The Secret Commonwealth – a reivew

If you’d like to know just how far behind on reviews I am… I read this book in December 2020. Right look. There were other reviews that needed to come first, some specific review copies and some War and Peace ones (which I’m also behind on, look, shut up). But I’m here now. And this was a helluva book. I’d put off reading this for quite a while as it’s a big book, but the lovely Eleanor had read it and posted a video review that I really wanted to watch so I sat my arse down and read this. And wow. What a book. Such a mixture of both good and bad! I’m not the biggest tabber or note maker whilst I read, but I made so many notes through the whole of this!

The Book of Dust by Philip Pullman

Despite all of these notes that I made, I won’t be talking much about them here. They’re all quite spoiler heavy and I don’t want to risk ruining the book for someone who hasn’t picked it up yet. I will say that this book, opposite to La Belle Sauvage, is set after the events of His Dark Materials. We once again are following Lyra, now in her early 20s, as she navigates the world and her relationship to it. We see how her and Pan’s relationship has changed since the… incident in the main series (I’m tryna keep things spoiler free here!) and the struggles that they go through.

I did think that Lyra was quite childish for someone in her early 20s. Whenever she’s arguing with Pan her points are just so silly and juvenile, and as someone who is in her early 20s herself, it just feels a little bit young for the age range Pullman is aiming for. Contrary to this, there’s a relationship that feels a little too adult and I don’t quite know how I feel about it just now. I don’t want to say anything more specific than that, cause again spoilers. But it is something that just didn’t sit quite right with me and I’m going to have to see how things develop in book three before I make my final decision.

As just a general summary, this book was an interesting middle book with lots of plot development in order to bring us up to speed for the third book but also some confusing aspects such as the seeming abandonment of previous events and a few questionable choices. Overall though I did enjoy the book and I’m looking forward to reading book three, especially after that cliffhanger that we were left on at the end!!

Highlight here to see trigger warnings: attempted rape, murder, police violence, rape mention, racism, religious fundamentalism, sexism, sexual assault, stalking, suppression of free speech, violence, xenophobia

Have you read this book? Or any of the other books from the Book of Dust or His Dark Materials trilogies? Let me know what you thought of them and whether you’re going to be picking up book three!

The Crow by Alison Croggon – a review

Onto the third part of my reread of the series which inspired my handle, I reread The Crow. The third book of Pellinor focuses on Hem, Maerad’s brother whom we meet in the first book. In this we learn more about his time traveling southwards as well as more about those who travel with him.

The Crow by Alison Croggon

After such heavy focus on Maerad in the first two books, this is a definitive change of pace as we explore the southern reaches of Edil-Amarandh and the deeply entrenched reaches of the dark which lie there. Hem is travelling with Saliman, another Bard we met in The Gift (or The Naming in the US) to the Bard’s home city of Turbansk in order for Hem to learn the basics of barding at the school there. Of course nothing could ever be this simple, and instead the forces of the dark come rushing in, leaving Hem in danger when they once thought that was Maerad’s role.

When I re-read these books more as a teen, this was definitely my least favourite and probably the one I re-read the least. I was not interested in Hem’s point of view for the story at all and because of that this re-read was quite different to the previous two for me. The first two books I know inside out, but this one there were so many aspects and plot points that I just couldn’t remember from whenever I last read it, probably almost a decade ago now. I went into this book anticipating to not really adore this one, but I was so surprised and this turned out to be a fast favourite! I’m not sure what’s changed between when I used to re-read these frequently and now but I absolutely adored reading from Hem’s pov. Not only does this of course add more dynamics to the world building within the book, but I also found myself deeply caring for Hem and his companions and on the edge of my seat at any tense moments. Of course out of the main characters I knew who would survive because they’re in the next book, but with the secondary characters who I suddenly cared about I had no idea if they would live or die and the suspense would kill me each time!

This one book spans so many different aspects of this story, from the basic lore of the world and the schooling and daily life, to underground communications, dealings with the dark, enslavement and love. I’m still so surprised that this is a “discovery” for me and I’m ridiculously happy I decided to do this re-read! Once again, this is essentially impossible to talk about in any real depth without spoilers but I urge you to go and check out the first book in this series (The Gift/The Naming) because the emotional impact of these young adult books is still strong with me today as an “adult”.

This is also leaving me really excited to read The Singing, the fourth and final book in the series, because that book switches between Maerad and Hem’s points of view and I have a feeling I’m going to appreciate that so much more this time than I have since I first read the series!

The Gift – a review

I did it! I finally re-read my favourite book! The Gift, by Alison Croggon, was my most read book when I was younger. I’ve re-read it at least 50 times, with the pages completely falling out of the book and the binding ruined. I’ve been absorbed in its pages so often. Somehow, I hadn’t re-read it since I started my Bookternet life though, and I finally rectified this! So, let’s get into it!

The Gift, known as The Naming in the US, follows Maerad (my-rad), a young slave girl in dire circumstances. She’s saved from slavery by Cadvan, a passing traveller whom no-one else can see, and is introduced to a life of Bards and schooling. Despite this new world of learning, her life isn’t set to be an easy one, with Maerad and Cadvan set on a perilous journey in order to battle the dark which has sunk its teeth into Annar.

This book. Damn. I’m so so happy that I still love it! This was 100% a five star read for me! There’s always the worry when you go back to a childhood favourite that you’re not going to love it as much. Tastes change, and especially when you go back in age range it can lend a different viewpoint that leads you to not enjoy the book so much. Thankfully, I adore this book just as much as I always have done!

I adore how Maerad has been written as a 16 year old. She felt realistic to me when I was younger than her and at the same age, and she still feels realistic to me now! She’s very nervous being dumped into these new situations and there are definitely times when she feels like she knows everything and then learns the hard way that she doesn’t. With Maerad coming from such a place of ignorance, we get to learn about her powers along with her. Every revelation is a surprise to all parties involved and seeing how everyone reacts to these as the book (and the series) progresses is one of my favourite parts of the book!

Cadvan, Maerad’s rescuer, teacher, friend, companion and so much more. I adore how he is so desperate to atone himself for his past actions. How he’s so truly towards the light. How he isn’t perfect. He can get impatient and harsh but he always apologises when needed. That’s another aspect of characterisation Croggon does incredibly, is making her characters real. They make mistakes, and not always just huge ones but the simple everyday ones we all make.

There is a lot of lore related to this book. I remember when I first read it as a kid I was convinced it was a fictionalisation of real world events. That just shows #1 how much historical fiction I was reading (and how accurate it was!) and #2 how well and in depth Croggon has written this world. Every aspect and facet that could reasonably be known from the “limited translations” is there and she has put so much thought into this world. As a child I wished that I could live there and learn in one of the Schools of Annar and as an adult I found myself wishing the same thing!

I read this for one of the Booktube Rereadathon prompts and I’m so glad that I’m going to be able to fit the other 3 books into the next 3 prompts because I 100% need to re-read this series now! I can’t wait to fully submerse myself in this world again and to see how much I adore the other books upon an “adult” re-read!