Gilded Cage by Vic James

The Blurb On The Back:

Not all are equal.

In a modern Britain, everyone must endure ten years of slavery for a magically-skilled aristocracy.

Here, a teenage boy dreams of rebellion.

His sister thirsts for knowledge and will find love.

And a dangerous young aristocrat will remake the world with his dark gifts.

Not all will be saved.

One glorious summer, Luke’s family is torn apart. He’s expecting nothing more sinister than exams, while his sister Abi anticipates university. But they’ll be separated to do their slavedays – a decade of labour demanded by law, enforced by a magically-skilled aristocracy.

Luke will dream of rebellion in a barbaric factory town. Abi will navigate the malice of a high-born estate, and find an unlikely love. But the siblings must choose sides as Britain moves from anger to defiance. They’ll become entangled in acts of savagery and magic, as nobles vie for power. No one is safe and none will emerge unscathed. Is there a better way – or will a dangerous young aristocrat remake the world with his dark gifts?

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Vic James’s debut YA novel (the first in a trilogy) combines fantasy with dystopia in a smartly conceived, well-executed world where everyone’s motives are open to interpretation, bad people do good things and the stakes are impressively high. I loved the world-building – James creates a credible world of magic and aristocracy and I really enjoyed the Millmoor scenes (a Dickensian hell with a 1984 vibe). The political system is well developed and James does well at explaining how it works without info-dumping – particularly clever is her use of multiple points of view to flesh out the various factions and their agendas. The downside of the multiple viewpoints is that it left some characters underdeveloped – notably Abi whose intelligence and naivety didn’t quite work for me (I could have done without her insta-love for the bland Jenner as it lacks the page time to justify it) – but the apparent antagonists (particularly Gavar and Silyen) are subtly shaded (sinister and cruel but also capable of good) and promise much in future books. Although some of the plot twists are a little too telegraphed, James doesn’t pull her punches with brutal scenes and the ending promises much in the sequel, which I will definitely be reading.

GILDED CAGE will be released in the United Kingdom on 26th January 2017. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the ARC of this book.

The First Rule Of Survival by Paul Mendelson

The Blurb On The Back:

Seven years ago, in Cape Town, South Africa, three schoolboys were abducted in broad daylight on consecutive days.

They were never seen again.

Now, a new case for the unpredictable Senior Superintendent Vaughn DeVries casts a light on the original enquiry; for him, a personal failure which has haunted and changed him. Struggling in a mire of departmental and racial rivalry, DeVries seeks the whole truth, and unravels a complex history of abuse, deception and murder. Encountering friends, colleagues and friends, DeVries realises he doesn’t know who he can trust.

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Paul Mendelson’s debut crime novel (the first in a series) is a promising look at the racial and political tensions at play in modern South Africa told in a dark “Saffer Noir” style but it’s held back by an unsatisfying plot and antagonists whose motivations are thinly explained at best. The use of the South African landscape (which is evocative and rich and helps set the tone for the novel) is great as is the depiction of inter-police rivalries and corruption as the department succumbs to individual ambition and grievances rooted in the apartheid past. Unfortunately it’s difficult to empathise with DeVries – racist and driven by his gut – he’s an old school policeman unwilling to engage or even sympathise with the political and media forces buffeting his boss and protector Brigadier Du Toit and as such, I had difficulty buying into him. Equally difficult to believe in is DeVries self-appointed nemesis, David Werner (head of internal affairs) and Julius Mngomezulu (sidekick to General Sempiwe Thulani, Du Toit’s boss) who are thinly characterised to the point of being two-dimensional while Marantz is little more than a plot get-out-of-jail card there to provide some answers when needed and Don February has some enigmatic secret that I wasn’t too interested in discovering. There’s enough here to ensure I’ll check out the sequel but I really need more rounded characters if I’m to stick the series out.

Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.

The Dry by Jane Harper

The Blurb On The Back:

You know, I look at Luke Hadler and on the surface he had it all – great wife, two kids, decent enough farm, respect in his community. Why would a man like that turn around one day and destroy his family? It makes no sense. I just can’t understand how someone like him could do something like that.”

Falk rubbed a hand over his mouth and chin. It felt gritty. He needed a shave.

Luke lied. You lied.

“Raco,” he said. “There’s something about Luke you need to know.”

Australia is in the grip of its worst drought in a century; it hasn’t rained in the small country town of Kiewarra for two years. Tensions in the community become unbearable when three members of the Hadler family are brutally murdered. Everyone thinks Luke Hadler, who committed suicide after slaughtering his wife and six-year-old son, is guilty.

Policeman Aaron Falk returns to his home town for the funeral of his childhood best friend, and is unwillingly drawn into the investigation. As questions mount and suspicion spreads through the town, Falk is forced to confront the community that rejected him twenty years earlier. Because Falk and Luke Hadler shared a secret, one which Luke’s death threatens to unearth. And when Falk probes deeper into the killings, secrets from his past begin to bubble to the surface.

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Jane Harper’s debut crime novel is a well constructed story split between two time periods that shows the fractures in small town life made worse by a horrendous drought. I liked the novelty of a detective whose speciality isn’t murder and I thought Harper did a good job of taking a character weighed down by guilt and frustration who’s taken outside his comfort zone while Raco is a sturdy sidekick (a good copper in his own right rather than a lazy hick). Harper also makes the most of her small town setting – I believed in the dying businesses and dying farms caused by the devastating drought and the effects that it has on the local population as crops fail, animals die and desperation starts to set in. I particularly enjoyed the way Harper unspools the Ellie storyline, showing the tensions and passions at play in the set of friends and the ripples it continues to cause years later but wish the ending had given more of a hint as to whether justice would actually be served. I very much hope that Harper produces a series following Falk as I would definitely read on but failing that I’d also read her next work.

THE DRY will be released in the United Kingdom on 12th January 2017. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the ARC of this book.

My Embarrassing Dad’s Gone Viral by Ben Davis

The Blurb On The Back:

Hi guys!

I bet every one of you knows what it’s like to have an embarrassing parent – right? But let me tell you, my friend, NOBODY has a dad like mine. He takes embarrassing to a whole new level. If embarrassing was an Olympic sport, my dad would have, like, a gazillion gold medals.

He thinks he’s some kind of survival guru. And he’s make me and my sister live through the agony of his back-to-basics life with him. But what he doesn’t know is that he’s an INTERNET SENSATION!

People all over the world are waiting for the next hilarious video. And thanks to my clever secret filming, I’ll soon have enough money to convince Mum to come home …

( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )

The Verdict:

Ben Davis’s comic novel for children aged 9+ (illustrated by Mike Lowery) is an entertaining book with some laugh-out-loud moments but I wasn’t completely comfortable with the fact that Nelson is basically filming his dad’s emotional breakdown. Nelson’s a resourceful main character and I enjoyed his relationship with Mary (whose devotion to Gertrude the chicken is very sweet) and his developing friendship with Kirsty and Ash who go from being forced to hang out with him to aiding and abetting his schemes. I wish that there’d been more of his relationship with his dad before his mum left because the focus on his dad’s hatred of technology without any consideration for the effect on his children makes him unsympathetic (although kindly neighbour Primrose does show some empathy for his behaviour). Similarly, I also wished that Nelson’s mother had more page time because I couldn’t believe in her ability to walk away without making any attempt to keep in touch. The supporting characters are broadly sketched and although I enjoyed the Elvis fan teacher, I wished that the laughs at the expense of the harbour master and his wife hadn’t made Tourette’s and narcolepsy the punch line to jokes. That said, there are some genuinely funny moments and there was enough here to make me want to check out Davis’s other comic novels for kids.

Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the review copy of this book.