Gangs of New York meets Cassandra Clare in this debut YA fantasy set in 1882 Brooklyn
New York, 1882. A dark, forbidding city, and no place for a girl with unexplainable powers.
Sixteen-year-old Avery Kohl pines for the life she had before her mother was taken. She fears the mysterious men in crow masks who locked her mother in the Tombs asylum for being able to see what others couldn't. Avery denies the signs in herself, focusing instead on her shifts at the ironworks factory and keeping her inventor father out of trouble. Other than secondhand tales of adventure from her best friend, Khan, an ex-slave, and caring for her falcon, Seraphine, Avery spends her days struggling to survive.
Like her mother's, Avery's powers refuse to be contained. When she causes a bizarre explosion at the factory, she has no choice but to run from her lies, straight into the darkest corners of the city. Avery must embrace her abilities and learn to wield their power—or join her mother in the cavernous horrors of the Tombs. And the Tombs has secrets of its own: strange experiments are being performed on "patients:"…and no one knows why.
My Review:
This book was so strange to read, and so enjoyable! I loved the setting, the industrial New York, and while it was dark and creepy, that just added atmosphere that the writing started. They worked wonderfully together!
I had a bit of a tough time getting into this book. The beginning was strange and confusing because Avery herself didn't know what was going on. The middle was interesting but a bit slow. The ending, yeah, the ending was the star of the show, so much happened, both in reveals and in the action!
The author made a note that she used the slur name for the Roma in this book because it was historically accurate. I'm sure that's true, but it's a still a slur in our time when the book is being read. A better choice would've been to have it said they used the word instead of dialogue so it would still be accurate but not actually in the book.
The way it ended, yeah, I have a lot of questions. And things aren't resolved with Khan and Indigo, both romantically and where Things aren't resolved, and I really, really want to see them, because while there were some issues with this book that I'd hope wouldn't be in a sequel, I did enjoy reading this book.
This book was so fantastic, I enjoyed it and I would really love a sequel!
Author: Deborah Schaumberg
Read: March 30th, 2019
Source: Edelweiss/Library
Reason Why: Sounded really good, and it's a Historical Fiction 2019 Book and a SAC 2019 Book!
Publisher: Harper Teen
Published: February 20th 2018
5/5 Hearts |
4/5 Books |
4/5 Stars |
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