Velvet by Mary Hooper

Synopsis

Velvet is an orphan. She struggles to make ends meet by working in a steam, laundry, where the work is back-breaking and exhausting. So when she attracts the attention of the glamorous clairvoyant Madame Savoya, she cannot believe her good fortune.

Raised to the status of lady's maid, Velvet is given elegant clothes to wear and is brought to live in a grand house in London. But the longer she works for Madame Savoya, the more she discovers about the mysterious world of a spiritual medium. Velvet soon realises that her employer is not quite what she seems and that this knowledge could put her very life in danger.

When I think of period books for young adults, Mary Hooper is the author who comes to mind. I love her House of the Magician series and am also a bit of a Victoriana fan so this book has massive appeal for me. Velvet has a tragic background. Her mother was ground into desperation then death by her father who then attempted to do the same to poor Velvet. So when, drunk one night, he tumbles into the canal whilst chasing her she doesn't turn back to help him. Instead she flees her family home with a handful of possessions and attempts to start again. She's lucky enough to find a job at a laundry although it's so hot and steamy that girls regularly fall ill or die. But things start to improve for Velvet and she's promoted to doing laundry for the more upmarket clientele.

One of her clients, medium Madame Savoya, recruits Velvet, immersing her into a very shadowy world. I adored all the historical detail involved with Victorian mediumship that the author included. I was aware that there were all sorts of tricks used but I was still amazed at the scope of them. One of my particular favourites was the ectoplasm scam - you must read the book to get the full story but the whole thing is fascinating. Velvet is such an innocent at the start of the book; drowning in guilt and grief she clings to the new life that the medium offers her. She's so grateful that at first she doesn't notice - and then tries to rationalise - the oddities that take place at Darkling Villa. Stunning George, the assistant to Madame, dazzles her with his good looks and she soon fancies herself in love with him.

But Velvet's past keeps on intruding on the present. There's Charlie who has always held her in high regard, also the mystery of her father just won't go away. I really felt for Velvet throughout. If she decides to turn her back on her new life she isn't just giving up a job but safety and security too. The Victorian age wasn't very forgiving for young, orphaned girls and starving was a real possibility for her. However, as the plot unfolds and Velvet makes more disturbing discoveries she's forced to make difficult decisions and is thrown into terrible danger. I highly recommend this book. It's full of historical oddities with a fast paced plot. I'm embarrassed to say that I haven't read Fallen Grace yet but I'll be putting that right straight away.

Stolen Away by Alyxandra Harvey

For seventeen years, Eloise Hart had no idea the world of Faery even existed. Now she has been abducted and trapped in the Rath of Lord Strahan, King of Faery. Strahan was only meant to rule for seven years, as Faery tradition dictates, and then give up his crown to another. But he won’t comply, and now chaos threatens both worlds. The only one who can break his power is Eloise’s aunt Antonia-and Eloise has become his bargaining chip.

Eloise will need the help of her best friends Jo and Devin, along with the other Fae captives of Strahan’s hall. With a whole world of Faeries out to get her, Eloise, her Fae protector Lucas and the mysterious Eldric, must stop Strahan both worlds are thrust into complete chaos…

I completely forget how much fun it is reading an Alyxandra Harvey title. Stolen Away is no exception. She writes so easily and within seconds you know the set-up, who the main characters are and you just love them to bits.

Stolen Away is told from both Eloise and Jo's point of view in alternating chapters - something I did not expect but which I loved. Both girls have strong individual personalities and they are girls you want to be mates with. But they are also both flawed characters and it is a testimony to Ms. Harvey's writing that she so easily and so quickly gets you INTO their lives without much hassle. Some readers may think that things move too fast, that we only scratch the surface before things go pear shaped, but that is part of the appeal because we get to know the girls really well as they go through their travails.

Sadly, we do not get to know Devin very well and I had a tiny crush on him as he is my kinda guy. The story, as I mentioned before, moves really fast and yet we spend enough time to develop crushes on both Lucas and Eldric, the two (separate) love interests. Because not only does Eloise have her own knight in shining armour in the shape of Lucas, but Jo finds Eldric, the "enemy" a very tasty young morsel. I loved that there was no love triangle. I loved that Eloise doubted Jo's taste in boys, as Eldric was suitably dark, mysterious and a bit of an ass. But with a reason of his own and a destiny of his own.

Okay, I admit, this is a rubbish review as it is gushy but I just plain loved Stolen Away. I loved the plot, the characters and the writing. Voice is queen here and I genuinely admire Ms. Harvey for stealing me away from the mundane last few days of 2011 to let me play in Faerie, even if it is a bit dark and dangerous.

It reminded me strongly of Holly Black's Tithe but is far less gritty. But all the traits that made Tithe such a good read is in Stolen Away - great characters, strong world building and a plot that rockets ahead. Highly recommended!

Find Alyxandra Harvey's website here. Stolen Away is published on 5th Jan here in the UK by Bloomsbury Kids.

Chime by Franny Billingsley

Briony knows she is a witch. She knows that she is guilty of hurting her beloved stepmother. She also knows that, now her stepmother is dead, she must look after her beautiful but complicated twin sister, Rose. Then the energetic, electric, golden-haired Eldric arrives in her home town of Swampsea, and everything that Briony thinks she knows about herself and her life is turned magically, dizzyingly, upside down.

I was supposed to review Chime weeks ago.  But I couldn't.  I didn't have the words.  Honestly, I have not read a book as wonderfully strange and unique as Chime for the longest time.  I had too many images in my head and too many thoughts.  I couldn't even express myself on twitter coherently.

I'm attempting a review now, so please bear with me.  Or ignore this review and just go and buy a copy.  You won't regret it.

Briony's voice is deeply unique and wistful and strange and peculiar.  We meet her as she is locked in jail for witchcraft, awaiting the trial and her execution.  We very soon come to realise that Briony's life before being accused of witchcraft is as different and unique as anything we may have come across before.

The village she lives in is near the swamp.  Briony has been warned to stay away from the swamp and she's made promises to do so.  In the past she was a wicked wolfgirl running wild through the swamp, listening to the voices in the air around her.  She caused the waters to rise, for the swamp sickness to come, for the fire to happen in the library, for her Stepmother to die.  She's also the cause of her sister, Rose's, unfortunate condition.

Briony holds up a facade to the world around her.  She has given up her life and her wild ways to take care of Rose.  She hates herself for Rose's condition and for the murder of her Stepmother.  But no one knows how her (Stephmother's) death had truly happened.  Only Briony knows and she's scared.  She is living a wicked lie. And her Stepmother always knew she was a wicked girl.

Into Rose and Briony's life comes a young man, a boy-man called Eldric.  Eldric is a wonderful character and he is both charmed and intrigued by both Rose and Briony.  Rose treats Eldric with disdain and shies away from him, but Briony is deeply intrigued, although she knows she must not be.  She is wicked and awful, after all.  But Briony and Eldric hit it off in a fantastic way.  They become great friends and start their own Bad Boy / Bad Girl club.  They make up Latin words and do crazy things.  Eldric teacher her how to box.  There is much flailing about and much laughter.  The romance between Briony and Eldric is so great as it develops slowly with a great many laughs and a great many random adventures.  I love that Eldric remains a true enigma to Briony.  I love that it wasn't an instant romance.  I love that she was wary of him, circling him, like a real wolfgirl.  I also love that Eldric understands Rose.  I enjoyed the fact that they had a rapport and that really endeared him to me even more.  Rose's character is seemingly the least complicated one - she is the most wistful character to me, too.  Her odd utterings and wilful behaviour is that of a much younger child.  That the girls are twins must make this even stranger still as Briony is the one turning into a young woman, and Rose is too, whilst remaining mentally a child.  But then, as writers are often fond of doing, Rose's character is both childish as well as older than her years.

When Rose falls ill with the dreaded Swamp Cough and although Briony's now dead Stepmother had warned her to stay away from the Muggy Mun, Briony knows she has no choice.  She has to turn to this creature of darkness for help.  And of course, we the readers think: what is this girl on about? A Muggy Mun? Dark Ones? Swamp things? Brownies? And then slowly but surely we realise that all these creatures are in fact very real.  Or are they?

We are never quite sure about Briony's mental state.  She seems playful, highly strung, very intelligent but she is also an incredibly unreliable narrator.  And as the entire book is written from her perspective, it is hard work to distinguish fact from fiction or rather, what Briony sees as fact and fiction.  And there were times when I did wonder if she was completely and utterly crazy.  Or just pretending to be.

I've made a mess of this review.  So I will defer to my friends Ana and Thea over at the Booksmugglers who did a far far better job than me reviewing this truly excellent and superb book.  I mean, Ana gave it a nine.  A nine! Also, this is a great interview with the author over at The Enchanted Ink Pot (what a great blog name!)

I know that as an aspiring writer, when agents and publishers talk about voice, and that they'll know it when they see it, they mean Franny Billingsley and this book.  I love it with all my readerly writerly heart.  I know some people may not get Briony's oddness but I suspect that if you give it a chance, you will and it will lift you up and carry you away away.  It took me ages to get my head out of the story afterwards and pick up something else.  The voice stays with you for a long time, as does the story.  It's definitely going into one of my Top 12 for 2011.

Give it a try.  It'll surprise you. Find Franny Billingsley website here.

**Competition News**

I have two copies of Chime to give away to two lucky UK winners.  I'll let the competition run until Tuesday 10th May.  In order to be in it to win it, leave a comment below about some of your favourite writers or books. They don't have to be new / modern writers.  We are always keen to find new good books to read on MFB.