Sunday, October 20, 2013

2013 book 275

Alan Bradley's The Dead in their Vaulted Arches
OK, I'm just gonna come right out and say it--the 6th Flavia de Luce book is straight up weird. Both in the sense than it's quite a departure from the rest of the series, and also in that it's just WEIRD. I mean, a big chunk of the book involves Flavia attempting to resurrect her mother's dead body. It's more than a little unsettling. Plus, Bradley has suddenly inserted a whole mythology about the de Luce family here--something that really should have been hinted at a little bit more in previous volumes for a more organic feel. Having Winston Churchill casually stop by is kind of out of nowhere--though entertaining. I guess all of that sounds a little bit whiny, especially since I'm kind of intrigued by the new direction this series seems to be going. And if it means that a 12 year old girl will stop getting involved in murder investigations (suspension of disbelief is impossible at a certain point), I'm all for it! Let's train up a girl spy! B.

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A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be released in January.

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