3.5 stars really. I was expecting a full novel but this is either a novella or a short YA book. The set up is pretty intriguing. In 1850 London, magic exists and those who have the talent are highly sought after. So much so that if/when talent is reported the Royal Society of Esoteric Arts shows up to check things out. IF the report is false, the maker is punished. If it’s accurate, the talented person is taken from their family for training. Once educated […]
Harry Potter Goes to Ms Peregrine’s
I was reminded of a cross between Hogwarts and Miss Peregrine’s schools. After her mother catches her floating in her sleep, Amy is sent to an all-girls boarding school, Drearcliff-Grange, that she discovers is actually intended for girls with special abilities like her, and/or daughters of famous criminals, scientists, and magicians. The school is divided up into houses as in Harry Potter, but unlike Harry Potter, these houses are named for Shakesperean ladies: Viola, Goneril, Desdemona, Tamora, and Ariel (even though Prospero’s spirit is referred […]
Her life was no more than a ghostly pageant of exhausted endurance
In spite of this having been on a number of “best of 2016” lists, I walked into this book completely blind, and was fully shocked, disturbed, and yet driven by it. It’s a really tough read, not just psychologically, but because it’s brutally graphic in a way that doesn’t exactly require a warning, but is unusual for a Western reader used to a vaseline’d lens covering sex and violence. I really loved this, and it continues to haunt me a little bit. I can’t imagine […]
The way audiobooks should be
This is an awesome audiobook production! Tamora Pierce, the author, reads the narration, but all of the characters have different actors who voice them. And they do an awesome job! (Honestly, Tamora Pierce sounds a little stodgy, like she’s reading to a child, and you can tell she’s very deliberate with her words and annunciation. But hey, she’s not a voice actor, and it creates a noticeable difference between the narration and the actors. And you get used to it!) (In listening to the interview at […]
“I fear I may be forced to declare ‘shenanigans’!”
This is funny, guys! And well-written! (At least to me it is.) We have R. F. Jackaby, an American Sherlock type who can see things that others can’t. Not just notice things others don’t, but things others physically cannot comprehend. There’s magic here, and Jackaby has a gift. And just like Sherlock, a lot of people thing Jackaby is crazy. Or on drugs. “All the world’s a stage, as they say, and I seem to have the only seat in the house with view behind […]
Evil Stone of DOOOOOOOM
I am finding myself feeling rather lackluster about this book. I liked it, it was fine if predictable, but I think I was expecting a lot more and it’s just not there. This is going to be one of those reviews that sounds a lot more negative than I actually feel about the book. I did like it, I’m going to read the next books, but I can’t work up to the level of excitement that I feel has surrounded the book. The premise of […]