Magic Under Glass by Jaclyn Dolamore

A confident and talented music hall performer, Nimira is tied of being billed as an exotic sideshow. She didn't travel hundreds of miles from her eastern home to wind up singing for next to nothing.

So when powerful sorcerer, Hollin Parry offers her a better wage and a bigger stage, how can she say no? Nimira has been chosen to duet with a musical automaton, a robot with impeccable piano skills, and is taken back to Parry's mansion to practice.

But is Nimira really better off in Parry's care? Strange noises from the attic, macabre fairy specimens and rumours of impending war keep Nimira from being able to relax in her new home.

That is, until she discovers a friend in the shape of a cursed fairy stuck in the body of the automaton. Determined to bring the automaton back to life, Nimira begins to uncover Parry's secrets and quickly becomes tangled in a secret world of sabotage and deathly magic.

Jaclyn Dolamore's tale felt like a breath of fresh air in many ways. Nimira's voice is clear and consistent. Sometimes she's strong, sometimes she collapses in tears. As much as I love the confident, strong and physical characters so popular in Young Adult fiction right now, I think it's really important to have a wide variety of characters for readers to identify with. Do you agree, or do you cringe when protagonists appear vulnerable?

The truth is, Nimira lives in a world in which she's officially powerless as a female. Although Parry sweeps her away from the leering men of the music hall, as a lone young girl, she still depends on male approval for survival. To gain any kind of autonomy in the old fashioned world portrayed here, she has to display strength. But unlike the Katnisses or Beatrices of this world, Nimira's strength lies in persuasion, integrity and kindness, rather than physical skill or agility.

Magic Under Glass has been billed as a romance but I think Nimira and Erris's relationship is more complex than that. There's is not a simple case of boy meets girl, and although it was touching to see their physical connection grow- all their interactions are coloured by the limitations of Erris' automaton body.

So whilst I'm more swayed by adrenaline filled thrillers like Throne of Glass and Divergent, I think there's definitely an audience for this quirky and charming tale.

Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare

Clockwork Angel is the first in The Infernal Devices trilogy, a prequel series to the Mortal Instruments series (yes, I'm confused too). Set in a dark and eerie Victorian London it begins with the arrival of sixteen-year-old Tessa Gray, fresh off a boat from the big apple. 

A friendless orphan, Tessa has returned to England to live with her errant brother Nathaniel. In his place, Tessa is met by two cold women, the Dark sisters, and soon imprisoned in their London home. Believing Tessa to have special powers they force her to undergo painful magical transformations. It's soon clear that there's something not quite human about Tessa, but how did the sisters know? And where is Nathaniel?

Tessa's London is threatened by a magical underworld of vampires, warlocks, demons - held together by self-appointed peacemakers, The Shadowhunters. Just as the sisters begin to hint at an upcoming forced marriage to their master, The Magister, a shockingly handsome Shadowhunter named Will arrives to sweep her away to safety. 

Installed in the Shadowhunters headquarters Tessa continues to ask questions. Is she safe with The Shadowhunters? What does The Magister want with her? And why does Will mercilessly tease her one moment, then completely ignore her the next?

This is a thrilling, satisfying instalment that definitely made me keen to continue with the series. In some ways it reminded me of the Harry Potter books - multiple characters and sub-plots knocking around a building so old and impenetrable that it's almost a character in itself. Magical beings climbing out of the woodwork and a baffled but likable main character with unwanted power. That being said, I'd much rather have Tessa fighting in my corner than Harry.

There were more than enough twists to keep me reading and Cassandra Clare kept me guessing along with Tessa on which characters to trust. Whilst there are some touching scenes, genuine portrayals of friendships and a little bit of romance, most of the book is concentrated on the action. And this makes it a brilliant read. 

Enough questions were answered in this instalment for it to feel like a complete story, whilst those that went unanswered are intriguing enough to make me impatient to begin the next book. Highly recommend.

Divergent by Veronica Roth

Imagine a world without war. Sounds great, right? 

For 16-year-old Beatrice, peace has come at a price. Her world is divided into factions, each of which prioritises a different human characteristic. Beatrice and her family live in the Abnegation faction where all members are expected to act selflessly at all times. Beatrice's problem? She's human.

Exhausted from constantly suppressing her individuality and self-interest, Beatrice approaches the traditional choosing ceremony. As they reach adulthood, teenagers are required to pick the faction that they belong in. This faction is where they will remain all their lives. No pressure then.

Beatrice faces a decision which is often mirrored in adolescence on a slightly less intense scale. Does she love herself more than her family? Can she bear to leave them in order to be free to be herself? And if so, for which faction?

This novel struck me as authentic, thrilling and touching. It was easy to empathise with Beatrice as she struggles to first know herself, and then prove her worth in an unfriendly world. She goes through a huge amount of trauma in the novel, coming out physically and emotionally changed. But these challenges only strengthen her individuality, and it's fascinating to watch her grow.

The action scenes were nail-biting and believable and all the characters, evil and good alike, had human faults. Veronica Roth doesn't shy from portraying the worst of human nature - but there are also moments of humour, friendship and hope. Best of all - it features a tension-filled romance without making this the focus of the novel. 

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Last night my family and I went to see The Hobbit. It was a fairly big deal – we’ve not been to the cinema together since Prince Caspian (sensing a theme?). I love the humour of The Hobbit’s narration and knew the film would raise some laughs but was intrigued to see how they‘d stretch the story out over 3 full length films. 

And that was the sticking point; I couldn’t shake off the sense of the story having been over-stretched. I tried to sit back and enjoy it- but I couldn’t ignore the fact that it took over half an hour for Bilbo to leave his hole. As enjoyable as the dwarf songs and slapstick humour was, it ruined any chance of Bilbo’s exit feeling rushed. His panic is integral to the story, and without it the plot lost momentum and purpose. 

The action scenes were drawn out and shot so quickly as to mostly be a blur. I’m pretty certain my Dad dozed off for the majority of the fighting scenes without missing much of the plot. As he pointed out, with the exception of the tree/wolves scene, there’s very little character development that takes place during the high-adrenaline scenes. 

It felt like the story was being moulded into a cookie-cut adaptation in order to appeal to an imagined, short attention-spanned audience. Peter Jackson doesn’t pull it off because the fighting scenes are so frequent and drawn out that they loss their tension. It’s blinding clear that all the characters will pull through. I can't help thinking that newcomers to the story will lose interest and Tolkien fans will only notice the inconsistencies. 

I won’t pretend I'll avoid the next two films, but I’m not convinced they’ll be worth the admission cost. It’s ironic that a film about greed has been ruined by an attempt to prioritise revenue over quality. Yes, The Hobbit is a jam-packed book to adapt. But dragging it out over 3 films has meant a lack of direction, tension and purpose. Not to mention losing that satisfying sense of a story well told. This hobbit is unimpressed.

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

The Night Circus arrives without warning. Yesterday there was a bare field, today there is a circus. Nobody knows where it came from or how it arrived. Everything about it is a mystery, even to the performers. Opening only at dusk, the Night Circus attracts droves of customers like moths to a flame.

To those watching, the performers seem to be perfectly in control. They perform their acts with ease and charm their audiences. But beneath the polished acts lie dark secrets. Chosen as the venue for a dark challenge between two young magicians, the fate of the circus is tied to their fate.

Demonstrating their skill, each player begins to to make intricate additions to the circus. As the connection between them strengthens, the pressure of the duel begins to take its toll on the circus. Suspended in this unearthly game, the circus members begin to lose touch with reality. When will the challenge end? Who will be declared winner, and what will this mean for the circus?

This is such a delight to read. The imagery used jumps right out of the page, until you almost feel like running off to the circus yourself. Erin Morgnestern conveys such a physical impression of the circus that despite the supernatural events the circus seems touchable, real. Her knack for using myriad details and weaving these together continuously throughout the book must have taken an impressive amount of planning.

The best thing about the novel was the way in which the circus kept growing, kept being discovered. Each new tent is described with such originality and freshness. Here's one of my favourites, The Cloud Maze:

'The tower itself is a series of platforms swooping in odd, diaphanous shapes, quite similar to clouds. They are layered, like a cake. From what Bailey can see, the space between layers varies from enough to walk straight through to barely enough to crawl. Here and there parts of it almost float away from the central tower, drifting off into space.

And everywhere, there are people climbing. Hanging on edges, walking through paths, climbing higher or lower. Some platforms move with the weight; other seem strong and sturdy. The whole of it moves constantly, a light movement like breathing.'

Part of the reason Erin Morgnestern is able to conjure up the circus so vividly is that we view it through so many different eyes. We're pulled along by the playful twins Poppet and Wiget, guided by their awestruck new-found friend Bailey, and educated by the detail-loving, clockmaker Friedrick Thiessen. All these experiences combine until the circus becomes the most concrete and known character of the book.

This concentration on the setting and the episodic structure of the chapters, which switch between scenes and time periods, meant that I couldn't quite get a hold on any of the main characters. Some disappear for pages and pages, only to surprise me with how little I missed them on their return. But maybe that's not a bad thing. There is so much else to concentrate on in this book, so many senses being evoked that I was left with only scant attention to pay the characters.

What was unmissable was the tension between the two dueling magicians. Erin Morgnestern builds up the chemistry between these two until it's almost unbearable. I loved it, and I'm not ashamed to admit it.

This is a fantastic, inspiring read that'll worm its way into your head.