Bearmouth: WINNER OF WATERSTONES CHILDREN'S BOOK PRIZE 2020 OLDER READERS CATEGORY

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LoveReading4Kids exists because books change lives, and buying books through LoveReading4Kids means you get to change the lives of future generations, with 25% of the cover price donated to schools in need. Join our community to get personalised book suggestions, extracts straight to your inbox, 10% off RRPs, and to change children’s lives. Life in Bearmouth is one of hard labour, the sunlit world above the mine a distant memory. Reward will come in the next life with the benevolence of the Mayker. Newt accepts everything – that is, until the mysterious Devlin arrives. Suddenly, Newt starts to look at Bearmouth with a fresh perspective, questioning the system, and setting in motion a chain of events that could destroy their entire world.

I was very kindly sent an ARC of this book from the publishers Pushkinpress to read and review, but as always all views are my own! You can find the full review and all the fancy and/or randomness that accompanies it at It Starts at Midnight While I enjoyed the overall theme, some of the details in the story were just not my cup of tea. There was a magical realism element that I loved but it wasn’t ever explained, unless I missed it, so while it was cool, it just didn’t make any sense as to why or how.Mary, a woman with high aspirations, becomes suspicious of Edward when she is asked to investigate a rumour about the Angel of the Thames. Wanting to further her career as a writer (in a time when she has to write under a male pseudonym), Mary enlists the help of her long time friend, Richard, to get to the bottom of what’s going on. Alice: Edward’s wife and hobby painter, Alice knows Edward is up to something, but can’t get him to reveal more. Bristol, 1896. Used to scraping a living as the young assistant to an ageing con artist, Cecily Marsden's life is turned upside down when her master suddenly dies. Believing herself to blame, could young Cec somehow have powers she little understands? Since then I have been down lots of other mines — coal and slate – read numerous books on the subject, listened to and sung old miner’s songs and read many first-hand accounts from child miners in the early 1840s. What I learnt was horrifying. Children from the age of four working 12—hour days, six days a week. Children with sores on their heads and legs from dragging and pulling heavy loads, children whose bodies were twisted out of shape from their work, children who fell asleep into their food on a Sunday because they were so tired. Children killed in explosions, crushed to death, drowned or suffocated.

I must add that this is a novel to be read, not heard. With a mix of long and short chapters, multiple characters, and interlinked arcs, this won't be a comfortable audiobook even if you are an attuned listener. There are several layers to the book, that I thought deserved further exploration than we were given, but I feel this is admirable on the author's part- to leave things open-ended and mysterious. A compelling, strange and utterly unique YA with an unforgettable narrator. It's like nothing else I've read this year - a mix of dystopian and historical, dark and fascinating and very special. (12+) The book is well paced with short chapters and is written from five different points of view - four women and one man who is a doctor with very high and dangerous aspirations. These five people have their paths all intertwine as you delve deeper into their stories as these women grow and spread their wings - literally! Reading all about these strong, intelligent women battling against the patriarchy and societal pressures that were part of Victorian life was so thrilling and empowering!At first glance the phonetic spelling throughout this book can be off putting. But go with it. It’s for a very good reason. As you get a feel for the narrator, Newt, the spelling helps you to find her voice, understand the world in which she lives and the struggles she has to overcome. And the thing is, if most of the book was normal-speak with occasional direct depictions of his poorly written diary, I think I could've handled it. I work as a freelance PR consultant in the arts and run creative writing workshops as well as writing. I think it’s very hard these days to be a full time writer – almost all of the writers I know juggle their writing with other jobs. I’d love to become a full time writer but I know, realistically, it’s also very hard to make it work – we’ll see! La storia è narrata sotto forma di diario da Newt, un ragazzino che ha passato buona parte della sua breve vita nei meandri di Boccadorso e sta imparando a leggere e a scrivere. Ergo, il testo è impregnato di tutti gli errori ortografici del caso.