Early Spring 2024
Young Adult Book Reviews
A Fragile Enchantment
Allison Saft, pub. Orion Books
As a dressmaker with magic in her blood that allows her to create gowns that are the subject of talk from country to country, Niamh is renowned and sought after by many people for her talent.
When she receives a letter from the Royal family of Avaland requesting her skills to create the perfect wedding dress and suit for the prince’s wedding, she cannot turn down the opportunity. She travels to Avaland, a place far from home. In a new country, in a palace where she knows no one, Niamh quickly finds herself drawn to Prince Kit and his cold, closed-off attitude. As the protests against the royals continue outside of the palace walls Niamh’s friendship with Kit quickly blossoms into something more scandalous. At the same time tensions heighten within the court. Niamh finds herself exposed in an anonymous gossip column and she must choose between protecting Kit and his arranged marriage or a future for herself with Kit.
This book was an incredible read. Every page was filled with emotion, and it offers a storyline that is simply unforgettable. The chemistry between the main characters was beautiful and Niamh was an easily relatable main character; it was easy to imagine exploring new feelings and places with her inside the story. The plot flowed smoothly and was easy to follow, leaving me wanting to keep turning the pages and never put the book down. The world of the powerful and the royals was very well written so I could imagine it as I read along and not get confused between places or people.
I would recommend this book to anyone looking to read a story about a girl who gets tangled up in scandal and emotion in a new country while making forbidden friendships.
Gemma Walford
City of Spies
Iszi Lawrence, pub. Bloomsbury Children’s Books
Iszi Lawrence has written several historical fiction books for children, this is her latest. A high action-adventure story set in New York during the American Revolution.
It is 1780, The American War of Independence is rampaging through the country, and Aiden Blaise a twelve-year-old boy is caught up in it all. Aiden is the nephew of a wealthy nobleman, his father failed to inherit this wealth as the younger son. Instead, he suffered poverty and destitution for an accident of birth. In view of his plight Aiden’s father decides to send his son to America to learn a profession with the printer James Rivington. Father and son are both unaware of the political implications surrounding this man.
Aiden, in contrast to his humble departure, hopes to return to England a confident and well-respected gentleman who has made his fortune. Memories of shame and worthlessness fuel his childhood recollections as a result of a fire where his princess cousin was rescued whilst he was left to perish. But unbeknown to Aiden at this stage in his life his moral conscience and strength of character determine a much more honourable path for him to follow. The story includes the Culper Spy Ring, Benedict Arnold, James Rivington and George Washington and will have young readers engrossed. Aiden, driven to gain acknowledgement of his self-worth by his illustrious family, initially follows the conventional route of staying loyal to the king. To the extent of being offered a medal for services rendered to the crown. But reality dawns as he begins to understand more about people’s lives, the suffering that this can involve, and why the patriots are fighting for their cause. A fact he had failed to consider.
Adventure, secret codes, scenes from real life, and personal development are just a few of the themes presented in this book – that children drank weak beer not water to avoid water borne diseases; how books and papers were published; the acceptability of child labour; the slave trade and the plight of the prison ships. There is no better way to enjoy and learn about history than with a good book and one that is ideal for reluctant readers too.
Elizabeth Negus
Curious Tides
Pascale Lacelle, pub. Simon & Schuster Children’s Books
What pique’s your curiosity when you are looking for a new book to read? Does the age-old saying ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’ cause you to look at everything but or do you consider cover, title, and blurb as well as author – have you heard of them, read other books by them? I find that, for me at least, it is all the above. I love to discover a new author, I am often intrigued by titles so I will read the blurb and then, usually if it is an author or perhaps a series I know, I will study the cover – I am usually looking for clues that will suggest to me what the design team have taken from the story and chosen to highlight.
Pascale Lacelle is not an author name I was familiar with before Curious Tides came to my attention and I soon discovered this is because this book is her debut and what a sparkling magnificent story she has woven! This is reflected (quite literally if you gently move the book) on the cover with its burst of silver, the hints of planets and then the blurb. The hints at a story that dips into the world of dark academia, has magical elements and dark secrets clinched the deal for me. But there is more for as the title Curious Tides suggests this story will echo the ebb and flow of the treacherous seas, seas that are about to change the course of Emory’s life. A student at the prestigious Aldryn College for Lunar Magic, one perilous night at the Dovermore sea caves leaves Emory believing her secrets have been drowned (along with her classmates) and discovering she has been left with a dark and strange magic.
Then the sea starts to wash the bodies ashore…
Emory turns to Baz for help. He is the brother of her now dead best friend and someone who is already experienced in the deadly nature of dark magic…he has his own. His is a rare, unpredictable, and beautiful Eclipse magic but it is danger of a Collapse, denying him all the abilities he has been blessed with. As Baz begins a quest to find out what happened to his sister, and Emory begins to investigate the secret-society she considers responsible for the deaths, an uneasy bond forms. But Emory’s path soon becomes even more dangerous to her than a Collapse for she learns the society are thirsting not for power but for her… This quest that is not yet complete…
Louise Ellis-Barrett
The Eternal Ones
Namina Forna, pub. Usborne
The Eternal Ones is the thrilling finale to the ground-breaking Gilded Ones trilogy series by Namina Forna. It concludes the story which began in The Gilded Ones and continued in The Merciless Ones, the first and second novels respectively.
Deka discovers that the gods calling themselves the ‘Gilded Ones’ are in fact parasites, whose ravenous competition for power is destroying the world of Otera. She must now defeat them, but as she and her friends are led to the far reaches of the world as they know it, they discover an astonishing new realm - one which holds the key to Deka’s past. Deka is then faced with a life-changing decision - be reborn as a god, and thus lose everyone she loves in the process, or bring about the end of the world. While there is a romance to be enjoyed in this novel, alongside the thrilling adventure, thankfully there is no urgency for it to blossom before the world - and the story - ends. This adds a sense of realism and allows readers to empathise with the characters and their situation.
The author’s ability to tackle tough topics, topics that humanity has to face (such as diversity) in her latest novel is also commendable. These are issues which society has, in the past, sought to hide or ignore. With Forna’s beautifully descriptive writing, particularly about places and characters, these issues blend perfectly into her narrative. And with such a vast array of secondary characters (some new, and some returning), Forna has made every effort in this finale, as in her previous instalments, to make sure readers can familiarise and associate themselves with each of the characters, and their distinct personalities. But she has also cleverly woven reminders of past events into the narrative of The Eternal Ones, meaning it is not essential to have read the previous two novels in the series. That said, it is certainly recommended!
Helpfully, there is a recap section at the start of the book: The Story So Far, which means both new and returning readers will feel at home with the story. The Eternal Ones is a fast-paced narrative, but one that makes for a satisfying finale to the Gilded Ones trilogy.
Chris J Kenworthy
The Getaway List
Emma Lord, pub. Macmillan Children’s Books
After graduating from high school with nothing but a McFlurry and a stack of rejection letters, from just about every college in America, Riley doesn’t know what to do with her life. She has spent the last couple of years taking every extracurricular class going, and all without Tom by her side.
Tom, the ultimate bestie, and someone who is best known for being the nicest guy ever as well as for his bone crushing hugs, was dragged off to New York when his high-flying writer mum decided to relocate to the Big Apple. Riley and Tom have been doing their best to buckle down and get on with life since fate dealt them a rubbish card, but neither of them have succeeded very well - they are both flailing around trying to work out where they fit into the world, and they need each other. Cue Riley taking an epic road trip to NYC, a dreamy summer of friends, adventures, and far more sweets than a dentist would ever approve of! Along the way Riley and Tom make lifelong friends, learn things they never new about their besties, and face some hard truths about their futures and their pasts.
This book has everything you could ever wish for from a teen romance novel. A glamourous location that any reader will want to visit immediately - check! A whole host of characters that readers will fall in love with at first read - check! A swoon-worthy will-they-won’t-they relationship that will have you struggling to put down this epic tale - check!
Whether a young adult planning your own summer extravaganza, or a fully-fledged adult wishing to return to the freedom of your teens, this book is sure to put a smile on your face.
Rosie Cammish Jones
Groosham Grange: The Graphic Novel
Anthony Horowitz, adapted by Maxe L’Hermenier, illus. Clément Lefèvre, pub. Walker Books
Creating a graphic novel requires a certain skill, adapting a prose book into a graphic novel takes almost even more skill because the person doing the adapting will want to stay as true to the original as they can and yet give the reader a brand-new experience of a story. Maxe L’Hermentier is the French screenwriter who has adapted the much-loved Groosham Grange by Anthony Horowitz into its graphic format. Illustrated by Clement Lefevre this graphic novel is both spooky and stylish and truly comes to life, jumping off the pages with the new, bold look this adaptation has given it.
In case you have not yet read the story it is a gothic page-turner… According to his school report David Eliot falls asleep in RE, has made little progress in maths and does no work in woodwork. It has become so bad that he has been expelled from school. His parents are worried what the neighbours will think and, just like that, David is sent to Groosham Grange. Groosham Grange is a boarding school located on a remote island. It is a place where strange and macabre things happen. David is welcomed there by the headmaster in person because he is as different as all those who are there, he is the seventh son of a seventh son – though he has no idea why his older siblings and six annoying aunts make any difference! After he has signed his name in the school register in blood, he soon learns that the creepy teachers, werewolves and vampires are just a few of the dark and disturbing elements that he is going to experience.
This adaptation weaves comedy and horror together in a brilliant and engaging way. It is ideal for readers around 8-12 years old and when we read it for this review, we loved the illustrations - they are haunting and beautiful, and full of atmosphere. The colour palette is rich yet subdued. The book is A4 size with lovely, thick pages with a tactile matte finish. Young fans of the arcane and supernatural will undoubtedly enjoy this book. Plus, there is promise that Return to Groosham Grange: The Graphic Novel will be coming soon…
Stephanie Robertson
In The Shallows
Tanya Byrne, pub. Hachette Children’s Books
YA books don’t come in small packages nowadays! Actually, they rarely did... In The Shallows comes in at 367 pages, and while it’s comforting to have a good solid book to read, sometimes I feel it might be an advantage to save some of the issues for a follow up. Having so said, on the flyleaf Tanya Byrne acknowledges the complexity of her latest novel, pointing out that it is likely that readers will have read elements of the story before, but ‘this one isn’t as simple’.
Byrne’s previous novels have been translated into several languages, certainly justified by her excellent writing, and the topics about which she writes – particularly those around teenage gender issues.
In the Shallows introduces us to Mara Malakar who is a quiet, sometimes shy and withdrawn fifteen-year-old girl. Together with her school friends she makes up a group of young people whose wider families encompass many different countries, cultures, and languages. This is a particularly admirable aspect of Byrne’s book, with this variety of backgrounds and gender identities accurately, carefully, and inclusively portrayed. Mara has a best friend, Michelle, and they have been next-door-neighbour friends quite literally since they were born. Byrne uses Michelle very subtly as friend and adviser to Mara, especially when Mara is uncertain of her own wishes and loves. When Mara meets Nico she realises that she is attracted to her, but whilst it is clear Nico has similar feelings for Mara, Byrne describes their tentative relationship as ‘maddening purgatory’. When Nico suffers a severe fall, apparently on the beach and loses her memory completely, Mara hopes to bring her memory back, to renew and extend their tentative love, but Nico’s mother is very reluctant to allow Mara (or anyone) to visit or try to help recover Nico’s memory, and indeed Nico becomes increasingly withdrawn and unwell.
Byrne’s carefully revealed hints as to what has actually happened to Nico are delivered like a supremely thought through detective novel, but with the intensity of a seriously eloquent and thoughtful writer. While readers must surely hope for a sequel, could anything now surpass the depth of thought and honesty Tanya Byrne has demonstrated in this novel?
Bridget Carrington
Infinity Alchemist
Kacen Callender, pub. Faber Children’s
Ash is devoted to the science of magic. His curiosity carries him into solitary hours spent learning, imagining the possibilities of practising much higher levels of alchemy. Such practise is forbidden without an alchemist’s licence and Ash’s attempts to earn one have been thwarted three times. Only elitist tuition can secure success in the licence exam, and with Ash’s applications to Lancaster College rejected, his own self-study has not been enough. Instead, he keeps his job as the college groundskeeper’s assistant, mingling small acts of alchemy with caring for the plants that he grows - and carefully avoiding the cruelty of the arrogant students that surround him.
But one encounter seems to shift Ash’s pathway entirely: Ramsay Thorne, a feared graduate apprentice, offers to create an unexpected alliance. Ramsay is unpredictable and infuriating, but her proposition brings Ash a genuine chance to fulfil his ambitions. He and Ramsay begin night-time meetings in The Giddings Library, separated only by the lamp between their chairs. Together they pursue the Book of Source: a long-ago legend from childhood stories, thought to bestow its holder with the most immense alchemical abilities. It is a book, Ash learns, that may in fact exist after all. But competing for its discovery may be very dangerous indeed.
Ramsay and Ash are an intriguing pairing, who seem to clash and yet connect with a strange strength. Ramsay shifts genders, their energy settling and resettling beyond fixed binaries, and she grapples with the weight of a troubling family history. Ash is trans and is a warm main character whose determination and longing feel immediately vivid. Although the alliance between Ramsay and Ash is a risk, alchemy is what Ash loves - without it he does not feel himself. When he stands alongside Ramsay, great possibilities soon unfurl…
Jemima Breeds
On Silver Tides
Sylvia Bishop, pub. Andersen Press
Sylvia Bishop has been writing stories on and off all her life and has 10 published books. In On Silver Tides, her latest, we find a fantasy novel interwoven with folklore and allegorical undertones that will appeal to a wide audience aged twelve and up.
The content of the book is orchestrated by a recurring section entitled ‘The Waterways: Essays on a Hidden World.” These essays include Microbiology, Zoology, Botany, Ecology, Sociology, Governance, Wetland Ecology, Defensive Arts and Weaponry and more. The extracts that we are given under each of these headings help us to comprehend more about a certain clandestine amphibious community. This is the community of the Silvermen who live alongside the homo sapiens or Landmen. Due to the contamination of the waterways the Silvermen live in, by the Landmen, saltwater from the sea is slowly infiltrating the rivers all over the British Isles, driving the Silvermen further and further inland.
As they fight to find sufficient space for each of their communities to live in, we realise that their existance will soon be compromised making their, until now, peaceful co-existence problematical. The essays that guide us through the story were written by a Silverman: Firth Pade, in an attempt to both clarify and raise awareness of the situation facing these two communities. We soon realise that theirs is a familiar predicament to our own - with climate warming and mass migration. Firth’s message to anyone who reads his essays is to keep relationships cordial, improve your treatment of the environment and encourage everyone can be guaranteed at least the chance of survival.
Written with expansive imagination On Silver Tides is an eloquent treat of a book. Its complexity adds to a scintillating plot with a loving home top of the agenda. A gem.
Elizabeth Negus
The Scarlet Veil
Shelby Mahurin, pub. Electric Monkey
A love for Vampire romance, for Vampiric stories has, I now believe, been a part of me for many years and has, like many vampires, lain dormant, not finding any stories to ignite the passion that I had once known, when I read Elizabeth Kostova’s The Historian. She converted me, after all when university students, my now husband and I once found ourselves unconsciously moving from the edge of the bed we used as a settee, right into a safe corner when watching Francis Ford Coppola’s Bram Stoker’s Dracula! It was scary. Then I read The Historian and now I am a firm fan of Vampire stories and I have a soft spot for vampire romances!
Set in the world she created and has built in her Serpent and Dove series, Shelby Mahurin sets The Scarlet Veil six months after Célie has taken her sacred vows and joined the Chasseurs. Don’t worry if you are not familiar with this world, this story takes a new strand and soon immerses you in its characters and places. Célie is the first huntswoman in the Chasseurs whose captain is her fiancée. But not everyone welcomes her into the ranks and even her fiancée is keeping secrets from her, secrets about bodies and despite her determination to help keep Belterra safe she is kept secluded away from danger. Even more so after a night-time visit to her sister’s grave results in her discovery of a dead woman with two unusual puncture wounds in her neck and the presence of a man who seems to be there and then isn’t… With a silver cross she has taken from the woman’s body she seems to be protect, until she isn’t… Another night-time outing, one just a few steps from home, sees her knocked out, kidnapped, and taken as bait to the isle where she must await All Hallows Eve and her fate. Célie is not going wait meekly though, she is determined to get to the bottom of the mystery and save her friends. Will a talking cat, annoying ghosts and a pair of potentially friendly vampires be enough to help her, or will she succumb to the darkness luring her in?
This is a magnificently woven story, a romance, a horror story, an age-old tale of a girl who strives to be more, who tries to fight against the norm’s society is dictating and hopes to save herself, her friends, hopes to do the right thing but discovers more layers of lies and deceit from them than from her supposed enemies.
Just like the vampire drawn to the scent of human blood, you will find yourself drawn to this dark, gothic, evocative tale and, like me, you may – once you have finished it – go on to explore the other parts of this world in the Serpent and Dove series.
Louise Ellis-Barrett
That Self-Same Metal
Brittany N. Williams, pub. Faber Children’s
It’s always pleasing to know that the book you’ve just heartily enjoyed reading is the first in a saga, with the promise of more excitement to come. That Self-Same Metal (the book in question) is to be followed with the ongoing story of young people in early seventeenth-century London who are members of the King’s Men. The King’s Men of course were the troop which included William Shakespeare and Richard Burbage, and readers learn (in considerable carefully researched detail) what a backstage Shakespearian life was like.
This is NOT a boring history lesson! Instead, it uses an accurate and interesting historically accurate background to draw readers into London life 1605. But is that all? No, of course it’s not. Brittany N. Williams has woven a fantasy into Shakespeare’s world which is based on the beliefs of Elizabethan and Stuart people of England, which included many people and creatures we now regard as fantasy creations, from friendly, helpful spirits and fairy people to shape-shifting, violent horrors.
Sixteen-year-old Joan is part of the backstage Globe crew, and one of the many Black people whose families have been taken from their own countries, largely to serve as curiosities and servants to those higher up the social ladder. As Williams explains in a careful and interesting ‘note on history’, Joan’s family are originally from West Africa, and their Yoruba background is reflected in the religion of Orisha which Williams elaborates to fit the adventures of her characters. Joan and her family have been given special supernatural powers by the Orisha, and as a result she has an incredible ability to control metal. As the backstage worker who is employed to maintain the swords needed in Shakespeare’s plays, Joan’s power to control metal is essential.
In this first novel in the Forge and Fracture series, Joan, her family, friends, and the rest of London, face the Fae, who usually co-exist peacefully with them, and who have a special pact with the Orisha. When the pact is broken, great danger faces the King’s Men, and the King and Queen themselves. Readers meet many carefully researched historical characters and we await the outcome of Joan’s increasingly complex love life!
Bridget Carrington
What the River Knows
Isabel Ibañez, pub. Hodderscape
What is it that river knows and why should a river be so knowledgeable that it takes a starring role in the title of this YA fantasy? I was curious when I saw that Isabel Ibañez had a new book What the River Knows and read that it was described as The Mummy meets Death on the Nile… It had my Egyptologist curiosity piqued and I was not disappointed…
Inez Olivera lives in and belongs to the glittering upper class society of Buenos Aires. It is the late nineteenth century and Bolivian-Argentinian Inez lives with her aunt and cousins but at almost nineteen she is not above hiding with her sketchbook. When we first meet her, she is in the old porcelain bathtub whose dwindling magic still provides enough cover to ensure that it is difficult to spot her. She is hiding away with her sketchbook waiting until the time that day when a long hoped for letter from her parents will hopefully arrive. Her aunt may not approve, of Inez drawing, of her behaviour or of her parents but she still loves and cares for Inez. The disapproval of Inez’s parents, her brother and sister-in-law, comes from their being Egyptologists who, at the earliest opportunity left Inez with her aunt and spent as much time as they could in Egypt. Despite her imploring Inez was never allowed to go with them and now…now she learns they are dead and the mysterious ring her father sent her is luring her to Egypt, its magic a strong, irresistible pull.
This is a story of old-world magic which has been mostly left behind by many, but which Inez can feel in her very soul, and which becomes stronger once she sets foot in Egypt, having run away from home. She is determined to find her uncle and unravel the mystery or should that be mysteries surrounding her parents. Despite her uncle’s best efforts to send her home Inez uses her wiles as well as her magic to slip past the infuriating handsome bodyguard her uncle has assigned her. Unsure who she can trust, who she should trust, and how she is going to find the answers she longs for Inez is a strong heroine who is about to lead us into an adventure like no other. This is ancient Egypt, 19th century Egypt. Ancient magic. Murder. Mystery and a rivals-to-lovers romance that will have you biting your nails, perched on the edge of your seat and swooning all at the same time! It is a page-turner and yes, it does end on a cliff-hanger because this is the first title in a duology, and I have no idea whodunnit or why…
Louise Ellis-Barrett