There are days when you cannot find the right book to settle down with, it is never the books fault-just the day’s. Further perusals of the books rejected on such days at a later time usually indicates a decent book if not a hidden gem. Today was one of those days. I had the time and the energy to read. I had nothing else planned, just light housework which I surprisingly did attend to. I rejected two kindle audio books because I was not in the mood , returned and replaced them. I have just one serious book pending release in the next two weeks to review so I was floating around till I started this book.
It has been a while since I read a book targeted at children. This book is labelled under teens but I think a little below would not harm anyone. It has a very Harry Potter feel around it but has a pretty different underlying magic principle. Sarah is a ‘snipe’ working in an alternative 1800 era England, she is bound to a magical ‘Guardian’ family and her own family consists of parents and a sister(non-magic folk). Very quickly we are introduced to an imbalance in the society at large and her role in it. This suddenly changes, with the discovery of something latent in Sarah and she is now to be somebody different and learn a whole lot of new things. It was very well written and just the kind of light-hearted read I needed. It was not ‘light’ in terms of content exactly, it has underhanded plots, societal peer pressures, snide backbiting and a whole lot of sassy comments and people we may not totally like but cannot completely despise either. The interchanges between all the people involved (I will introduce no one further because their characters develop in pace with the story giving us time to formulate our own opinions) were pretty funny, while continuing to be intelligent. I laughed out loud quite a few times and overall I was reminded of the feeling that I used to have as a child when I read all those hostel tales by Enid Blyton (Just the emotions, I do not intend to draw any parallels in the story itself).
This is the story of an underdog who is given an opening. This opening could shake up their whole system, but if it will, is the question that will probably be answered in the next book that I eagerly look forward to. It is not often that I read books meant for such young audiences, but books like this that remind me that I should keep an eye out for more such books.
Affiliated link : Book Depository ( If you purchase using this link I will get a small amount at no extra cost to you)
I received an ARC thanks to NetGalley, but this is an unbiased personal review
Superfluous Reading 