The Agency: A Spy in the House

I just finished a book recently called The Agency: A Spy in the House. It was a very good read and I enjoyed it very much.
It is set in the late 1850's, and it is a Victorian detective book, the first of a trilogy. I love books set in this era and I loved how all the characters in this book had different traits and personalities.

It introduces us to Mary Lang, the daughter of an Irish woman and Chinese man who miraculously is rescued from the gallows at twelve years old. This is explained in the prologue, and then in chapter one it moves on to where she is seventeen, and she is attending Miss Scrimshaw's Academy for Girls. Her two teachers, Anne Treleaven and Felicity Frame, take her to a secret room and tell her the school runs a secret Agency, that solve mysteries and cases. They ask Mary if she wants to be part of this agency. Mary agrees, so she trains for while. She isn't going to be the main person solving the case, but will go undercover providing information about it.

It then skips to the day when she has to go undercover. Her mission is to investigate into a case involving lost cargo ships belonging to a rich merchant, Mr Thorold. She is disguised as a friend and maid for his spoilt, bratty daughter, Angelica, and changes her name to Mary Quinn, and changes her age to twenty. Above all, a foul stench has plagued London due to a heat wave and all the waste in the river Thames.

There are many characters who we are just not sure about, who we think we can trust but maybe we can't. For example, Michael Gray, Mr Thorold's dashing business partner, is mysterious yet seems a fine sort of person. Mrs Thorold seems to be weak and have health problems, but then again she does go out quite a lot- a little too much for a delicate lady.

There is, of course, the romantic interest, James Easton. He is quite a good character, possibly my favourite along with Mary. I'm not going to say anything more about him though.

This book doesn't hint too much about the strange going ons and the plot. It is a sufficient length- about 341 (give or take a few) pages, and doesn't lag. The only thing I would say is all the talking about money and investments and complicated things. Y.S Lee should have shortened and simplified the explaining quite a bit. But, that is all I can say.

I look forward to reading the next book The Body at the Tower (sounds fantastic!)....

Actually, I was just looking at a site while writing this, and there are actually FOUR BOOKS! Yes! I feel so, so happy! I know I have a lot to look forward too!

Zobo!

YAY!!! :) :)

I finally have Ruby Redfort book 4: Feel the Fear! It is so good so far and I can't wait to get to the end! Its unique like every other book in the series!

Yay! I have it! I literally jumped up and down and stamped my feet in the middle of the book section at Big W. I didn't care. I had it, clutched in my hands.

The Ruby Redfort series is a great series. Its funky, quirky, humorous, intriguing, excitiing and super cool.

The Ruby Redfort series is really good. You should check it out.

Order of books:





There's also a Ruby Redfort Survival Guide (well, that's what I call it) and thats great too. Really handy, and the instructions and tips are real:






Zobo!

Letters to Leonardo

Now, I finished this book a while back now, but it really stuck with me for ages and it is such a powerful read. I felt like cheering in some parts, but in some parts I felt angry and sad. It's such a mixed feeling of emotion.
Okay, I admit that starting off with someones birthday is a bit cliche'. I mean, how many books and stories begin with it being someone's birthday? But, I realised in this case, it was the perfect beginning, because it introduced everything.
This book is about fifteen year old Matt. He lives with his father, who tries his best to be a prefect parent. Matt believes that his mother is deceased, but he mysteriously receives a letter from her. Matt gets angry at his father, who lied. This is when all the trouble begins.
One of Matt's assignments for school is to write a letter to a deceased famous person (I think this is the task, from memory). He chooses to write to Leonardo da Vinci. Matt soon finds that writing to Leonardo is quite comforting, and when he faces his mother who he learns has severe mental illness, Leonardo is someone he can confide in. He also finds the similarities between himself and the famous artist, inventor and mathematician good too, because Matt can relate to him.

In the end, Matt has experienced a glimpse into mental illness, what it is like to have a house go up in flames and heart breaking loss, among other things.
Such a unique and powerful story that I am sure everybody would enjoy (providing they are mature readers, of course.)

For more information about this fantastic book, go to deescribewriting.wordpress.com.

Dorothy Must Die

I have recently finished Dorothy Must Die, and I must say I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. Okay- I admit it didn't grab me at times when it felt like it was supposed to. But overall a fantastic book with a cool storyline. I may put a few things in the wrong order but hey- I am trying.

*SPOILERS!*

Amy Gumm lives in Kansas and doesn't have any friends, she lives in a caravan with her mother and her life is very boring and dull. One day when coming home from school, a tornado hits the town and she ends up in Oz. She is still in the caravan with her mum's pet rat, Star, who she never really liked, but figures the rodent will be a comfort.
She is greeted by a mysterious guy named Pete who helps her from the caravan before it crashes into a deep cavern below. Pete disappears before Amy can ask him anything. That's when she starts following the yellow brick road.
She comes across a tiny town that is smashed and wrecked and looks like something terrible happened there. Then, she meets the sour, tough but sometimes helpful Indigo. A goth munchkin. Never in my dreams have I thought of a goth munchkin.
Amy asks Indigo about where she is and what happened to the town and all that stuff. By now, Amy is guessing she is in Oz.
Indigo doesn't really answer her. The munchkin disappears too. Amy is on her own. A while later, she comes across a crowd of munchkins and townspeople gathered infront ofa see-saw thingy. A beautiful, smiling woman is in the centre of all this. There is just one thing that is weird- everyone is smiling. Like, really smiling. Literally ear to ear, like this-

Indigo suddenly grabs her and pulls her away. She says the smiling woman is Glinda, the 'Good Witch' and the see saw thingy is extracting magic from the ground. They walk along when they see a monkey, hanging upside down in a tree. He is being punished for using sass (really, for being sassy) and they help him down.

That is all I am going to tell you!

This book has a really good twist on this timeless classic. It is more based on the movie than the book, but overall, it is still just as great.

It occasionally swears near the beginning of the book, so be wary of that, but I'm pretty sure it doesn't say it anywhere else. And it is gory at times, so in case you don't like feeling a bit sick while reading, I would skip those parts. But everything else is fine.

This book is humorous too, which I like. There is a prequel to this book, but it is only available on ebook, so that sucks. Anyway.....

Zobo

Hollow City

I have finished reading Hollow City and gosh, what a journey. It follows the Peculiar Children to London, which is at the very heart of destruction in England during WWII. The children are trying to find Miss Wren, to help turn their ymbryne (can turn into a bird and track time)  Miss Peregrine back to normal because she is trapped in the body of a bird.
Absolutely wonderful. I actually liked this a bit more than the first book. Lots of new characters were introduced, and there were plenty more encounters with wights (monsters without pupils) and hollows (disgusting creatures with tentacles that spew from mouths and who are in league with the wights).
Jacob finally learns the true meaning of love and how it cannot last forever, and together they all learn that the outside world isn't as nice and exciting as it sounds. I loved the vintage photographs again- creepy, interesting, peculiar and cool- it makes the story even better.
There was not one downside to this book. Not one. It was written perfectly, it flowed, there were plenty of shocking and surprising times, balanced out with sad, calm times. I could read it a second time, if I had the patience.
I am excited to read the third book, which hasn't come out yet in stores- REALLY EXCITED! Ransom Riggs in one interview said there is a lot more to come, so I am SO looking forward to it, and seeing the new photographs.
Zobo.