So I was offered this book for free in return for a review and for the first time in a very long time I accepted. Why ? Well, the premise intrigued me. Frankie Meyers, has a sad history, and one day while trying to Escape it in the Temple Bar (Dublin, Ireland) she is pulled into a magical world that she may be the saviour of or its destructor.

This is the basic premise of most epic fantasy adventures? Right? Lord of the Rings, Wheel of Time and even Harry Potter. It is explored again and again – so what could Beth Doyle bring to the page that others haven’t?

1. A Wonderful prose style that I simply could not get enough of:

“But the rain stutters, spits, and stops; the wind staggers and
slows; the lightning falters and the thunder chokes. The world
becomes like a candle snuffed, and she is left pinned in a time and
landscape that has slipped between the cracks. She isn’t dead –
neither sea, wind, nor fire would let her go so easily – but she isn’t
some breathing thing either, she is the very beginning and the very
end, and the collapsing world has fallen silent in her reckoning.”


2. There is a wicked self-deprecating humour throughout and a cup of tea is not the answer it was once cracked up to be :

“A cup of tea can’t save the world,” she answers, her chest
tightening. “And if I seem a bit wound up, it’s probably because
the world needs saving and all you’re giving me is tea.”

3. Frankie has feelings for and experiences of Dublin similar to my own .

“The city, the people – brooding, brilliant, laughing, scowling,
hurrying, strolling, she had forgotten how diverse this world can
be, who has ever heard of monotony? It’s a shock of fresh air, it’s
the most familiar thing in the world – the hours bleed into one
another, and the world is tolerable, bewildering, for the first time
in a long while.”

Now take these descriptions of the real world and extend them into the descriptions of magical world that lies beneath.

“They keep running through this city where magic is a normality, through narrow alleys and down wide streets of apartment blocks, never pausing to take in the washing lines strung between buildings being used as tightropes by small children, who shriek in delight when they fall and sprout wings before they hit the ground, or the horses pulling carriages that snort small puffs of fire at the buzzing, colourful flies sparking at them like a live wire. They just run and, surrounded by confounding impossibilities and bizarre sights, nothing has ever seemed so simple.”

4. Mathew Morrow an Irregular (think Muggle in HarryPotterdom) and one of the best side kicks I have read in a while is always seems to be found either reading a book, book shopping or in the library when the action kicks off.

5. Characters are big and bold and leap of the page. I am particularly found of Tamara Catch and the ability to adopt any personality in any given situation. The pairings of the bad guys was an interesting choice to.

After 5 I have run out of fingers and I am confused as to why you are still reading this. If you decide to pick this up I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.

Oh and it ends on a cliff hanger ...