When I began reading I, like a number of other readers, took time to adjust to the phonetic style of writing used to mimic our main character's voice. Initially this meant the reading felt slower than I'd like, but it certainly became one of the features of the book that I really enjoyed. The voice of Newt changed as they developed in confidence, and I enjoyed seeing the shifting patterns of language as they grew in awareness of the world around them. The author of acclaimed YA book Bearmouth on striking gold in a slate mine – and what you can’t learn from other writers

Set in 1840 England and narrated from five different points of view The Gifts is a slow-burn gothic tale of a doctor's obsession with the women with wings. I loved that book fell into many categories such as historical fiction, fantasy, magical realism and a touch of mystery.

Winner of the Branford Boase Award 2020. Winner of the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize 2020 for Older Readers. The Times Children’s Book of the Year 2019. Shortlisted for the Great Reads Award 2020. Shortlisted for the UKLA (UK Literacy Association) Awards 2021. Nominated for the 2021 CILIP Carnegie Medal. In September 1841, Jesuit priest Pierre Jean De Smet, traveled westward through this area on his way from St. Louis, to establish a mission for the Flathead Indians in the Bitterroot Valley.

The chapters were short and snappy. This is how I like my books. I feel like I’m not quite ready to move onto another book yet because The Gifts is still under my skin, like the bursting wings of those ‘chosen’ women. Because of the way that it was written and the fact that there is a unreliable narrator, I felt that it wasn’t very deep of a novel. I couldn’t really see the each of the characters for who there were properly or follow the events of the plot as well as I would have liked. The language used in this book is all pretty simply as well and if not for the occasional event that can be considered somewhat dark, like death, it almost felt like a middle-grade novel, solely from the way that it was written. Much of the narrative is written phonetically. Did you take inspiration from other books ? I was reminded a little of Riddley Walker by Russell Hoban.

A compelling, strange and utterly unique YA with an unforgettable narrator. It's like nothing else I've read this year - a mix of dystopian and historical, dark and fascinating and very special. (12+) Life in Bearmouth is beyond bleak, but the sparks of Devlin’s revolutionary spirit catch light and drive Thomas to ask the Master for “more coinage” for the workers, to question why they must pay for essential clothes, to demand to know when the promised safety lamps are coming. Then when tragedy strikes, Newt too realises that things “ent bloody well ryte” and takes on Devlin’s insurgent tendencies, with explosive effects. Emotionally engaging, this searingly original novel about standing up to abuses of power and fighting for freedom is radiant with story-telling excellence. Bearmouth was not a mining camp, but rather a town that depended on the survival of other towns that were mining camps, such as neighboring Garnet. During the late 19th century, enormously rich ores from Garnet were brought into Bearmouth to be shipped to smelters. When Garnet ceased to exist, Bearmouth followed suit. The town, however, was also a main stop for stagecoaches on the old Mullan Road. As such, it had a two-storied, balconied inn for travelers to spend the night as well as a large livery stable, both of which still stand. 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.

Buy from our bookstore and 25% of the cover price will be given to a school of your choice to buy more books. *15% of eBooks. Home > 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. There’s a chemistry between two of the characters that was done so perfectly. I’m not one for ‘love’ in stories, but I was absolutely buzzing for these two, and their banter was hilarious at times. I was crying with laughter during numerous scenes.AND I really need to mention how ...incredibly...slow this book felt, mostly cause I spent SO MUCH DANG TIME trying to puzzle out the words (or should I say traig to pahssl owt the werdz). Darkly brilliant. I was totally immersed... subterranean and claustrophobic and a vivid voice telling the story. Gill Lewis, author of A Story Like the Wind Liz Hyder's debut doesn't read like a debut at all. Newt's voice and character made me care deeply about what happens to the young protagonist. The setting of the mines is skilfully drawn and contributes to the darkness of the novel. Bearmouth is gritty, political and incredibly well written and plotted. There are several layers to the book, that I thought deserved further exploration than we were given, but I feel this is admirable on the author's part- to leave things open-ended and mysterious. As the story progressed we learn more about Newt and their unease surrounding the appearance of new boy Devlin. With the arrival of the new face comes a sense of growing awareness of the injustice of their existence, and a slow-burning plan to change things.

Since then I have been down lots of other mines — coal and slate – read numerous books on the subject, listened to and sung old miner’s songs and read many first-hand accounts from child miners in the early 1840s. What I learnt was horrifying. Children from the age of four working 12—hour days, six days a week. Children with sores on their heads and legs from dragging and pulling heavy loads, children whose bodies were twisted out of shape from their work, children who fell asleep into their food on a Sunday because they were so tired. Children killed in explosions, crushed to death, drowned or suffocated.

Natalya: Cast out from her community, Natalya is making her way to her cousin in London, unaware of what lies in store for her. Edward is a renowned surgeon who makes a once in a lifetime discovery which could further his career. However, the discovery also turns him into a man full of greed & hungry for power, forcing him to keep secrets from his wife.