When it comes to fantasy tropes, one of my absolute favourites is the bunch of misfits working toward a common goal. Whether it’s Kaladin’s Bridge Four or Kelsier’s crew (Brandon Sanderson), Alathea and her ship (Robin Hobb), Locke and his Gentlemen Bastards (Scott Lynch) or Tracker and his barely tolerated companions (Marlon James). Something about that group dynamic, shifting alliances, friendships and rivalries just really captivates me.

The Bone Ships absolutely nails that and everything else. The world-building is complex and captivating, slowly revealed as the story progresses and never dumped upon you. The characters are rich, multi-faceted and interesting and the dynamics and interactions between them are what really brings the first book of this exciting new series to life. The theme is overall a bit on the grim side (something I can sometimes struggle with) but the book is littered with enough wry humour, sarcasm, likeable characters and flashes of triumph that I remained totally invested in the trials and tribulations of the black ship and her crew.

The one thing I will say, less as a criticism and more of a head’s up, is that not a great deal happens in terms of the plot. It is largely the tale of a group of ragtag misfits trying, with mixed success, to become a functioning crew broken up by a number of exciting battles and altercations. I suspect that, like the first instalments of lots of series, the primary purpose of this book is to set the scene, tone and give us a little taster of what’s to come. A really, really promising start so I’ll be anxiously anticipating book two!

Probably a 4.5 stars from me.

The latest addition to a series that has very much enveloped me in a warm and comforting hug.

I love these books. On the surface they are light-hearted and easy to read, full of characters to root for and enjoyable little mysteries and twists. Beneath that lies the rich and complex multiverse that Genevieve Cogman has created for us to enjoy with each book peeling back another layer, revealing more nuance, more depth and more intrigue with every addition to the series.

I’ve described these books as ‘comfort reading’ and, though it wasn’t intended as such, it does them a disservice. Genevieve Cogman has created a series that captures everything I love about middle-grade but for grown-ups, simultaneously skipping all the angst and overdone romance YA can be guilty of but also the violence, sex and swearing that often constitutes the ‘grit’ of adult fantasy. It’s whimsical, fun and sometimes a bit daft but in a totally intentional way... and with a very capable, very intelligent and very loveable female protagonist with a knack for getting herself into trouble and back out of it again.

The Secret Chapter was a great addition to the series as the characters you’ve come to love become embroiled in a heist that comes with some unexpected obstacles and consequences. I don’t say much more than that, but this one did come with some very funny social commentary that I thoroughly enjoyed.

If you haven’t already encountered the series, I highly recommend them for an easy, comforting and rewarding bit of reading.

I couldn’t (and still can’t) decide if this book is bat-shit crazy nonsense or utter genius. I suspect it is probably both or at least lurking somewhere between the two extremes. It‘s that strange looking, undistinguishable lump on the plate that ends up being equal parts satisfying and suspicious.

At times I was baffled, at times I was captivated and at times I was just downright confused. A bizarre but also kind of compelling mixture of magical realism, social satire and what I can only describe as literary tomfoolery in a totally unexpected collision of the mundane and the surreal.

Did I enjoy it? I honestly can’t answer confidently one way or another. The only guarantee I can make about this book is that it’ll be totally unlike anything else you pick up this year. A literary experience if there ever was one and one that I expect will stay with me for a long time to come.

At the very least, it’ll look ever so beautiful on my shelf.

Consumption has ravaged the Pinecrofts, leaving just Louise and her father alone and grieving. But Dr Pinecroft has plans for a revolutionary medical trial: convinced that sea air will prove to be the cure for the disease, he arranges to house a group of convicts suffering from consumption in the caves beneath his new Cornish home.
40 years on, Hester Why arrives at Morvoren House to take up a position as nurse to the now partially paralysed and almost entirely mute Miss Pinecroft. Hester has fled to Cornwall to try and escape her past, but surrounded by superstitious staff enacting bizarre rituals, she soon discovers that her new home may be just as dangerous as her last.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I am perhaps more than a little bias because any book set in Cornwall has me already half-sold before I’ve turned the first page, add a dash of gothic, a touch of spookiness, some faerie folklore and a good storm or two and this was always going to be right up my street.

The shift between timelines and perspectives added real strength and depth to the narrative. The atmosphere is utterly perfect (to which I have to give Cornwall half the credit) and Purcell has a real talent for building tension in a totally unnerving, mildly hair-raising fashion. If you’re a dog person, you’ll be familiar with the heart-attack inducing presence of a loveable canine companion in any book and, I have to admit, I was far more concerned with the fate of Pompey the dog than any of his human friends. Sorry, human friends, particularly the female cast of characters who were all really quite wonderful.

Overall, another strong bit of creepy historical fiction from Laura Purcell and an ideal Autumn or Winter read but...despite critic claims to the contrary, it’ll always be Queen Daphne for me.