Megge of Bury Down by Rebecca Kightlinger

I read it as an: ARC

Source: HNS

Length: 252 pp

Publisher: Zumaya Arcane

Year: 2018

In Kightlinger’s debut novel, Megge is a woman of Bury Down, a small village in the medieval Cornish countryside. To an outside observer, her life may seem ordinary enough. She lives with her mother, aunt, cousin, and great aunts, working as healers and tending their sheep. However, she is actually the latest in a long line of hedgewitches. When it is Megge’s turn to learn the secrets of her mother’s magical book on her sixth birthday, it calls her a murderer. Terrified, Megge refuses to have anything to do with her family’s traditions. Instead, she learns the trades of weaver and herder. However, when a horrific event takes place, Megge is forced to follow tradition and fight to keep the book out of the hands of wicked people.

There are many things to enjoy in this novel. The main characters all have depth and complexity, though a bit more character development is warranted since the novel covered many years. The descriptions of medieval life were adequate, but better-fleshed-out detail would have added to the atmosphere. The recurring theme “What people can’t see, they fear; what they fear, they hurt” was woven skillfully throughout the narrative. The plot, unfortunately, was quite slow-moving. While this is not a problem in itself, it is when nothing really advances the storyline. A lot of back story doled out piecemeal made for a somewhat choppy read.

Another quibble I had was the age range of the book. Megge is six when we meet her, and 13 by the end. Based on the characters’ ages, I’d say this is suitable for middle grade readers but given the violent content and slow pacing, the book is for adults (and is marketed as such). However, many adult readers may struggle to identify with such a young protagonist. The novel was enjoyable enough, but ultimately, I wanted to like it more than I actually did.

The Death Beat by Fiona Veitch Smith

I read it as an: ARC

Source: HNS

Length: 336 pp

Publisher: Lion Fiction

Year: 2018

In this third installment of the Poppy Denby Investigates series, our titular heroine, burgeoning reporter Poppy Denby begins the novel enraged with her editor, Rollo Rolandson. He made a bet – and lost – that an editor from the NYT could increase the ad revenues of Rollo’s London-based The Daily Globe newspaper within three months. If he does, the new editor can buy 60% of the shares of the paper, effectively forcing Rollo out of the position of managing editor. During the three months the interim editor is trying to improve The Globe (and surely none of Rollo’s staff would sabotage his efforts…), Rollo leaves London as part of the terms of his lost bet; he takes Poppy along with him because since she’s been at the paper, ad revenues have gone way up and he doesn’t want her making money for the temporary editor. While they are in New York, they stumble upon a puzzle they have to solve involving human trafficking, forced prostitution, and immigration. Somehow linked is the murder of a New York socialite in his penthouse. Poppy and Rollo can’t let it go until they figure it out and get the inside scoop ahead of their competition in the cutthroat game of investigative reporting.

As with the previous two novels in the series, this was taut and entertaining. I liked Poppy’s development from the earlier books as well. She’s always been somewhat torn between the way she was raised as the daughter of a Methodist minister and her own desires as a career-minded young woman in the 1920s. Her inner conflict felt more pronounced to me in this book. Poppy had enlightened standards for how women should be treated that deviated quite a bit from her very traditional, conservative upbringing, which at times causes her stress. It fit in well with the blossoming awareness people were gaining about the conditions of immigrants or people forced to work in sweatshops or forced into prostitution. While it was fun to see 1920s New York, I confess I missed London. In any case, it was an exciting, well written story and a good addition to the series. Recommended.

The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald

I read it as an: audiobook

Narrator: Frederick Davidson

Source: library

Length: 05:00:00

Publisher: Blackstone Audio

Year: 1872 (originally pubbed, obviously not the audiobook version)

Irene is a princess, and a very sheltered one at that. She lives in a castle in a mountain, unaware much of the world outside, or of what the night sky looks like, or that there are goblins living underneath the castle. She isn’t allowed outside after dark because the goblins come out then, and the castle staff are under orders by her father to keep her safe by keeping her ignorant of the existence of the goblins. When she is trapped inside one day because of rain, she discovers a door in her room which leads up to a garret room. In the room is an old woman who doesn’t always look old. She is Irene’s many-times-great grandmother, who may or may not be some kind of faerie. The grandmother teaches Irene about her name and how to believe without seeing (which made me twitch but whatever) and that not everyone in the castle would see her if Irene showed them the garret room. Eventually, Irene meets a miner’s son, Curdie, when she and her nurse get caught outside at night and become lost. Curdie saves them from the goblins and he and Irene become friends. When the goblins later capture Curdie, Irene goes to her grandmother for help and goes on a quest to rescue him.

This children’s novel actually has quite a lot going on in it. It’s been described by Tolkien himself as a source book for The Hobbit. The argument can be made that it is in part a discussion of post colonialism, since Irene and her people moved in on the goblins’ territory and made them have to leave their homes because of it. It is also very much a hero’s quest, since Irene goes on her quest to save Curdie, growing as an individual in the process. She becomes a young woman rather than a child by the end of the book because of her experiences. I wrote a paper for a class about the quest, actually, which I posted here.

I listened to the audiobook version of this, which I got from the library. If I hadn’t, I am not sure I could have made it all the way through the book. The story itself was fun enough and I obviously found enough worth talking about to write a short paper about it. But OMG I absolutely HATED the narrator. The narrator was sooooooooooo intrusive and condescending and obnoxious. I initially tried to eyeball read this and found myself rolling my eyes too much to pay attention because the narrator was so annoying. So I tried the audio version, because I HAD to read it somehow, and that was a little more tolerable, more like an old, out of touch person who just doesn’t know any better talking and so I could ignore it easier. It was impossible to ignore while reading because I couldn’t not see it.

Overall, I could see how this might be a source book for Tolkien, though I am glad he didn’t take the narration style too much to heart. I never could have got through LOTR if he was as annoying as MacDonald’s narrator. I think my daughter will enjoy this story, for Irene is a strong female character, despite the strong traditional gender roles.

The random.org gods have spoken and the winner of the Tor Books/Jacqueline Carey Starless swag bag giveaway is…

TIFFANY B!

Please email me so I can get your info to the Tor Books publicist so she can send your loot to you!

Exit West  by Mohsin Hamid

I read it as an: audiobook

Narrator: Mohsin Hamid

Source: library

Length: 4 hrs 42 min

Publisher: Penguin Audio

Year: 2017

Exit West takes place initially in an unnamed country that begins peaceful and then erupts into violence and warfare. Though it is explicitly not named, I read it to be a place like Syria, though really it is so politically relevant that pretty much anywhere in the world could be the setting. The narrative follows Saeed, a fairly traditional and sweet young man, and Nadia, a feisty and independent young woman. They meet in a class they are taking together and begin a relationship. When their city breaks out into violence, Nadia and Saeed are torn as to whether they should stay, or if they will try to escape. Then they learn about mysterious doors that are opening around the city which will whisk people away to faraway places of safety. However, the doors are usually found quickly and are heavily guarded, either by the military and thus forbidden, or by the rebels and thus exorbitantly expensive to get through. Nadia and Saeed eventually decide to try their luck with the doors and flee the city, joining the flood of refugees worldwide, not knowing where the door will take them or if what they find on the other side will be worse than what they left behind. Continue reading “Exit West” →