I have spoken in previous reviews about how much I flipping love these books. And I'd been saving this one because I knew it would be a fun, relaxing, enjoyable read for when things were getting rough. I struggled with February and March this year, more than I anticipated, so I thought "Aha! Break glass and administer Hollowpox."
One of the things I enjoyed about book 1 in this series was how there were no easy answers to the questions. Prejudice and hatred was embedded bone-deep in the two factions of the nation, based on allegedly justifable causes - events in history where both maji and non-maji have brutalised each other as each held power in their own way. While the easy, fairy-tale ending would be right there, with the magic back that justice could prevail as clearly the oppressed were peaceful, Adeyemi isn't going to give us the easy, tidy ending. People aren't easy and tidy, and neither are her characters.
Much like Nevermoor, this book took me longer to read than it should have done. I also actually now have two copies - I initially decided to wait for the paperback release because my copy of book one is a paperback proof, but as I adored this so much, I ordered the hardback copy of book three, and that's when I discovered the hardbacks for this series are works of ART. Beautiful bright endpapers, printed and foiled cover under the dustjacket... So I will be keeping the hardbacks in future.
Shamefully, I hadn't actually read any Ray Bradbury before picking up this book. In fact, while I knew the titles of some of his works, unlike Stephen King I didn't have any real knowledge of the content of any of his book either.
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Author: Erin Morgenstern (twitter / website) UK Publisher: Vintage Genre: Fantasy See also: The Night Circus Zachary Ezra Rawlins is a graduate student in Vermont when he discovers a strange book hidden in the library stacks. As he turns the pages, entranced by tales of lovelorn prisoners, key collectors, and nameless acolytes, he reads something … Continue reading REVIEW: The Starless Sea – Erin Morgenstern
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