Published by: Bloomsbury, February 1st 2010
Genre: YA, Fantasy, Fairy lore
Pages: 225
Format: Paperback
Source: Purchased
Nimira is a music-hall performer forced to dance for pennies to an audience of leering drunks. When wealthy sorcerer Hollin Parry hires her to do a special act - singing accompaniment to an exquisite piano-playing automaton, Nimira believes it is the start of a new life. In Parry's world, however, buried secrets stir.
Unsettling below-stairs rumours abound about ghosts, a mad woman roaming the halls, and of Parry's involvement in a gang of ruthless sorcerers who torture fairies for sport. When Nimira discovers the spirit of a dashing young fairy gentleman is trapped inside the automaton's stiff limbs, waiting for someone to break the curse and set him free, the two fall in love. But it is a love set against a dreadful race against time to save the entire fairy realm, which is in mortal peril.
I had a kind of kerfuffle in the middle of this book, by which I mean I had a stress meltdown, threw the book away, and vowed never to read it again, not because the book had done anything wrong, but because the year is in that awful liminal time where I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO. But spontaneous meltdowns aside, once I sat down and got proper into this book, I loved it.
The characters are lovely and driven, and the relationship is just so damn cute. Erris is trapped in the form of an automaton and, without knowing anything about his situation, only that he's trapped and needs help, Nimira vows to make him a man again. This book is just utterly, disarmingly charming. It's so lovely and cute and just what I needed. It was serious without feeling too serious, light without being vapid, had a lively world without massive descriptive dumps, and it was fantastical while still dealing with very real racial issues. There was even a mad wife stuffed in a tower and don't tell me that doesn't interest you (she's magically badass, communicates with the dead, and saves the day. she's my fave.)
Do yourself a favour and read this super cute book.
Characters ★★★★★
Setting/world building ★★★★☆
Writing ★★★★☆
Ha, does sound super cute, just like the cover and sounds balanced (I've been reading way too many cute and fluffy books lately.) Glad you go into it (despite the meltdown) AND A MAD WIFE STUFFED IN A TOWER.
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