Review | The Beautiful Ones by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

The Beautiful Ones

by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

My Rating: 

Antonina Beaulieu is in the glittering city of Loisail for her first Grand Season, where she will attend balls and mingle among high society in hopes of landing a suitable husband. But Antonina is telekinetic, and strange events in her past have made her the subject of malicious gossip and hardly a sought-after bride. Now, under the tutelage of her cousin’s wife, she is finally ready to shed the past and learn the proper ways of society.

Antonina, who prefers her family's country home to the glamorous ballrooms of the wealthy, finds it increasingly difficult to conform to society’s ideals for women, especially when she falls under the spell of the dazzling telekinetic performer Hector Auvray. As their romance blossoms, and he teaches her how to hone and control her telekinetic gift, she can't help but feel a marriage proposal is imminent.

Little does Antonina know that Hector and those closest to her are hiding a devastating secret that will crush her world and force her to confront who she really is and what she's willing to sacrifice.

Amazon | The Book Depository | Wordery | Thomas Dunne Books

I received an eARC of The Beautiful Ones from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Check out my reviews of Signal to Noise and Certain Dark Things here and here!

Those of you who've been following my blog for a while know by now that I will read anything Silvia Moreno-Garcia writes after her debut novel, Signal to Noise, became one of my favourite novels of all time. The big lover of historical fiction that I am, you can imagine my excitement when I realised Moreno-Garcia's latest novel would be returning to a time of calling cards and ballgowns.

I'll admit that it took me a while to get into this one, and I think that's because this isn't quite the book I was expecting it to be. With the mention of our heroine's telekinetic powers and her being taught to hone them by a man who also has this skill, I thought more of the novel was going to be taken up by lessons and that Nina was going to end up assisting Hector with his performances. Instead this Fantasy of Manners has more to do with the manners than the fantasy, like a Georgette Heyer or Jane Austen novel with a splash of telekinesis thrown in, which isn't a bad thing at all, it just wasn't what I expected when I read the blurb.

I was also a little unsure of the setting. I couldn't work out if this was France with a dash of magic thrown in, or if this was an alternate France in an alternate world a little different from ours. It didn't throw me too much, and in all honesty this isn't the kind of book that needed a lore dump, but I would have liked to know a little more about the world and more about how society functioned outside of these wealthy families.

Ultimately this was more of a character-driven novel than anything else, and while I always choose character over plot I would have liked a wider plot outside of these characters that I could sink my teeth into. Having said that, the characters and the character development were fantastic. Perhaps it says something about me that my favourite character in this book was the villainous Valérie, who was so deliciously messed up. I'm not the biggest fan of villain stories because I don't like it when authors try to excuse villainy with a tragic past, but what I loved about Valérie is that while Moreno-Garcia tells us why she is the way she is, she never uses it to excuse her actions which, by the end of the book, are downright evil.

It's also a testament to Moreno-Garcia's skill as an author that I initially disliked Hector and the way he used Nina, only to later root for him once we'd learned more about him. He's a character that grew on me, much like Nina grew on him.

If you're in the mood for a Fantasy of Manners/Romance novel, then this is the novel you should pick up. It's a story written with such affection and while it isn't my favourite of Moreno-Garcia's, I still think it's worth checking out.

N.E.W.Ts Readathon | Week #1 Update

If you saw my TBR at the end of last month then you know I'm taking part in Book Roast's N.E.W.Ts Readathon this month, with the subjects Ancient Runes, Arithmancy, Charms and History of Magic. 

I've never done update posts on my blog for readathons before, although I am tweeting regularly here if you're interested, but I thought it would be fun to do for this one because it's such a great idea for a readathon and my TBR has already changed quite a bit.

My challenges (and the books I've read so far) are:

Ancient Runes

1. Read a book set in the past Riddle of the Runes by Janina Ramirez
2. Read an ancient book on your shelves that you've not yet read
3. Read a book translated from another language

Arithmancy

1. Read a book of at least 300 pages The Beautiful Ones by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
2. Read a book that ends on an even-numbered page
3. Read a book that isn't a first in a series

Charms

1. Read a book with magic in it The Obelisk Gate by N.K. Jemisin
2. Read a book with a cover that charmed you
3. Read a book that you think will leave a mark

History of Magic

1. Read a book that looks as though it would fit in at Hogwarts Library
2. Read a book published at least five years ago
3. Read a book over 400 pages long

As you can probably tell if you saw my TBR, I've been tweaking it a little.

Originally I planned to read Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend, On the Front Line with the Women Who Fight Back by Stacey Dooley and The Obelisk Gate by N.K. Jemisin for Arithmancy. However, right at the beginning of the month I finished The Beautiful Ones, which I thought I'd finish in July, and because I finished it in August (and it was one of the books on my big End of the Year TBR) I decided to count it towards this readathon.

It easily could have been my A in Charms, but because I'm on such a fantasy kick I wanted to save the 'book with magic in it' challenge for more of a high fantasy read than a fantasy of manners, and as the first challenge for Arithmancy was simply to read a book at least 300 pages long then I thought I might as well count it!

Then recently I had such a craving to return to the Broken Earth trilogy that I couldn't wait. Luckily The Obelisk Gate has magic in it, so it could go towards my A in Charms!

Originally I was planning to read Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi, Circe by Madeline Miller and Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik for Charms, but right now I'm not quite in the mood for Circe, despite it being one of my most anticipated books of the year, and I'm worried I won't like it if I make myself read it just so I can read Spinning Silver which I'm very in the mood for right now. I'm also planning to buddy read Spinning Silver with Natalie @ A Sea Change this month, so the sooner I can get to it the better and now I can move on towards my O in Charms.

As I was planning to read The Obelisk Gate for the final Arithmancy challenge, now I can simple pick any book off my shelves that ends in an even number and then read the final book in the trilogy, The Stone Sky, to get my O in the subject.

I'm also planning to rejig my TBR for History of Magic, as it's proving a little trickier; particularly the first challenge which involves reading a book that looks as though it would fit in at Hogwarts Library. The only one I could initially think of is my copy of Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb, which has a very medieval parchment look about it, but I don't know if I'm in the mood for Assassin's Apprentice right now and if you hadn't already guessed I am very much a mood reader. This is particularly a problem when the second two books on my TBR for History of Magic, The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch and The Grace of Kings by Ken Liu, are both books I'm really looking forward to and I can't read them and get an O unless I've read something to fulfill the first challenge.

I know many of you are probably thinking 'Jess, just read the damn books - it's only a readathon!' and part of me thinks that too, but as I said before it's such a fun idea for a readathon and I'd love to complete as many challenges as I can just to prove to myself that I can.

So, instead of Assassin's Apprentice I'm now leaning towards Heart of Thorns by Bree Barton. I hadn't even heard of Heart of Thorns until I received it in a Fairyloot box, but it feels like the kind of fantasy story I would have loved when I was a teenager - there are dark elements to the story, but more than anything it feels like an adventure and I love that - and because fantasy is where I'm at right now I'm excited for it. Plus it has thorns on the cover that immediately made me think of Devil's Snare, so I think it's a cover that would definitely fit in at the Hogwarts Library!

Are you taking part in this readathon? How's your progress going and what are you reading at the moment? Let me know down below and I'll be back next week with another update!

Review | Leah on the Offbeat by Becky Albertalli

Leah on the Offbeat

by Becky Albertalli

My Rating: 

When it comes to drumming, Leah Burke is usually on beat - but real life isn't always so rhythmic. An anomaly in her friend group, she's the only child of a young, single mum, and her life is decidedly less privileged. And even though her mom knows she's bisexual, she hasn't mustered the courage to tell her friends - not even her openly gay BFF, Simon.

So Leah really doesn't know what to do when her rock-solid friend group starts to fracture in unexpected ways. With prom and college on the horizon, tensions are running high. It's hard for Leah to strike the right note while the people she loves are fighting-especially when she realizes she might love one of them more than she ever intended.

Amazon | Book Despository | Waterstones | Wordery | Penguin Books

Check out my reviews of Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda and The Upside of Unrequited here and here!

I don't read much Contemporary at all, but I always make an exception for Becky Albertalli since I read and loved her debut back in 2015. Then her second novel was released and I managed to love that one even more, so it was only natural that I was excited to pick up her third novel - especially as it was returning to a character from her debut who I wanted to know more about.

High school is coming to an end and college is approaching, and Leah Burke is starting to think that maybe it's time she lets someone other than her mother know that she's bisexual, something she's known about herself since she was eleven years old. After Simon came out as gay it seems like now is the best time to do it, but she can't shake the feeling that things will change, and not for the better, if she's honest with her friends, and when she starts to realise she has feelings for her friend's girlfriend life gets even more complicated.

I wasn't the biggest fan of Leah in Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda, there were times when she seemed quite nasty and I have a hard time warming to nasty characters, but reading from her point of view was such a breath of fresh air and I began to realise that perhaps part of the reason I didn't like her was because I saw some of my own weaknesses in her. She doesn't try to be likeable and yet those who know her know that she's a good friend, particularly Simon, and I loved her unlikeability - particularly because she becomes more and more aware of it as the novel wares on, and when she does anything or says anything particularly unkind she does try to atone for it in her own way.

My sexuality isn't something I've discussed much but it was so refreshing to read a book from the point of view of a bisexual girl who acknowledged feelings for other girls and for boys. Leah isn't defined by her bisexuality but it's still a big part of who she is, mainly because she feels like she can't tell anyone about it, and that's something that really resonated with me.

My favourite aspect of the novel, though, had to be Leah's relationship with her mom. Leah is from a single parent family and her mom was pregnant with Leah when she attended her own high school prom, but there's none of the prejudices about teenage mothers in the book and their relationship is just lovely. I'd love to read a story about Leah's mom and her boyfriend to be honest, they were adorable.

This is the first novel of Albertalli's I haven't given five stars to and that does make me a little sad considering the bisexual and women-loving-women rep, but as much as I enjoyed the relationship that developed between Leah and Abby in the book I couldn't help thinking that Nick and Abby both became kind of shitty people in this novel. There is an instance where Leah judges Abby for not understanding her own sexuality, which is not okay considering everyone discovers these things differently and this is a big change for Abby when she's always identified as straight, and to be fair to Abby she always apologises when she does something wrong. However, I couldn't help feeling that Leah deserved better throughout the novel. Whether she meant to or not Abby does play with her feelings a little and Nick became such a different character that I was struggling to understand why Simon and Leah were friends with him in the first place - I couldn't remember any of his good qualities from the first book.

Not only that, but I'm still not sure how I feel about Leah and Abby pursuing a relationship so soon after Abby ended a relationship with one of Leah's best friends - as annoying as Nick was in this book, this still felt strange - and there was a lot of convenient pairing off at the end that I didn't quite believe, which is a shame when one of the reasons I love Albertalli's books so much is that she portrays teenagers as actual teenagers and she paints a picture of high school the way I remember it. It's something I've noticed in YA Contemporary in general, which I think is another reason I don't read much of it - why can't people just be single? It's okay not to go to the same college as your high school girlfriend/boyfriend, something, to be fair, Albertalli does explore with Simon and Bram's relationship.

All that aside, I loved the humour, I loved Albertalli's writing, I loved Leah and I'm glad this novel exists and I'll read whatever Albertalli does next. She's still a firm favourite author and I'm so glad that, with this book, Leah finally got her own happy ending.

N.E.W.Ts Readathon TBR!

Earlier this year I took part in Book Roast's O.W.Ls Readathon, a readathon inspired by the exams fifth year students take at Hogwarts, and this August it's time to take our N.E.W.Ts! There are a number of challenges, N.E.W.Ts are more difficult than O.W.Ls after all, and you can only take N.E.W.Ts for the subjects you 'passed' at O.W.L level.

For my O.W.Ls I completed Ancient Runes (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll), Arithmancy (Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo), Charms (The Two Princesses of Bamarre by Gail Carson Levine) and History of Magic (Blood Water Paint by Joy McCullough), so those are the subjects I'll be tackling throughout August with a TBR of 12 books. Will I read all 12 of these in August? I'll be very impressed with myself if I do, but I've chosen all but three of them from my huge end-of-the-year TBR so I'm hoping I'll be able to get a good chunk of them under my belt. 

So, as tomorrow is the start of the readathon and today is Harry's birthday, I thought I'd share my Fantasy-heavy TBR with you!

Ancient Runes

• Read a book set in the past - Riddle of the Runes by Janina Ramirez
  This is historian Janina Ramirez's first foray into fiction with the start of a Middle Grade series set during the Viking era, and I was sent a review copy by Oxford University Press. It looks so fun and I couldn't resist the opportunity to read a book with 'runes' in the title.
• Read one of the most ancient books on your shelves that you haven't yet read - The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
  I've been meaning to read this book for years and years and now that there's a new adaptation on television more of my friends want me to watch it so they have someone to talk to about it, but I can't watch it until I read it and I want to read it soon.
• Read a book translated from another language - Macbeth by Jo Nesbø
  I don't know yet if I'll get to this one because it's quite chunky and I haven't been a big fan of the Hogarth Shakespeare series so far, but Macbeth is my favourite Shakespeare play so I'm not going to say no to a crime fiction retelling. I've yet to read any Nesbø so this should be an interesting introduction to his work.

Arithmancy

• Read a book of at least 300 pages - Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend
  I haven't seen a single bad review for this one yet and, as well as Fantasy and YA, I've rediscovered a love for Middle Grade this year too. I think this will be a fun one to blast through if I feel myself getting a bit bogged down during the readathon.
• Read a book that ends on an even numbered page - On the Front Line with the Women Who Fight Back by Stacey Dooley
  I haven't read any non-fiction yet this year but I keep eyeing up Stacey Dooley's first book because I love her documentaries. This one's actually less than 300 pages and is written in Dooley's conversational style so this is another one that I think will be fairly quick to blast through.
• Read a book that's not a first in a series - The Obelisk Gate by N.K. Jemisin
  It's about time I returned to this trilogy! I really enjoyed The Fifth Season and I've actually started The Obelisk Gate and got about a quarter of the way through it, so it's about time I got back to it so I can try and finish this trilogy this year.

Charms

• Read a book with magic in it - Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi
  This is another one I've heard nothing but good things about and I've been craving some African-inspired fantasy, so I can't wait to get to this one.
• Read a book with a cover that charmed you - Circe by Madeline Miller
  Admittedly this wasn't really a cover buy because I would have bought it anyway having loved The Song of Achilles so much last year, but the cover is absolutely gorgeous, even more so in person, and I can't wait to read this one.
• Read a book that you think will leave a mark - Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik
  I'm nervous about this one because I didn't enjoy Uprooted as much as I hoped to, but I've been longing for a novel-length retelling of Rumpelstiltskin for a long time now and I've seen so many amazing reviews that I'm hoping this will become a new favourite. I'll be buddy reading this one with the lovely Natalie @ A Sea Change!

History of Magic

• Read a book that you think would fit right in at the Hogwarts Library - Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb
  That cover looks exactly like the kind of cover I'd expect to see in Hogwarts. I'm ashamed to say I've yet to read any Robin Hobb but she's an author I desperately want to try and, I hope, love.
• Read a book published at least 5 years ago - The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch
  This is another modern classic of Fantasy that I've been meaning to get to for years and ever since I read and adored Six of Crows I've been craving more Fantasy about thieves. I believe this one also has a setting inspired by Venice and I love Italy so I'm very excited about this one.
• Read a book that's at least 400 pages long - The Grace of Kings by Ken Liu
  This is another one I've started but put aside to try and get through some review books and to read some more YA which I've been rediscovering my love for this year. I've enjoyed what I've read so far so I'd be very proud if I could finish it in August!

Are you taking part in the N.E.W.Ts Readathon? What are your reading plans for August?

This Week in Books | 25/07/18

This week I'm joining in with Lipsy @ Lipsyy Lost & Found to talk about the books I've been reading recently!

Have you seen my INTERNATIONAL GIVEAWAY?

Last weekend I gave myself a whole day to chill out and do nothing but read, and that day I finished the book I was reading and then read two more, both in one sitting, so right now my reading buzz is back. I recently made myself a TBR for the rest of the year - nothing strict, but a bunch of books, including 20 review copies, that I'd like to try and read by the end of this year - so I've been working my way through it.

Now: I've recently started The City of Brass and I like what I've read so far. It's really refreshing to read a book set in 18th century Cairo; whenever Egypt pops up in books it tends to be Ancient Egypt, so to have a book acknowledging another period of the country's history is great. I love books about con artists and all I know about this book is that it's going to involve djinn/genies at some point and I am so here for that.

Then: I was sent a copy of West to review via NetGalley and it was a really quick, beautifully written read. I didn't like it as much as I'd hoped but Carys Davies is definitely an author I'd like to read more of - check out my review here!

Next: Even though I want to focus on the TBR I set for myself, these past couple of days I've been yearning for the rest of N.K. Jemisin's Broken Earth trilogy. I loved The Fifth Season and I actually started The Obelisk Gate, so I'd like to continue with it and maybe try and finish the trilogy this year.

What are you reading?

Review | The Abyss Surrounds Us by Emily Skrutskie

The Abyss Surrounds Us

by Emily Skrutskie

My Rating: 

For Cassandra Leung, bossing around sea monsters is just the family business. She’s been a Reckoner trainer-in-training ever since she could walk, raising the giant, genetically engineered beasts to defend ships as they cross the pirate-infested NeoPacific. But when the pirate queen Santa Elena swoops in on Cas’s first solo mission and snatches her from the bloodstained decks, Cas’s dream of being a full-time trainer seems dead in the water. Waiting for her on the pirate ship is an unhatched Reckoner pup. Santa Elena wants to take back the seas with a monster of her own, and she needs a proper trainer to do it. She orders Cas to raise the pup and teach him to fight for the pirates. If Cas fails, her blood will be the next to paint the sea.

Amazon | Book Depository | Waterstones | Wordery | North Star Editions

Lesbians, pirates and sea monsters - how could I say no to this novel?

Set in a future where the United States are no longer united and so much of what happens in the world is ruled by what happens on the sea, The Abyss Surrounds Us follows reckoner trainer Cassandra Leung on her first job as a fully-fledged trainer. In this future piracy has become a real problem again, so families like Cassandra's breed and train reckoners: sea monsters.

The reckoners come in various breeds and imprint on ships, such as cruiser ships, and accompany them on voyages to protect them from pirates should any kind of attack occur. Reckoner training is all Cassandra has ever wanted to do, it's what she's been raised to do, and at the beginning of the novel she's finally ready to go on her first solo mission. And it's a disaster. Her reckoner is killed and Cas is taken hostage by the vicious pirate queen Santa Elena, who has somehow got her hands on a reckoner pup of her own, to even the playing field on the seven seas, and she wants Cas to train it to attack the very people Cas has spent her entire life training to protect.

This is one of those books that got better as I was reading it. This is something we hope happens with most books, but with this book in particular I started it a little unsure that I would like it while desperately hoping that I would because we need more leading f/f romances in SFF. Initially Cas seemed to get over being kidnapped a lot quicker than I thought she would - we don't learn that much about her individual family members, or even much about her family as a whole - and Santa Elena wasn't quite the fearsome villain I was expecting her to be at the beginning of the novel.

Soon enough, though, the novel evened out into a fun, fast-paced and at times a rather sinister read. Cas adapts to life aboard Santa Elena's ship rather quickly because she needs to adapt to survive, and her relationship with the pirate queen was an interesting one; there's a begrudging respect there between the two of them that makes the scenes they share tense but intriguing. Even Santa Elena herself went from the one-dimensional villain I was initially afraid she would be to a fleshed out and incredibly compelling character. In a way she evolved as a villain the more Cas got to know her, helping Cas to realise that while she's been raised to believe her family are doing the right thing they still train their sea monsters to mount vicious attacks on many people who've turned to piracy because it's their only option - and if this society has forced them into piracy, is it really moral at all to punish them for it?

By far my favourite character, though, was Cas's love interest Swift. Again she was another character I wasn't sure I was going to get along with at first, but I adored that Skrutskie played around with the typical YA male love interest - the brooding bad boy with a secret heart of gold - and translated it into a woman. Swift and Cas both misunderstand one another, they both have pre-conceived prejudices about each other because of their upbringings, but there's genuine growth in their relationship. What I loved most, though, was how healthy their relationship was considering Cas is a captive and Swift is one of her captors. Cas is adamant (and rightly so) that however she might feel about Swift, while she's a captive on Santa Elena's ship the two of them can never be on equal footing, and they can't pursue a romantic relationship when they're not on equal footing. I loved Cas's insistence on this matter as well Swift's complete understanding.

It was also refreshing to read a story about two LGBT+ girls whose story didn't revolve around them being LGBT+. Those stories are still relevant and they're still stories I love to read, but it was a real joy to read a book about two girls who like girls and nobody thinks anything of it - it's treated just like any other relationship, because it is. Minus the kidnapping and the piracy the sea monsters...

The future Skrutskie has imagined is a brutal but undoubtedly fun one. It's impossible not to feel like you're off on an adventure when you're reading a story about pirates, and her worldbuilding is excellent. So much of the book focuses on Cas training Santa Elena's reckoner pup - another favourite character, he's adorable and Skrutskie writes animals so well - and what goes into training a creature like that for these pirate-infested waters, and I enjoyed learning about what Cas's job entailed.

So if you're in the mood for a pirate book, and even if you're not, I recommend picking this one up! I had a great time reading it, and I'd love to see it being widely read by YA and sci-fi fans alike - especially as f/f SFF simply isn't talked about enough.

Review | West by Carys Davies

West

by Carys Davies

My Rating: 

When Cy Bellman, American settler and widowed father of Bess, reads in the newspaper that huge ancient bones have been discovered in a Kentucky swamp, he leaves his small Pennsylvania farm and young daughter to find out if the rumours are true: that the giant monsters are still alive, and roam the uncharted wilderness beyond the Mississippi River.

West is the story of Bellman's journey and of Bess, waiting at home for her father to return. Written with compassionate tenderness and magical thinking, it explores the courage of conviction, the transformative power of grief, the desire for knowledge and the pull of home, from an exceptionally talented and original British writer. It is a radiant and timeless epic-in-miniature, an eerie, electric monument to possibility.

Amazon | Book Depository | Waterstones | Wordery | Granta Books

I received an eARC of West from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

West is the debut novella from an established short story writer, and it feels like a debut novella from an established short story writer. Carys Davies' writing is stunning, and I love how sparse her writing is; each word she chooses is there to serve a purpose but she chooses each one with such skill that, although her style isn't flowery it is lyrical in its simplicity.

That being said, I finished this story wishing I'd gotten a little more from it. West is set in 19th century Pennsylvania, where widower Cy Bellman reads an article describing the large bones that have been found out west. Though there are no pictures in the article, Cy is so taken with the idea of creatures so big that he simply has to see them, so he leaves his ten year old daughter, Bess, with his sister and sets out on his quest, and while he deals with the dangers of his journey it appears that Bess isn't entirely safe without her father's protection, either.

There's a lot about this novella that I really liked. Cy's obsession with these bones and the descriptions of his fascination with them set West up to feel like a kind of 'fool's journey' story, in fact when Cy eventually finds himself being assisted on his quest by a First Nations boy West started giving me Don Quixote vibes. There's something about these bones, about these creatures no one's seen, that fills Cy with the most feeling he's had since the passing of his wife years before, and I loved how his behaviour could be read also as a man still dealing with grief and loss and perhaps even mental illness. There are mentions of him keeping everyone, including his daughter, at a distance for days at a time following his wife's death, which read to me like a man struggling through clinical depression in a time when no one understood what that was.

Having said that, I loved Bess and the sections of the novella about her a lot more. Cy and Bess were both well realised characters, but there was something about Bess that made her feel more substantial to me as a character. As her story went on she started to grow into a little human while Cy seemed to become less of a person and more of a parable of foolishness. That being said, Davies never mocks Cy or his desperation to see these creatures and know what they are. Other people he meets along the way might think he's crazy but Davies never does, and I appreciated that while his journey does become rather foolish Cy himself can never be completely described as a fool because so much of what he's doing is wrapped up in grief and a longing for something beyond himself.

While I loved Bess, though, there were aspects of her story that frustated me a little. I really liked the juxtaposition of her father facing the wilderness and Bess growing into womanhood in a world where men might try and take advantage of her with no father to keep her safe, but it feels like a story I've seen before and I didn't think Davies was really saying anything new. I don't want every story I read to be a lesson - stories can just be stories and be enjoyed as such - but this story is so short already that I thought it was a shame that so many of Bess's sections were taken up with scenarios I've seen before, particularly in historical fiction. There are two men in particular who have horrid intentions and, to Davies' credit, she never writes gratuitously about their desires, but she does write in a way that's unnerving and makes us genuinely worry for Bess's safety. Even so, the young girl without parents being pursued by bad men is something I've seen too many times before, and I thought it was frustrating that the aunt she's been left with is useless in this regard. I would have thought that Bess's aunt, more than anyone, would have been aware of the kind of things that might happen to Bess without her father there to protect her.

All that aside, this is a beautifully written piece of literary fiction and a melancholic exploration of the fool's journey and the consequences of that journey for 'the fool' himself and those around him. I look forward to seeing how Davies continues to develop as a writer, and if you're in the mood for something short and sweet with a Western Frontier vibe, I'd recommend giving West a go!