A Skinful of Shadows

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Makepeace is great. She's almost a shadow herself in the beginning, an almost parallel to the ghosts who wish to inhabit her. Yet we see as she sets out to save her companions, and with each subsequent possession, how much she grows as a character, and develops an aspect of each character she possesses. She's deeply kind, loyal and at heart a just individual. Unlike James, she doesn't try to better herself in front of her Elders, nor is she swayed by the enticement of power. She's also practical. Whereas James has numerous ideas to escape the ancestral home on discovering her families secrets, she's the voice of reason. The begin felt like a weird, creepy horror story, which I loved, but then the novel takes an unexpected bad turn. The spirit possession plot is set aside and the focus is more about the war, family secrets, and staying in the king’s good graces. There’s also a betrayal angle. For a large chunk of the novel, it felt like I was reading a historical fiction novel — taking place in the mid-1600s — but I was expecting more of a horror novel with just some historical elements. During the First English Civil War, Makepeace lives with her mother in a Puritan village close to London. When her mother dies in a riot between the Parliamentarians and the Royalists, she is sent to live with her deceased father's relatives in Grizehayes, a fictional fortress in the north of England. Makepeace has the inherited trait that allows her to store the spirits of recently deceased people or animals inside herself, like the rest of her father's family. The elders at Grizehayes store the spirits of their notable deceased family members inside living vessels. Discovering that her relatives keep her alive purely as a spare vessel for the spirits, she flees to Oxford and becomes entangled in the conflict of the war herself.

Cuckoo Song by Frances Hardinge - Pan Macmillan Cuckoo Song by Frances Hardinge - Pan Macmillan

I had a REALLY strong horror vibe in the first part of this book. Great atmosphere, vivid emotional impact, and I felt like I had no control. Beautiful. Hardinge is really great at this. :)I loved Makepeace. Especially since she lost it every time someone was cruel to an animal. I don’t care which century we’re talking about, it’s wrong. It was interesting to see her navigating life alone with her mother, then life completely alone, the life with Bear, followed by life amongst her ancestors, life amongst ghosts, eventually life as a spy ... all while trying to figure out where to go, what to do and who to be … What are you doing here?' It was uttered in tones of outrage and surprise, and in a voice as cold and musical as the clinking of cups. 'Who do you think you are? This is my family.'

A Skinful of Shadows by Frances Hardinge | Goodreads A Skinful of Shadows by Frances Hardinge | Goodreads

stars. Frances Hardinge books grab you by the ankle and drag you under the current. They're not exactly pleasant (any more than drowning is), but they are certainly immersive, creative, and intensely disturbing. A Skinful of Shadows is the darkest of the three I've read by this author, and this one is a ride. Makepeace and her mother live in a puritan village in England just prior to the English Civil War. From a young age Makepeace is trained to protect herself in a very strange way: her mother has her sleep in the village graveyard overnight to force her to learn to defend herself against the ghosts that she senses there. The ability that makes her able to see ghosts also makes her the perfect target for possession by them, something that she finds out all about when a traumatic event leaves her possessed by the spirit of a beast. But the beast may be all that can save her when she encounters her father's family, many of whom also have the gift.

3) Remember Me by Christopher Pike

It’s fascinating how, once again, the author chose to show at least some religious people. And, once again, they aren’t quite right in the head. Self-righteous monsters who deny a person to be buried in the cemetery simply for having given birth to a child without being married. While claiming the moral highground. Seriously?! One can say about old Obediah whatever one wants, but he was absolutely right in his assessment of these people. Of course, that does not mean I agreed with his other world views (especially the ones about women and girls) or actions. But the author also used the religions as well as the ghosts to weave the intricate tapestry that is this book in a such a way that it illuminated humanity's neverending desire not to die.