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

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I don't know if it was because of the writing style, or if it just happened this way, but I had a bit of a hard time connecting to the characters. I absolutely felt sympathetic toward them, but beyond being in really a really horrible situation, I didn't know much else about them. Newt has been living and working in Bearmouth from a tender age. Daily life in the mine is full of strict routine and a quiet acceptance of how things are – until, that is, Devlin arrives and starts to ask questions. Newt fears any unrest will bring heightened oppression from the Master and his overseers. Life is hard enough and there is no choice about that. Or is there? Newt is soon looking at Bearmouth with a fresh perspective – one that does more than whisper about change: one that is looking for a way out. The story covers some excellent themes, especially highlighting how the craze for science and the obsession over religion can have common roots. Both are a wait for a ‘Eureka’ moment, a miracle. Usually, one is based in logic and the other in faith. But this book depicts how an overlap is possible. It becomes quite thought-provoking. 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! October 1840. A young woman staggers alone through a forest in Shropshire as a huge pair of impossible wings rip themselves from her shoulders’.

A couple of US publishers mentioned Riddley Walker and I’m ashamed to say I hadn’t heard of it. But I read it after I finished my edits and I’m really glad I hadn’t read it beforehand – I think I would have felt intimidated. Another book that plays with languages in an extraordinarily clever way is Boneland by Alan Garner. It’s like nothing else I have ever read.I enjoyed how well the author incorporated magical realism with historical fiction. I wanted a little more explanation relating to the magical aspects of the read, but the author did offer enough explanation to keep me from being dissatisfied. The author also did a good job at emphasizing how intertwined science and religion was in England during this time, which was a driving force behind the antagonist of this read.

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. Newt is soon looking at Bearmouth with a fresh perspective – questioning the system and setting in motion a change of events that could destroy their entire world. Surprisingly for a historical fiction work, there are many strong female characters. The leading ladies are all shown realistically (limited by the men in their lives), yet they aren’t doormats. They create their own space, and can fight for themselves when the time comes. The story is narrated in short vignettes, alternating between the voices of the two women with wings, a feisty would-be female journalist, and the wife of the surgeon who sees an opportunity to achieve fame and fortune by exploiting the winged women, the ‘gifts’ of the title, sent to him by God.So please keep that in mind - I do not DNF lightly and a book truly needs to be extraordinary for me to even consider it.

I was already struggling with the writing and the fact that we often switch viewpoint or who is being written about in the midst of a paragraph. So you start the paragraph with Annie and then suddenly you are reading about Etta and you are like, wait, who the hell is Etta and how did she suddenly appear? This happens a LOT and I found it really irritating. I have a lot to say about this book but I also want to keep it all to myself. I read an advance copy that the publisher kindly sent me and if it’s affected me in it’s unfinished state, the finished copy (complete with illustrations!! Eeek!!) is guaranteed to be a marvel. I cannot wait to see it! The ending worked very well for me. It didn’t force a perfect solution; rather, the plot led itself to a believable culmination. 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? I feel like this may have been purposeful, but I wanted more worldbuilding. I am just too curious a person to not know. And I didn't, at all. Why were these people subjected to this place? (Though I will say, I enjoyed the author's note, perhaps that will help you as it did me!) What other horrors were happening in the world around them? Because it takes place all in this one hellish mine, we don't really get an idea of the outside.

LoveReading4Kids Says

Told in narrator Newt’s distinctive phonetic English, this dark debut dazzles with originality and delivers a potent case for combatting inequality. The atmosphere was very on point. The book is set in an underground cavern, and yep, you absolutely feel it. You also feel how isolating and just flat out depressing the whole environment is. There are a few highly triggering scenes concerning dogs. While a couple of these scenes might have been essential to detail the nature of that specific character, the rest felt forced in. This might be traumatising for sensitive animal lovers, so proceed with caution. I had to zoom through those sections because it was too much for me, but I also didn’t want to keep the book aside. Furthermore, there are dark scenes connected to the medical procedures of those times.