Krys

Holy crap! Why did you get such an iconic book two stars?!?

The writing was exactly what I love in literature. It was gritty, hard hitting, and it had incredibly short chapters which mimicked the snatches of memory he was trying to convey. This is exactly why I loved reading some of his poetry. You don't get that kind of a “punch” in literature very often.

However, this book angered me to the point where I immediately took it to a used book store to sell because I don't want that kind of filth anywhere near me. Then I realized that someone else may pick it up and be as horrified as I was so I took it back home and threw it in a box.

Needless to say, I'll take my hard-hitting, grittyness from Cormac McCarthy and Vonnegut from now on and I hope to God I never have to read “cunt” that many times in a book again.

With a prompt to read a book written about England, I dove into this book. It has been sitting on my toread pile for a LONG time (and actually was a bit surprised that the name had changed from Rivers of London to Midnight Riot, so it took me a while to find it).

I was hugely surprised by this book. Part mystery, part fantasy... all soaked in some magical realism. I loved the idea that everyone has magic as a part of their make-up. I know from reading some less than favorable blogs about how the author writes about women, which was a nice warning. It did also make that part stand out to me. Women were all highly sexualized but not to the point that it made me cringe like some other fantasy writers.

The way you chase down magic is through smells, which is awesome. And also... really amazing fodder for literary candle companies. I'm surprised I haven't found Rivers of London themed candles yet.

I ended up doing a combination of reading and listening and the audiobook is SUPERB. I loved the voices the narrator was doing, the accents.

I have to start out by telling you, I'm not the biggest Jane Austen fan. I'm probably not even the smallest Austen fan. I don't get the appeal.

But....

...Add zombies and I'm a fan for life. I quite literally plowed through this book. The “unmentionables” (AKA “Satan's Army”) have taken over England and have saved Pride and Prejudice.

I LOVED the typography and how it played an essential role in the telling of the story. I loved that the kid made movies. I love that it is told in such a way that leaves the reader guessing as to the innocence of guilt of the main character and makes you just want to ask questions and talk to someone about it.

For some reason, this book never found its way into my hands until now. I found it on the reading list when I was teaching, but was told it wasn't something that we could read as a class due to its content (violence, drugs, drinking).

But if that is what you're paying attention to when you read this story, you have completely missed the point. Its so much more than the “lost poor,” the street kids. Its about true north, purity... knowing what is important, no matter if you have money or not.