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quietjenn's review against another edition
3.0
enjoyable, especially for the compleatist in me, who is keen on reading the entire series. but far from the best of the series. while i can get past the heavy use of "thought language" i hated the ever-so-convenient ending. that being said, i really enjoyed most of the characterizations and supporting players whom is twite interacts with in the course of this adventure.
crowyhead's review against another edition
5.0
Sequel to Is Underground. In the previous book in the series, Is Twite travelled north to find her missing cousin, Arun. Now Arun has been found, and they are going back to his home town to reunite him with his mother. But when they get there, they discover that Aunt Ruth has disappeared. Arun's family was part of the Silent Sect, a strange group of true believers who believe that silence is holy and noise is sinful. But things have changed in the sect since Arun left -- there is a new, charismatic leader named Dominic de la Twite, and it seems that he may be Up To No Good. There is also a band of smugglers operating in the area, the Merry Gentry, who are a bunch of very dangerous ne'er-do-wells. Can Is and Arun get to the bottom of things and find his Aunt Ruth? As always, this was a delight; I think Joan Aiken is one of the most consistently clever and inventive authors one could read.
kailey_luminouslibro's review against another edition
3.0
Is Twite and her cousin Arun go on a wild search for Arun's mother, Ruth Twite, while the Merry Gentry smugglers terrorize every village on the coast. Arun and Is turn to Admiral Fishkin for help and advice on how to find their missing relative, but the duplicitous Admiral is not as kind as he seems. Is and Arun search through the mysterious Silent Sect, explore a dark cave, find shelter in unlikely places, and ultimately find a way to restore peace to the coast and strip the Merry Gentry of their power.
I was a little disappointed in the "lucky" coincidences of the plot, especially since I have come to expect so much from Joan Aiken's writing. The plot felt really contrived as time after time the heroes are saved from disaster by some random happenstance. The main characters seem to float around from place to place, making a half-formed plan that doesn't really accomplish anything, and then they are miraculously saved! AGAIN! by some incredibly lucky accident. And the ending was especially contrived and unsatisfactory.
Other than that, the writing is great! Joan Aiken has such a beautiful writing style that pulls you into the story, creates emotional connections to the characters, and describes a vivid setting. Her writing and characters are imaginative and interesting and weird!
Still well worth the read, but not her best in this series.
I was a little disappointed in the "lucky" coincidences of the plot, especially since I have come to expect so much from Joan Aiken's writing. The plot felt really contrived as time after time the heroes are saved from disaster by some random happenstance. The main characters seem to float around from place to place, making a half-formed plan that doesn't really accomplish anything, and then they are miraculously saved! AGAIN! by some incredibly lucky accident. And the ending was especially contrived and unsatisfactory.
Other than that, the writing is great! Joan Aiken has such a beautiful writing style that pulls you into the story, creates emotional connections to the characters, and describes a vivid setting. Her writing and characters are imaginative and interesting and weird!
Still well worth the read, but not her best in this series.
brushelsprouts's review against another edition
5.0
my dudes, few people can tell stories like Joan Aiken did. bless this woman for inspiring my love of the weird, the absurd, and the strong. oh to be able to go back and reread these books with a fresh mind as an adult.
nigellicus's review against another edition
5.0
Is is back, travelling with Arun from the north to find his mother in the south. But the house on Cold Shoulder Road is empty and the people are unfriendly and there are smugglers and bandits abroad with a fierce grip on the land, with hostage children and terrible reprisals and mammoth-tusk ivory smuggled through the channel tunnel. Another Tale Of Twites, good and bad, dogged heroism versus diabolical mischief. Chases and kidnaps, traps and escapes, inventive hidey-holes and strange folk of one stripe or another. Classic Aiken.
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