REVIEW: The Mime Order - Samantha Shannon

GENRE: Adult Fantasy
PAGES: 528
PUBLISHER: Bloomsbury
FORMAT: Paperback
BUY IT: Waterstones
RATING: 5 Stars

SUMMARY

Paige Mahoney has escaped the brutal prison camp of Sheol I, but her problems have only just begun: many of the survivors are missing and she is the most wanted person in London...As Scion turns its all-seeing eye on the dreamwalker, the mime-lords and mime-queens of the city's gangs are invited to a rare meeting of the Unnatural Assembly. Jaxon Hall and his Seven Seals prepare to take centre stage, but there are bitter fault lines running through the clairvoyant community and dark secrets around every corner. Then the Rephaim begin crawling out from the shadows. But where is Warden? Paige must keep moving, from Seven Dials to Grub Street to the secret catacombs of Camden, until the fate of the underworld can be decided.

 

REVIEW

The Bone Season was one of my favourite books of 2013 and I was impatiently waiting for the next instalment. Samantha Shannon has created such an intricate alternative world, complete with a whole host of mind-blowing characters. Paige is still in terrible danger as she is now the most wanted person in London, and the fugitives from Sheol I are all being hunted by the Rephaim.

 

The language and words that have been created really add to the originality of the story, and the way that the plot races forward with action and excitement on each page kept me so gripped I was fully submerged in Paige's world. Everything is described so well that despite it being so fantastical you can really see it. I'm not saying anything about the story because it's so much more fun to be shocked by all the incredible action! If you haven't read The Bone Season yet you really must, and be sure to make use of the glossary at the back (but ensure you don't read the last page or you'll spoil it!).

 

I cannot wait for the film of TBS and I am so excited to see what happens next for Paige.

 

- Gem.

REVIEW: The Bone Season - Samantha Shannon

GENRE: Adult fantasy
PAGES: 496

PUBLISHER: Bloomsbury
FORMAT: Paperback
BUY IT: Waterstones
RATING: 5 Stars

This review refers to an uncorrected advance edition.

SUMMARY

The year is 2059. Nineteen-year-old Paige Mahoney is working in the criminal underworld of Scion London, based at Seven Dials, employed by a man named Jaxon Hall. Her job: to scout for information by breaking into people's minds. For Paige is a dreamwalker, a clairvoyant and, in the world of Scion, she commits treason simply by breathing. It is raining the day her life changes for ever. Attacked, drugged and kidnapped, Paige is transported to Oxford - a city kept secret for two hundred years, controlled by a powerful, otherworldly race. Paige is assigned to Warden, a Rephaite with mysterious motives. He is her master. Her trainer. Her natural enemy. But if Paige wants to regain her freedom she must allow herself to be nurtured in this prison where she is meant to die. The Bone Season introduces a compelling heroine and also introduces an extraordinary young writer, with huge ambition and a teeming imagination. Samantha Shannon has created a bold new reality in this riveting debut.

REVIEW

Paige's world is so exciting; it's full of magic, mystery and danger!

It's a very refreshing take on a dystopian genre with the beautiful writing, the language which is used and the imagery that has been created. It's more literary, and more *clever* than The Hunger Games and Divergent etc., but by no means does that mean it's more boring; I was completely enthralled by the plot, I loved Paige and Warden! The relationship that builds between them is not what I expected, and as the plot progresses and we learn more of Sheol 1 and the Rephaim, this adds an extra element of intensity. To me it's one of those books that you just want other people to read so you can talk to them about it - there are plot elements that aren't resolved (as you'd expect for what is projected to be a 7 book series) so I want to know if other people think the same things as me!

What I will say is that I hadn't realised there was a glossary as if I turn to the back I have a naughty tendancy to read the last few lines, so make use of that, it will help you get to grips with the different characters much quicker than I did. 

I cannot wait for The Mime Order. So excited!

Look out for The Bone Season coming soon to the Waterstones Book Club!

- Gem.