The Spindlers by Lauren Oliver

Synopsis

One night when Liza went to bed, Patrick was her chubby, stubby, candy-grubbing and pancake-loving younger brother, who irritated and amused her both, and the next morning, when she woke up, he was not. In fact, he was quite, quite different.

When Liza's brother, Patrick, changes overnight, Liza knows exactly what has happened: The spindlers have gotten to him and stolen his soul.

She knows, too, that she is the only one who can save him.

To rescue Patrick, Liza must go Below, armed with little more than her wits and a broom. There, she uncovers a vast world populated with talking rats, music-loving moles, greedy troglods, and overexcitable nids . . . as well as terrible dangers. But she will face her greatest challenge at the spindlers' nests, where she encounters the evil queen and must pass a series of deadly tests--or else her soul, too, will remain Below forever.


It's been a while since I've read a book for younger readers so decided to read The Spindlers for a change of pace. Firstly, the picture really doesn't do the cover justice. This is a gorgeous book: hardback and beautifully bound with illustrations at the start of each chapter. Seriously, this is the sort of book that makes me want to push my Kindle under the bed and let it gather dust. It also reminds me of the books I loved when I was little both in looks and content.

The Spindlers is a quest story. Liza's brother Patrick isn't right one morning. He looks the same but Liza can tell that the spindlers came in the night and took his soul away - he just isn't acting like the brother she loves. Liza's alone; her parent's are having money worries and don't have time for her. Added to that Liza's beloved babysitter Anna has gone away to college. Everyone that Liza could depend on is otherwise occupied forcing her to head down to the cellar alone and visit the land Down Below. If there's something I love in fantasy books it's the moment when the main character passes from our world to the other. My favourite of all time is The Merlin Conspiracy by Diana Wynne Jones when the main character is simply nudged into the other world. The Spindlers is up there with the best - Liza heads into the basement crawl space and finds a hole into which she tumbles. However the character gets there it's the world itself which decides for me if the book is a keeper or not.

The World Below is a dark and dangerous place. Liza lands on Mirabella - a rat with an inferiority complex. Once they've sorted out their differences she agrees to guide Liza to the Spindlers so she can get Patrick's soul back. Their journey is all kinds of epic. They meet a myriad of creatures my favourite being the Nocturni - shadowy hummingbird-like creatures who, en-masse, remind Liza of, "black snow." How beautiful is that? Each person has their own Nocturni which is responsible for your dreams every night. There are also scary woods and intriguing beings that made the whole book a real joy. It reads like an instant classic, there's nothing in the pages that would age it. Liza's quest is suitably high-stakes and I loved the secondary issues of missing friends and being aware that something isn't right with her parents. 

I'm going to see if we can get this book ordered for our library as I think it's one that will stick with you, whatever age you read it.

Graffiti Moon by Cath Crowley - Not a Review

I recently picked up a copy of Graffiti Moon by Cath Crowley, thanks to a blogger event at Hachette's offices.

I read it over two nights before bed and if there is one contemporary YA you buy this year, let it be Graffiti Moon.  I adored it with all my heart and soul.  This is not a review, more of a heads-up about the title coming from Hachette here in the UK.  It's not out until July here in the UK, although it is available online from Amazon in it's US incarnation.



UK Cover

 Naturally I can't stop you from buying a copy but by waiting you will find the perfect summer read.  This is the write-up:

'We've got at least seven hours to get what we want before the sun comes up.'


School is over, and Lucy has the perfect way to celebrate: tonight she's going to find Shadow, the mysterious graffiti artist whose work appears all over the city. Somewhere in the glassy darkness, he's out there, spraying colour, birds and blue sky on the night. And Lucy knows that a guy who paints like Shadow is someone she could fall for - really fall for.


The last person Lucy wants to spend this night with is Ed, the guy she's managed to avoid since punching him in the nose on the most awkward date of her life. But when Ed tells Lucy he knows where to find Shadow, the two of them are suddenly on an all-night search to places where Shadow's pieces of heartbreak and escape echo off the city walls. And what Lucy can't see is the one thing that's right before her eyes.



US Cover

It is a beautifully written book - slender and heartfelt, told from three different points of view.  It's lyrical and magical and utterly perfect.  I am genuinely pleased to have read this and cannot recommend this highly enough.  Graffiti Moon rings with true words, beautiful words and observations so acute that makes your heart ache.  There is poetry, and discussions of artwork and of life and it all takes place within a single night.  I thought it would feel rushed, full of angst, but it doesn't.  It's slow and wonderful and magical.  The other night I tweeted that it feels like I can swim in the author's words - and I still feel like that writing this a week down the line.  I can't explain reading Graffiti Moon in any other way.  It's not just reading, it's seeing it, feeling it, sensing it.  It is a gem and has all the trademarks of becoming a true classic.

Mist by Kathryn James

Midnight: a mist-haunted wood with a bad reputation. A sweet sixteen party, and thirteen-year-old Nell is trying to keep her sister, spoilt birthday-girl Gwen, out of trouble. No chance. Trouble finds Gwen and drags her through the mist. Only Nell guesses who's behind the kidnap - the boy she hoped was her friend, the gorgeous but mysterious Evan River.

Evan is no ordinary boy - he has a secret which will lead Nell to question everything she has always learned from her grandmother's stories. Evan lives on the fringes of Nell's world, rarely glimpsed, misunderstood and feared, but a long-simmering showdown between the two worlds is looming ...


Quite by accident I managed to read 3 books, for different age groups and maturity levels, in which fae / fairy characters play a big role.

First was Huntress by Malinda Lo and second I read Mist by Kathryn James.  The third will also be reviewed this week.  Patience!

I found this book "Mist" in Foyles, took one look at that cover and the write-up on the back and knew it was for me.  I started reading it on the way home on the train and just loved how the framework of the story was set up within a few very readable chapters.

We are introduced to our main character Nell immediately.  Nell is 13, dresses inappropriately (read: does not conform to convention) and is far more likely to be found watching others, especially her sister Gwen who seems to the sparkly happy beautiful yet manipulative prettier older and popular sister we've become used to in teen fiction.  What makes Gwen a bit more than just a stock character is that she is more aware of what she's doing than some others we've read about.  She is not an ingenue. She plays at it.  It makes for an interesting contrast.

Nell is the strange one, the dreamer, yet the one who is far more capable than dealing with weird things going on than her older sister.  They come from a single parent family - their mum is a police person and is  tough and funny and a bit helpless when faced with the sass from her oldest daughter.  Their dad is someone Big in the police force too.  There was a divorce and the kids got to stay with their mum.  Their dad's mum still makes an appearance and is wonderfully strange and tough in her own right.

When Nell notices a new boy in school, when no one else does, her curiosity is piqued. She follows him home, through the strange forest behind their house and when she sees him dancing across the stones in the river she is even more curious.  But when he suddenly appears next to her and they start chatting, she is charmed but wary.  When a group of bullies confront them, Nell takes no nonsense and holds them off, with her mixed martial arts skills.  But she notices that the boy, Evan, does not like any kind of metal.

As their strange friendship grows, Nell finds that occasionally she doubts Evan's existence, until she looks at her phone and there he is, clear as day.  Odd things are happening all over town too.  The electricity seems to be playing up and all around the country, in fact, there are back outs and shortages.  The police aren't entirely sure what's going on either - as much as they try and track down the culprits messing around with the power stations, they can't find anyone or proof that someone is messing around with it.

When Gwen decides to have her birthday party in the nearby forest, Evan warns Neill to tell Gwen not to be stupid.  Partying in the forest will attract unwanted attention.  But Gwen has her own way and the party goes ahead.  And when she is taken from the party, by a mysterious older boy and a vicious wolf, it is up to Nell to figure out exactly what is going on.

Mist wanders between dreamy writing and the edge of horror.  The author seems self-assured as she creates the world and introduces us to the odd relationship between our world and the world rubbing shoulders with our own.  Even is obviously not human and the boy who takes Gwen is his older brother who is psychologically unstable.  And yet, you can't help but feel so much empathy for both Evan and his brother Fen.  They are doing their utmost to look after their own small community and as Nell comes to understand what really is at stake, she has interesting and difficult moral choices to make.

I genuinely enjoyed Mist.  I read it in a few sittings (it was bed-time reading) and think that younger teen readers would love it too.  In fact, I think reluctant readers would easily be caught up in Nell's story and there is just enough otherness about it to make it something different.  I fell for Nell and think she's a great character. With a heart of gold and a tough attitude when needs be, she is intelligent and resourceful, stubborn and someone I would like to call a friend and more importantly, someone I can identify with, even though we are obviously many years apart in age.

I am however worried that the cover - as gorgeous as it is - may put off boy-readers because I think this would suit boy-readers to a T.  There is action, adventure, a quest and a bigger story than can be found in Mist.  Frost, the follow-up novel is due for release next year and I cannot wait! Having read Mist and become so involved with the story, I have to know what Nell is going to do next.  I know what I'd like her to do...but what choices will she make and how will it not just affect her, but her family and especially her grandmother?

A great many questions to be answered and I'll be here, waiting...

Find Kathryn James' website here.  Mist is out now from Hodder Children.