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A review by midlifehedgewitch
Small Places by Matthew Samuels
4.0
I’m an absolute sucker for UK urban fantasy. I love the Greta Helsing and Ben Aaronovitch series, so when the opportunity to join the book tour for Small Places by Matthew Samuels came my way, I jumped up and down!
Small Places is a brilliant book with LOTS of feels.
I’m especially talking to all my lovelies out there who think fantasy isn’t for them. This is the gateway dru...err book for you.
This means YOU, lovely.
No. STOP. Don’t scroll on. I’m talking to YOU.
I know you love feelgood books. This is one of them.
Jamie is a young man desperate to help his mum who’s dying from cancer. He’s moved away from his village home to London and lives in a crappy flat with crappy flatmates. As his mum gets sicker, he has to go home and get her affairs in order.
There, he’s drawn into helping a strange old woman from his childhood, Melusine, who’s a whizz with herbs (she sells cures on the darkweb) in exchange for a tincture that eases but not cures his mum’s cancer.
Help turns out to be a step into the world of the fae - the Seelie and Unseelie Courts and a desperate mission to save Gaia, the earth spirit.
I’m not going to give any more of the plot away, you’ll just have to read this for yourself. I’ll warn you there’s a curveball ending and new take on the wicked witch trope.
Apart from playing with a lot of well-trodden urban fantasy tropes, Small Places has a real cozy mystery feel - although it’s a bit darker than most cozies I’ve read.
I loved Jamie’s character, the setting, the humour, and especially Melusine the not-so-wicked, internet savvy witch.
Many thanks to Matthew Samuel and Story Tellers on Tour for the ARC.
Small Places is a brilliant book with LOTS of feels.
I’m especially talking to all my lovelies out there who think fantasy isn’t for them. This is the gateway dru...err book for you.
This means YOU, lovely.
No. STOP. Don’t scroll on. I’m talking to YOU.
I know you love feelgood books. This is one of them.
Jamie is a young man desperate to help his mum who’s dying from cancer. He’s moved away from his village home to London and lives in a crappy flat with crappy flatmates. As his mum gets sicker, he has to go home and get her affairs in order.
There, he’s drawn into helping a strange old woman from his childhood, Melusine, who’s a whizz with herbs (she sells cures on the darkweb) in exchange for a tincture that eases but not cures his mum’s cancer.
Help turns out to be a step into the world of the fae - the Seelie and Unseelie Courts and a desperate mission to save Gaia, the earth spirit.
I’m not going to give any more of the plot away, you’ll just have to read this for yourself. I’ll warn you there’s a curveball ending and new take on the wicked witch trope.
Apart from playing with a lot of well-trodden urban fantasy tropes, Small Places has a real cozy mystery feel - although it’s a bit darker than most cozies I’ve read.
I loved Jamie’s character, the setting, the humour, and especially Melusine the not-so-wicked, internet savvy witch.
Many thanks to Matthew Samuel and Story Tellers on Tour for the ARC.