Book Review: The Peculiar

The Peculiar by Stefan Bachmann
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Source: Library copy

Don't get yourself noticed and you won't get yourself hanged.
In the faery slums of Bath, Bartholomew Kettle and his sister Hettie live by these words. Bartholomew and Hettie are changelings--Peculiars--and neither faeries nor humans want anything to do with them.
One day a mysterious lady in a plum-colored dress comes gliding down Old Crow Alley. Bartholomew watches her through his window. Who is she? What does she want? And when Bartholomew witnesses the lady whisking away, in a whirling ring of feathers, the boy who lives across the alley--Bartholomew forgets the rules and gets himself noticed.
First he's noticed by the lady in plum herself, then by something darkly magical and mysterious, by Jack Box and the Raggedy Man, by the powerful Mr. Lickerish . . . and by Arthur Jelliby, a young man trying to slip through the world unnoticed, too, and who, against all odds, offers Bartholomew friendship and a way to belong.

I liked this more than I expected. It was very fairy tailish, and it's pretty clear that I like fairy tales. I've read other books by younger authors, and have not been impressed, but with Stefan Bachmann, I was very impressed with his writing style. It was pretty fantastic.

It seems that this is the first of a series, but that's okay with me, because the writing was good enough that I will happily continue on. I would definitely recommend this one to fantasy fans.  It's a super quick, fun read.