The international bestseller and debut novel by teenage author and classical musician Stefan Bachmann is part murder mystery, part gothic fantasy, part clockwork adventure. Best-selling author Rick Riordan said of The Peculiar, "Stefan Bachmann breathes fresh life into ancient magic."
Don't get yourself noticed and you won't get yourself hanged. In the faery slums of Bath, Bartholomew and his little sister Hettie live by these words. Bartholomew and Hettie are Peculiars, and neither faeries nor humans want anything to do with them. But when Peculiars start showing up in London murdered and covered with red tattoos, Bartholomew breaks all the rules and gets himself noticed. Full of magic, dazzling inventions, and intriguing characters such as Mr. Jelliby and Lord Lickerish, this story of friendship, bravery, and nonstop action adventure was hailed by best-selling author Christopher Paolini as "swift, strong, and entertaining. Highly recommended." The Peculiar ends with a spectacular cliff-hanger, and the story concludes in The Whatnot.
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"Imagine a steampunk-laced London that is populated not only with human Londoners, but also faeries, changelings and other mysterious, magical creatures. Bartholomew is a changeling, who, along with his younger sister, Hettie, has been in hiding for fear of being seen. He's grown up with his mother saying to him, "Don't get yourself noticed and you won't get yourself hanged." And, it turns out, he and Hettie have very good reason to hide because when they do get noticed, their world turns upside down. Pair this with the storyline of Mr. Jelliby, a human working in the London government right alongside faeries who have invaded their world. When changeling children start turning up dead in the Thames, Mr. Jelliby finds himself thrust into the middle of the mystery and feels an overwhelming duty to his country to stop the evil at work. Stefan Bachmann has incredible way with words. Not only are his characters and plot interesting, the quality of the writing is downright amazing for someone who started writing this book at the age of 16 (he's 18 now). I can see shades of Jonathan Stroud and neil Gaiman in his work--high praise indeed. The only reason I'm not giving it 5 stars is because it ended a little abruptly and it's quite clear now (which it wasn't on the cover of the ARC) that this is the beginning of a series. In any case, I can't wait to read the next book."
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Jennifer (4 out of 5 stars)