AMAZING!
I thought this book was brilliant and just the kind of thing I love to read. It’s hard to define the genre – hmmm, horror, dark humour, mythology… some reviewers compared it to Neil Gaiman, and that’s fair, I think.
I loved the feisty funny female protagonist, Carolyn, one of twelve children adopted and raised by a person (entity?) they know as ‘Father’ who kept them completely separate from everyone else in the world and made them each become experts in fields such as talking to animals, fighting, healing, reanimating the dead and so on using books from The Library.
Carolyn employs an ex-criminal now peace-loving Buddhist, Stephen, to help her in some very violent and criminal activities, and the chemistry between them is fun.
The book is sometimes a bit confusing, but (in my mind at least) it all became clear in the end and was all the better for the plot not being spoon fed to the reader.
I can’t believe it is a debut novel because I thought it was very well constructed and written. Five out of five from me!
Sarah Wray Writer 