2018

Pages: 342

Rating:

 

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Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Personally, I love retellings, especially retellings that are made darker than the disney versions of the stories. This is a Little Mermaid retelling but with a brutal heart stealing siren and a pirate, siren hunting prince, and I loved every moment of reading it.

Alexandra Christo’s writing is wonderfully immersive. She describes settings and people and creatures in such vibrant ways that it is really easy to imagine what these places and people look like. She is also good at getting the emotion across. Part of the story involves the main character, Lira, growing into who she really is rather than the person she has been perceived to be, even by herself, and you could really see those moments of indecision and realisation as the book went on.

Christo wrote the book from two points of the view – our siren, Lira, and our prince, Elian. The point of view shifts wasn’t obvious at first since there was no indication before the chapter started nor was there any pattern to it, so you mostly noticed shifts through setting changes, but as the book continued on, the distinct voices of these characters became stronger and telling them apart was a lot easier.

The two points of view really worked in this book as both characters come from two drastically different backgrounds, both having to come to different realisations, that if it had only focused on the mind of one character over the other the story would have been a lot weaker.

The character of Lira was strong, brutal and downright badass at times. Her character development across the book was great as she overcame her prejudices and what she thought she always wanted. It felt real and genuine and in terms of stepping out from her mother’s oppressing shadow, she was quite relatable.

I loved Elian character. Maybe it’s the idea of the pirate prince but his personal conflicts were so interesting to read about. There was so much he had to deal with on a personal level in the course of this book that it just made me want things to work out for him, as a pirate, as a prince, as Lira’s future consort. I would definitely want another book just based on Elian’s exploits as a pirate, both before the events of the book and after – especially because this would mean I get to read even more about Kye and Madrid.

As for the relationship between Lira and Elian, it has what every relationship needs – chemistry. They fit so well together in terms of experiences, wants for themselves and having to deal with the weight of other people’s expectations. Their banter was sarcastic and humorous. Neither bowed to the other because they cared about each other, they were aware of their own strengths as well as each other, which is what made them strong enough to defeat the big, bad Siren Queen.

Downfalls of the book are limited – I can only think of two. The fight scene towards the end of the book was quite drawn out, difficult to pinpoint in places, which meant the climactic scene was, at times, layered with confusion. There was also a limited amount of world building in comparison to the amount of history that the story actually hinted at. It was like just the brushing of a surface so you get just enough information, but the teasing hints just make you want to find out more and, since the foundation of a few plot points is this worldbuilding, it would have been nice to read, however, I am aware this could have slowed the book down drastically.

Overall, To Kill A Kingdom was a wildly entertaining book with fantastic characters. I want more of the world and more of the characters. I enjoyed Alexrando Christo’s writing style, and I can’t wait to read her future work!

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Have you read To Kill A Kingdom? What did you think? Tell me in the comments.

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book review: honeybee by trista mateer

 

 

Title: Honeybee

Author: Trista Mateer

Publisher: Central Avenue Publishing

Release Date: May 1st 2018

Pages: 160

Rating:

 

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Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I’m not much of a poetry reader. It’s not something I can say that I actively seek out for pleasure reading. But I also Honeybee and it’s adorably cute front cover and requested to read with a very vague idea of what it was actually going to be about.

I started reading this on my train journey to work and I finished on the journey home that day. Partly, this is because poetry isn’t something that takes a long time to read and this collection is quite small, but definitely, because I couldn’t put it down.

Mateer’s writing had a rawness and realness that really hit home. It touched all the right emotional centers within me and I could feel the struggle in the page as she grows and develops and finds out who she is without her first love. I adored the honesty that was repressed here, showing a true representation of the grief that follows the end of a relationship (romantic for the majority, but in some places, Mateer also lamented the loss of a friendship with this).

In its essence, this is a piece that tells a story of one person – Mateer’s – attempts at growing up, moving on, finding peace, but that’s not all the topics she touches upon. There are poems that raise questions about the appropriateness of writing to express yourself when you are not only sharing personal details about yourself. There are poems that speak about sexuality; about biphobia and internalised homophobia that trick you into questioning yourself, and what it means to truly support someone. There are poems that make a mockery of standard poetry conventions.

I have two favourites. The first was, ‘For Everyone I Meet With Your Name’ – it’s not an overly long or poetic piece. In fact, the actual poem is only two words and yet when I read it, I understood completely the feeling that Mateer was conveying, what she must have been feeling when she first scribbled that poem down. The second was ‘The B Word’ – longer, but just as powerful, speaking about the fear of coming out and the words of those around you, things that people say so carelessly and have no idea. Words that you might let people get away with saying or actions that you might believe is good enough. It’s a section I related with incredibly well.

Trista Mateer is described as an ‘aggressively personal poet’ and Honeybee is definitely that. But in that personal touch, you find a relatable honesty and realness that can be difficult to find elsewhere. When Mateer writes about how another person can help make you become the person you are today but they don’t own the person you are now, you can feel the power in those words and that belief because it is something she has honestly experienced.

I would be interested in reading Trista Mateer’s other poetry collections. I found her writing beautiful and easy to read and relatable in a way that made me question myself. I look forward to her work in the future!

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book review: the hazel wood by melissa albert

 

Title: The Hazel Wood

Author: Melissa Albert

Publisher: Flatiron Books

Release Date: 30 January 2018

Pages: 368

Rating:

 

 

 

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Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I am a lover of fairytales and even more so a lover of fairytales that have been turned on their heads. The Hazel Wood delivers on multiple levels in this.

Melissa Albert writes well. The world of the Hinterlands and how that world meets our own is really well done, the moments where the worlds overlapped making the dangers of the Hinterland seem just that much worse. I also adore the darker fairytales – for this, she didn’t use the classics but instead wrote her own short and twisted stories, dark tales without morality but with all the same whimsy and wonder and blood and gore that can be found in the original Grimm’s fairytales.

Alice, as the main character, was interesting to read from the point of view of. Her opinions, how she saw the world and people around her was strong enough to carry the story. However, the twist about her character was something hinted at during the book in quite a heavy-handed way, meaning that her specialness was really obvious very quickly. I’m not 100% sure whether it was meant to be.

Alice’s relationship with Ella, her mother is amazing and definitely part of what makes Alice such an interesting character. Whilst arguments can certainly be made about unhealthy co-dependent relationships, there is this emphasis on the importance of a parent’s love. All the way through the story Ella is the most important figure in Alice’s life, the one she cares and worries about and wants to be safe and happy, just as Alice’s safety has always been Ella’s priority. It always came back to Alice and Ella’s relationships and I liked that emphasis.

I loved Finch and very quickly grew attached to him. I wanted more from him in the book, to be honest, and one of the things I would say was a flaw is the fact that it doesn’t feel as he was allowed to grow enough through the book, and ultimately, has an ending I didn’t find that satisfactory. Another example of characters who I wanted to have a lot more attention were Janet and Ingrid – I wish they had been in the book for longer.

Mild spoilers for the ending upcoming. It was very sweet and heartwarming, a good ending but in this story with characters who have moralless and meaningless events thrust upon them, I wonder whether that was what I wanted from the ending. However, I know that to end it on a sour note, full of the darkness and gloom of the Hinterlands would undermine some of the themes and ideas that had been introduced across the book, specifically within the relationship of Alice and Ingrid.

Overall, The Hazel Wood was an immersive and dark story, that will appeal to fans of fairytales. There are flaws in how certain themes are dealt with that in retrospect can be pointed out as troublesome, but during the reading process, it was pacey and well written and will keep you entertained.

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Book Review: The Gods of Love: Love is a Strange Magic by Nicola Mostyn

Title: The Gods of Love: Love Is A Strange Magic

Author: Nicola Mostyn

Publisher: Piatkus

Release date: February 1st, 2018

Pages: 320

Meet Frida. Divorce lawyer, cynic and secret descendant of the immortal love god Eros. She’s about to have a really bad day …

When a handsome but clearly delusional man named Dan bursts into Frida’s office and insists that she is fated to save the world, she has him ejected faster than you can say ‘prenup’.

But a creepy meeting, a demon or three and one attempted kidnapping later, Frida is beginning to face the inconvenient truth: Dan is, in fact, The Oracle, the gods of Greek mythology are real and Frida herself appears to be everyone’s only hope.

The world is doomed.

I loved mythology, especially Greek mythology. One of the first long pieces of fiction I wrote myself was an adaptation of Greek myths, so there is a lot about this book that I appreciate on a research level.

Mostyn does herself credit with this debut. It’s a quick and easy read that manages to tell multiple – but similar – stories at the same time. The focus is very heavily on women and women in love and what love means in the modern world. I really enjoyed the idea of Anteros, of anti-love and how the purity of love has been tarnished for humanity. It was an interesting idea to start a story from and even more so to have that story be told from the point of view of a divorce lawyer.

Frida is the unwilling heroine of the story, and it’s interesting to watch her grow as a character from someone suddenly thrown into the world of myth and magic, to someone who could potentially save us all. She feels very real, has normal reactions to events and ultimately, this story is about her finding strength in herself, about her saving herself. Mostyn’s writing style embodies Frida’s personality and voice very well.

It wasn’t perfect though. There were moments that I felt weren’t elaborated enough, whether it be aspects of Frida’s past or big plot revelations. There was a plot twist (no spoilers here, I promise) that felt like it happened in the blink of an eye, and the speed of the revealing kind of made it feel like it wasn’t that important to rest of the narrative but it was.

There were a lot of moments in this book where I felt like I wanted more. I wanted the scene drawn out to fully allow the seriousness of the situation to sink in or to really see Frida’s reaction to what was happening. Maybe it was the constraint of pages but it did mean that there were moments where I felt really unsatisfied, and I didn’t want that from this book.

Ultimately, The Gods of Love is a well-written book with an interesting premise that wasn’t given enough time to shine as much as it could have.

 

Book Review: The Word Is Murder by Anthony Horowitz

Title: The Word Is Murder

Author: Anthony Horowitz

Publisher: Century

Release Date: 24th August 2017

Pages: 400

A wealthy woman strangled six hours after she’s arranged her own funeral.
A very private detective uncovering secrets but hiding his own.
A reluctant author drawn into a story he can’t control.
What do they have in common?

Unexpected death, an unsolved mystery and a trail of bloody clues lie at the heart of Anthony Horowitz’s page-turning new thriller.

The Word Is Murder follows author Anthony Horowitz (the character) as he is tasked to write the story of an unusual murder investigation.

I haven’t read an Anthony Horowitz book since Alex Rider in secondary school and admittedly, I completely forgot that he wrote adult books. But I picked this book, gave it a shot and it was an enjoyable read.

I enjoyed the story and the writing style. Whilst the plot followed a pretty generic point to point replay of most crime fiction books, sticking to the genre and not really standing out all too much in that regard, it was a read that kept me entertained and engaged.

I found the ending satisfactory which is usually the most you want from these genre books – satisfaction.

One of its winning aspects was the character of Anthony – by taking the author’s name as well as aspects of his life, I was often found questioning whether this really was true crime. There were so many points that I would have to stop and question myself or go to google just to find out if someone had really died in this way because the way that Horowitz embedded the story into the real world, into London was so well done.

However, parts of the plot were outlandish and there were some things that you needed to suspend your belief for – particularly how an author would be allowed onto bloody celebrity crime scenes just because a police consultant said it was okay – but in the moment, you rarely noticed.

There were interesting aspects of the story, especially Anthony’s inner voice about the workings of being a writer. He spoke often about the process of writing, about getting a book published and all the challenging parts of that. It was woven around the mystery of the story and I found both that kind of detail engaging and unique in the voice of the main character.

The Word Is Murder was an interesting read if not being all that unique and I would recommend it if you’re interested in the premise or Anthony Horowitz’s writing style.

 

Review: Every Heart A Doorway by Seanan McGuire

Title: Every Heart A Doorway

Author: Seanan McGuire

Publisher: TOR

Release date: April 5th, 2016

Pages: 169

Children have always disappeared under the right conditions; slipping through the shadows under a bed or at the back of a wardrobe, tumbling down rabbit holes and into old wells, and emerging somewhere… else.

But magical lands have little need for used-up miracle children.

Nancy tumbled once, but now she’s back. The things she’s experienced… they change a person. The children under Miss West’s care understand all too well. And each of them is seeking a way back to their own fantasy world.

But Nancy’s arrival marks a change at the Home. There’s a darkness just around each corner, and when tragedy strikes, it’s up to Nancy and her new-found schoolmates to get to the heart of the matter.

No matter the cost.

See, I love the portal fantasy. I have always enjoyed Peter Pan and Alice in Wonderland. My favourite book series will always be The Chronicles of Narnia. So when I found out about Seanan McGuire’s Every Heart A Doorway, I knew I had to pick it up.

The first thing I noticed was how immersive McGuire’s writing is. She manages to cram so much detail and beauty and poetry in such little space because this book is tiny. Under 200 pages long. But it still holds so much weight with me and a lot of that is to do with how McGuire chooses to tell this story.

I en2joyed the uniqueness of this world and the worlds that are discovered within. Not just the good and the bad, with such a great compass line that affects how these kids interact with each other. There are insect worlds and worlds of the dead and worlds of candyfloss. And each of those who had visited and returned was deeply affected in noticeable ways, had adjusted to their lives in worlds that aren’t here from how they speak to how they move to how they think and see.

The worlds that are built in this story and the multitude of them were amazing.

The diversity in this book was great to see, especially because they’re all so open with who they are. Nancy has no problem telling these people that she’s asexual. Kade just is a boy, regardless of who he was as “Katie”.

My only criticism was the length. Despite the fact that McGuire managed to tell a beautiful story in a very small space, it might have benefited from another like 50 pages to drag out the climax of the book. The reveal is very quick and the conclusion is even faster. I wanted to have more time to be shocked and surprised by the mysteries end.

But even then, that doesn’t take away how much I enjoyed this book. It definitely inspired me and I cannot wait to get my hands on the sequel, Down Among The Sticks And Bones.