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lindzlovesreading's review against another edition
4.0
Even though my dream is to have a book store that has absoutley no catagories just everything in alphabetical order. I spenind the bulk of my day catagorising books into different sections and genres. The thing I love about Hardinge is that, children's author because no one knows where else to put her. Hardinge does Hardinge and we just have to keep up. But I love the way she creates her worlds, it's a jumble of lies, rumours, mythology, which is why children are the perfect protaganist for these worlds and how they come to understand them.
I have really grown to love her writing. Especially here. The world of 18th Century London or Mandolin as it is in the book, is a magical place, even though I was half way through the book before I realised that there is no actual magic. Hardinge uses all the conventions of a fairy tale with a walled city and it's guilds and then slowly strips these away as Mosca Moye learns the reality of what is happening around her.
It was such as easy book to sink into, and I absoutetly adored how she recreated London with it's dirty streets, it's coffee houses, the radicalism and it's factions. It was wonderful.
I have really grown to love her writing. Especially here. The world of 18th Century London or Mandolin as it is in the book, is a magical place, even though I was half way through the book before I realised that there is no actual magic. Hardinge uses all the conventions of a fairy tale with a walled city and it's guilds and then slowly strips these away as Mosca Moye learns the reality of what is happening around her.
It was such as easy book to sink into, and I absoutetly adored how she recreated London with it's dirty streets, it's coffee houses, the radicalism and it's factions. It was wonderful.
scorpiobookfairy's review against another edition
I love this author, but this is the 5th time I've tried to read this and each time I'm bored to death and zoning out of the story. It's time to give up on this one... just not for me.
jrosenstein's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed this book. Mosca, the protagonist, is a fantastic little spitfire and her adventures are highly entertaining. I also liked that the plot seemed random and episodic for much of the book, but all came together at the end. The very end laid on the moral a bit too heavily, but Hardinge gets extra points for her deep love of books and this great line, "I don't want a happy ending, I want more story."
miles's review against another edition
funny
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
rkaufman13's review against another edition
5.0
Oh yes, this is good.
A "kid's" book, but a kid's book in the vein of Phillip Pullman, or Garth Nix even (who is quoted on the back of my edition as saying he's quite the fan of Hardinge). Heroine Mosca Mye drinks beer and smokes a pipe, not in some juvenile, Francesca Lia Block teenage rebellion way, but because this book is set very loosely in Ye Aulde 18th-Century England, and a 12-year-old girl probably would have drunk beer at that time. I love books that don't spare kids the realities of life.
The twisty plot doesn't quite manage J.K. Rowling-esque surprises (remember the first time you realized it was Quirrell all along?) but isn't completely predictable, either. Besides, you'll love Hardinge's wry turns of phrase and invented curses no matter what the plot is. ("I want my chirfuggin' goose back!")
Read it. Just read it.
A "kid's" book, but a kid's book in the vein of Phillip Pullman, or Garth Nix even (who is quoted on the back of my edition as saying he's quite the fan of Hardinge). Heroine Mosca Mye drinks beer and smokes a pipe, not in some juvenile, Francesca Lia Block teenage rebellion way, but because this book is set very loosely in Ye Aulde 18th-Century England, and a 12-year-old girl probably would have drunk beer at that time. I love books that don't spare kids the realities of life.
The twisty plot doesn't quite manage J.K. Rowling-esque surprises (remember the first time you realized it was Quirrell all along?) but isn't completely predictable, either. Besides, you'll love Hardinge's wry turns of phrase and invented curses no matter what the plot is. ("I want my chirfuggin' goose back!")
Read it. Just read it.
msliz's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.25
sashapasha's review against another edition
5.0
Fabulous characters, brilliant writing.
Some excellent things within:
* A warrior goose
* A precocious twelve year old with unconvincing eyebrows
* A wordsmith conman
* A highwayman turned reluctant and perplexed hero
* A number of warring gentlemanly guilds and various other colorful factions
* River-floating coffee houses that move from place to place on a schedule
* A wealth of intriguing world building
* Names taken very seriously and dictated by a Name Day god (and date and time of birth)
* Characters with hidden depths
* Wigs for different activities, and a wig so enormous that it’s suspended from the sedan chair rather than attached to the person’s head
* “The pursuing coffee house” in a sentence
* Weddings of the dead
* “…there is one thing that is more dangerous than Truth. Those who would try to silence Truth’s voice are more destructive by far...”
Saracen is an absolute darling of a goose.
Some excellent things within:
* A warrior goose
* A precocious twelve year old with unconvincing eyebrows
* A wordsmith conman
* A highwayman turned reluctant and perplexed hero
* A number of warring gentlemanly guilds and various other colorful factions
* River-floating coffee houses that move from place to place on a schedule
* A wealth of intriguing world building
* Names taken very seriously and dictated by a Name Day god (and date and time of birth)
* Characters with hidden depths
* Wigs for different activities, and a wig so enormous that it’s suspended from the sedan chair rather than attached to the person’s head
* “The pursuing coffee house” in a sentence
* Weddings of the dead
* “…there is one thing that is more dangerous than Truth. Those who would try to silence Truth’s voice are more destructive by far...”
Saracen is an absolute darling of a goose.
timinbc's review against another edition
4.0
Calling this a children's book is going to deprive a lot of grownups of a fun read.
You have to like a book that contains, "Follow that coffeehouse!"
Good lead character, some peripheral characters that appear to be made of cardboard but turn out otherwise. Decent plot, including some very believable parts of a young girl working out for herself that things are not as they seem. Nicely dysfunctional society with a lot of tensions that an author can hang a plot on.
There's a big scene near the end involving sailing that suggests Hardinge isn't a sailor, but that's a quibble.
Recommended for all.
You have to like a book that contains, "Follow that coffeehouse!"
Good lead character, some peripheral characters that appear to be made of cardboard but turn out otherwise. Decent plot, including some very believable parts of a young girl working out for herself that things are not as they seem. Nicely dysfunctional society with a lot of tensions that an author can hang a plot on.
There's a big scene near the end involving sailing that suggests Hardinge isn't a sailor, but that's a quibble.
Recommended for all.
gwennoliaid's review against another edition
5.0
One of my favourite books as a child - unique in many ways among children's fiction for not 'dumbing down' the language, meaning you can get lost in the beautiful writing as well as lost in the plot. Really beautiful writing that treats childrens fiction with respect - and beautifully so.
aeolias's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0