Book Review: Wakenhyrst by Michelle Paver

Published: 2019

Pages: 304

Genre: Gothic, Horror

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"Something has been let loose..."

In Edwardian Suffolk, a manor house stands alone in a lost corner of the Fens: a glinting wilderness of water whose whispering reeds guard ancient secrets. Maud is a lonely child growing up without a mother, ruled by her repressive father.

When he finds a painted medieval devil in a graveyard, unhallowed forces are awakened.

Maud's battle has begun. She must survive a world haunted by witchcraft, the age-old legends of her beloved fen – and the even more nightmarish demons of her father's past.

Spanning five centuries, Wakenhyrst is a darkly gothic thriller about murderous obsession and one girl's longing to fly free.
I was extremely excited to read Wakenhyrst, I'm a huge fan of Michelle Paver's writing style. I absolutely tore through Dark Matter and I couldn't get enough of the creeping dread and icy cold fear that it invoked. When I heard Paver had written a historical, Gothic fiction I couldn't wait to get my hands on it.

Wakenhyrst started out strong, it was beautifully atmospheric with the eerie fen such a constant presence that it almost developed as much as the characters.

The central figure of the book, Maud Stearne is an intelligent and scholarly girl who is dominated by an overbearing father who holds strong views about the roles of women and men. Maud is an intriguing and unusual main character, in turns she's insular and proper and in other she's as wild as the fens. It would be easy to dislike Maud because of her changing nature, and often selfish pursuits. However, her love and compassion for other characters grows throughout the book and she becomes a much more sympathetic character. Her development is so strong it often overrode the suspense and chill factor for me.

I was far more invested in Maud than I was the eerie ghost story that I feel like Wakenhyrst was trying to spin. It's by no means a criticism. Maud is potentially Paver's strongest character yet, and certainly the most multi-faceted. However I did miss the oozing and seeping feelings of dread I had built up in her previous books.

I hope that the next book manages a more even balance - because the bottom line is Michelle Paver is an artist at weaving words and I can't wait to see what she does next.

My Rating /5: 

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Book Review: The Girl From the Other Side Volume 1 by Nagabe

Published: 2017

Pages: 180

Genre: Manga, Fantasy

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Once upon a time...

In a land far away, there were two kingdoms: the Outside, where twisted beasts roamed that could curse with a touch, and the Inside, where humans lived in safety and peace. The girl and the beast should never have met, but when they do, a quiet fairytale begins.

This is a story of two people--one human, one inhuman--who linger in the hazy twilight that separates night from day.

Hot on the heels on The Ancient Magus Bride comes The Girl From The Other Side. Both books focus on the developing relationship between an otherworldly creature, seen by humans as a monster, and a human girl. However, while romance is at the core of The Ancient Magus Bride, The Girl From The Other Side instead focuses on the nurturing bond formed between Teacher and Shiva.

It's a beautifully soft fantasy, imbued with magic and love. Unlike The Ancient Magus Bride, where Elias clearly holds all of the power in the early books, it's clear that it's Shiva who is in charge. From stomping around the woodlands to demanding that Teacher has tea parties with her, Shiva knows how to get her own way. But, it's never in a whiny, petulant manner. Shiva is instantly likeable and it's easy to relate to her. Anyone with children, or young relatives will know how charming a child can be. It's also easy to connect with Teacher, despite his arcane background. He clearly loves and cherishes Shiva, and the way he dotes upon her adds a joyful warmth to an eerie fairytale. 

The artwork is well-matched to the story, almost looking like old fairytale illustrations or woodcuts. The panels are full of incredible details that are an absolute pleasure to explore. 

I can't wait to read the next volume. 

My Rating /5: 

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Book Review: The Ancient Magus Bride Volume 7 by Kore Yamazaki

Published: 2017

Pages: 180

Genre: Manga, Fantasy, Romance

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Lullaby, and Good Night...

After mistakenly putting Elias under a sleeping spell, Chise can't find a way to wake him up! She turns to Angie for help, and brews a potion meant to undo the spell--but the process is so exhausting, Chise ends up falling asleep herself. Upon entering a dream world, she crosses paths with the person she least expected: Cartaphilus. But something's off--the amoral alchemist seems to have lost his threatening edge. Meanwhile, in the outside world, trouble is brewing...on a dragon-sized scale!

Kore Yamazaki's mystical manga is absolutely spellbinding, and this volume is no exception. Volume 7 picks up after the cliffhanger in Volume 6, and soon resolves the chaos. If anything, I felt like this was resolved a little bit too quickly - it didn't keep the momentum and suspense of Volume 6. It felt more like an afterthought before Volume 7 spun its own story. But, that's a minor grumble, as with all previous volumes of this fantasy-romance, I sped through the pages. 

As I've found previously, my favourite moments of the series are the sweet, everyday interactions between the characters so I really enjoyed the section where Chise met up with Angelica and her family. It was wonderful to get a deeper view on some of the minor characters in the series. I also really enjoyed meeting some of Renfred's friends (or colleagues, may be more accurate. Does that man actually have any friends?) and found Torrey to be especially delightful. A nice zing of energy added to an often sombre cast of characters. 

While the artwork is beautiful, it's the strong thread of story and the developing relationship between Chise and Elias that keeps me coming back to this series.

A small criticism of this volume is that the artwork became quite dark towards the end, so it became difficult to see what was happening clearly, but with extra studying it became easier to unfold. 

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed it and I can't wait to read Volume 8.

My Rating /5: 

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Book Review: The Colour of Bee Larkham’s Murder

The Colour of Bee Larkham’s Murder by Sarah J. Harris
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I found Sarah J. Harris's unconventional mystery a little hard-work to begin with. I didn't slip in Jasper's mindset as much as I would have liked, however this could just be because his point of view is so unique and unusual. However as the story moved on, I found myself really absorbing the colours of Jasper's world, and trying to view things through his eyes. It's certainly an interesting perspective to write a book from, and I really appreciate the innovation.

I enjoyed the mystery unfolding from Jasper's perspective, where he is unable to recognise faces or follow expected social cues - it made me view the story in different ways to how I usually read fiction. I also really enjoyed the little moments where the reader could take the cues, or implied meanings but Jasper missed them.

However I found the last portion of the book a little bit hard to digest, I felt that Harris was trying to turn Bee Larkham into a tragic character that we should sympathise with and feel sorry for. But I don't think that her previous actions should be justified by her past. It felt like the book had spent a long period of time establishing Bee's character, only to try and change it drastically at the end, and it felt forced and rushed to me. Perhaps if there had been more of Bee's history interspersed throughout the rest of the book, it may feel more natural.

However on the whole, the character building was strong, and the addition of colours to characters really added a strong insight. On the whole The Colour of Bee Larkham’s Murder was a unique and enjoyable read, with a few flaws.

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