This middle grade novel exposes an era of history that many, including myself, no little about. Most Americans are aware of the invasion of Kuwait by Saddam Hussein, which prompted the Persian Gulf war, but the experience of people living in Kuwait at the time of the invasion is not something I knew anything about. The main character is the oldest daughter of an Indian couple who lives in Kuwait because of her dad’s job, but the family has to evacuate at the start of the invasion. She has only ever known life in Kuwait and best struggles to integrate back into life in India.
It’s been a few years since I read the first four books in this series, but I definitely appreciated this look at the formative experiences of a coach who meant so much to the kids in that club. The cadence of the narrator, while it definitely fit the main character, was not my favorite, which lessened the reading experience a little bit, but that is solely personal preference.
I really enjoyed this middle grade fantasy world set Colfer clearly has already established in an earlier series which I now want to read as well as continuing and finishing this trilogy. This magical world with its stark gender divides, as well as prohibitions against magic while extreme almost to the point of comedy, serve the author well in creating a narrative that teaches about these issues without reaching. Although the reveal of the villain stretched the suspension of disbelief a little bit, I see how this, if done well, could be an excellent tool for the author in the rest of the trilogy.
If as many escape rooms existed in real life, as do in a lot of of the fiction that I have read recently, most of them would not have nearly enough customers to make a profit. That aside, England wrote a compelling history with just a hint of fantasy that both serves the narrative and also distracted a little bit. Although no dates for the sequel have been announced, this book is clearly set up to be a series. I hope that the book does get a sequel because without that, the fantasy element does not really work. The mystery, however, works really well and I think would be enjoyed by the target audience.
This book is a fascinating look at a woman who ran a brothel or rather several brothels in Australia at the end of the 19th century and into the 20th. By examining her life, the author also examines the way that people treated businesses like this, and the women who either ran or were employed by these businesses and their place in wider society. I would not however, widely recommend this book due to its limited scope and its emphasis on the more scholarly aspect of study. I would recommend it for people like myself who have either training in historiography or have an bent towards that.
The author told her story so compellingly. The trauma and hardships that she faced throughout her life to many are unimaginable. I greatly appreciate her vulnerability in sharing these aspects of herself, and these stories need to be more widely own, so that less people have to endure these sort of things.
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