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themanfromdelmonte's review against another edition
4.0
This is a good addition to the Rivers series. Abigail is an intriguing character and this fleshes her out in a good way. Uncle Peter had better watch out or she'll be his boss before long!
alan713ch's review
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
raisinsreads's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
jenmcvay's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
mary_soon_lee's review against another edition
This is a novella in the Rivers of London urban-fantasy series. The full-length novels are narrated by Peter Grant, a very likable mixed-race police officer with magical abilities. This novella, on the other hand, is told by Abigail Kamara, a very likable mixed-race teenager with magical abilities. There is a fair amount of similarity between Peter's voice and Abigail's voice, which probably can be attributed to Aaronovitch, and in both cases I like the narrative voice very much, especially the dry humor. Indeed whenever the story was fully in Abigail's own point-of-view, I loved it. During the latter half of the story, there are stretches that aren't fully Abigail's point-of-view and I found those less compelling.
A few small remarks with minor plot spoilers.
Final note: I'd strongly recommend reading the series in order, partly because it will make more sense, and partly because there are some plot arcs that extend well beyond a single book.
Highly recommended. Four out of five vulpine stars.
About my reviews: I try to review every book I read, including those that I don't end up enjoying. The reviews are not scholarly, but just indicate my reaction as a reader, reading being my addiction. I am miserly with 5-star reviews; 4 stars means I liked a book very much; 3 stars means I liked it; 2 stars means I didn't like it (though often the 2-star books are very popular with other readers and/or are by authors whose other work I've loved).
A few small remarks with minor plot spoilers.
Spoiler
Firstly, I enjoyed Nightingale's brief appearances and the mentions of Peter. Secondly, I loved the foxes. Thirdly, the mentions of Abigail's brother, Paul, were well done: understated and moving.Final note: I'd strongly recommend reading the series in order, partly because it will make more sense, and partly because there are some plot arcs that extend well beyond a single book.
Highly recommended. Four out of five vulpine stars.
About my reviews: I try to review every book I read, including those that I don't end up enjoying. The reviews are not scholarly, but just indicate my reaction as a reader, reading being my addiction. I am miserly with 5-star reviews; 4 stars means I liked a book very much; 3 stars means I liked it; 2 stars means I didn't like it (though often the 2-star books are very popular with other readers and/or are by authors whose other work I've loved).
pamela22's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Interesting novella connected to the Rivers of London series. Starts off very much YF but develops into something more pleasing for an adult reader. Author develops a unique quite a unique voice from the narrator of the Rivers series, Peter.
willywonka3435's review against another edition
5.0
Never read any of Aaronovitch's books or any of the Rivers of London series, but I saw this at the library and was smitten with it. Lovely story. May go back and read the series at some point.
since68's review
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Enjoyable, but not the best in the series. Glad I’ve read it though.
jonathanpalfrey's review against another edition
4.0
I enjoy spending time with Abigail and the foxes: she’s a great character, and I like the foxes too. Simon and his mum are rather good characters in their different ways. But, as always with this series, I like the writing and the characters better than the opponents and problems that they run up against.
The problem that Abigail encounters here is an original idea, well imagined and described, but I find it creepy and unpleasant, and I’m unconvinced by the explanation of what it is and how it came to exist.
Furthermore, when we see a child getting it together and tackling a major life-threatening problem of intimidating weirdness that would severely challenge an adult, I have some difficulty believing in it. Yes, Abigail is a gifted and precocious child (aged 13 at the time of this story), but this is not a child-sized problem, and I don’t like it when authors throw children to the wolves like this. Terry Pratchett did it repeatedly to Tiffany Aching, J K Rowling did it repeatedly to Harry Potter and friends, and I’d enjoy these books more if they gave the children problems that a brave and intelligent child could more reasonably be expected to deal with.
On my latest rereads, I skimmed over the chapters describing Abigail’s adult-sized problem in detail. I enjoy the other chapters…
Abigail seems to have picked up Peter Grant’s stupid habit of saying, “Me and X did something”; however, she does it less often than he does: only five times in this novella. (I don’t think even they would say, “Me did something”, so why “Me and X did something”?)
The problem that Abigail encounters here is an original idea, well imagined and described, but I find it creepy and unpleasant, and I’m unconvinced by the explanation of what it is and how it came to exist.
Furthermore, when we see a child getting it together and tackling a major life-threatening problem of intimidating weirdness that would severely challenge an adult, I have some difficulty believing in it. Yes, Abigail is a gifted and precocious child (aged 13 at the time of this story), but this is not a child-sized problem, and I don’t like it when authors throw children to the wolves like this. Terry Pratchett did it repeatedly to Tiffany Aching, J K Rowling did it repeatedly to Harry Potter and friends, and I’d enjoy these books more if they gave the children problems that a brave and intelligent child could more reasonably be expected to deal with.
On my latest rereads, I skimmed over the chapters describing Abigail’s adult-sized problem in detail. I enjoy the other chapters…
Abigail seems to have picked up Peter Grant’s stupid habit of saying, “Me and X did something”; however, she does it less often than he does: only five times in this novella. (I don’t think even they would say, “Me did something”, so why “Me and X did something”?)
bookish_benny's review against another edition
3.0
I have a book blog here
It’s here! The newest book in my favourite book series. It’s a novella but the two previous novellas have both been decent, can this one be just as good?
Some information about this book:
Release date: March 18th 2021
Published by: Gollancz
Pages: 183
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Series: Rivers of London (Book #11, Novella #3)
Blurb:
GHOST HUNTER, FOX WHISPERER, TROUBLEMAKER.
It is the summer of 2013 and Abigail Kamara has been left to her own devices. This might, by those who know her, be considered a mistake.
While her cousin, police constable and apprentice wizard Peter Grant, is off in the sticks chasing unicorns, Abigail is chasing her own mystery. Teenagers around Hampstead Heath have been going missing but before the police can get fully engaged, the teens return home – unharmed but vague about where they’ve been.
Aided only by her new friend Simon, her knowledge that magic is real, and a posse of talking foxes that think they’re spies, Abigail must venture into the wilds of Hampstead to discover who is luring the teenagers and more importantly – why?
This installment in Ben’s brilliant Rivers of London series about a police officer called Peter Grant who investigates magical crimes and disturbances within London is the first time we have seen Abigail (Peter’s cousin) in her own adventure. Cock-sure of herself, full of sass but street wise with enough wisdom for the humans and the foxes, we begin to find out what Abigail did in the summer of 2013 while Peter was away in Herefordshire during the events of Foxglove Summer (Book #5).
Abigail has learnt that foxes can talk and they seem to like her and so spending her summer of school, making friends, she soon finds herself pulled into the curious disturbance of children from her manor. For real.
“We’re walking down to the east side of the Model Boating Pond because I reckon there’ll be fewer people to notice that I’m carrying a talking fox around my neck.”
I’m a huge fan of the Rivers of London novels after stumbling across it somewhere and I read the majority of them back to back a couple of years ago which is a big thing for me to do as I get bored but the imagination, the investigation and the combination of crimes and magic made for a brilliant story. The books themselves contain demon traps (magical booby traps), talking dead people, poltergeists, vampires, wizards, river gods and lots lots more. They’re generally set in London and this book is no different, setting it’s feet in the area of Hampstead Heath.
Reading this from Abigail’s point of view I always knew that everything would be “toned down” to match her stature. I wouldn’t expect to find Abigail facing off against armed criminals (magically or firearms equipped) or dealing with large deities, be them river or others, and to be fair to Ben, he has toned this down well but at a cost.
Abigail finds herself dealing with problems suitable to her knowledge and abilities, kids going missing and the secretive foxes proving to be her allies while Peter was away, thus showing us (and herself) that she can handle business. The foxes themselves are cool secondary characters and I felt that Indigo was the perfect sidekick for Abigail to have with her during this story.
I thought the parts where there was action or the tensions were raised up were done well and the main threat in this story was a clever one. I wasn’t sure about the back story to this threat and if I’m honest, the parts revolving this threat were a tad confusing and in the end I didn’t worry about the details and just continued reading to enjoy the magical predicament Abigail was in since that is the highlight of the books for me, the cool magic.
As I’ve said, this is my favourite book series but I have to be honest in my reviews. I really wanted more, expected more even? Maybe Abigail could have stumbled upon people with guns carrying out a magical heist or something and set the foxes about to surveillance then bringing in Nightingale? The danger would have been grander but then so would have the pay off and excitement for long term fans. It was almost like this was a teens version of the Peter Grant novels I have come to love. I wanted more danger and I wanted more magic but the limits put onto Abigail by Ben meant that there was only so far she could have been pushed.
In terms of conveying a young black girl in London with the lingo that the kids use today, Ben did a great job and I genuinely felt like I was reading this from the point of a teenage girl. Ben also pulled in new characters (Simon’s Mum) and the River Fleet who I’m sure will make further appearances in the stories he writes which only adds to the options he has for further stories since I felt False Value (Peter Grant #10) took the story into places that weren’t where I wanted it to go.
If you are a Peter Grant fan then you should read this. It’s not a bad book at all, far from it, but you might be left slightly hungry for more when you have finished it. I felt the Tobias Winter novella, October Man, had a bigger magic punch than this one did and only wished this had more action but in terms of character development and bringing Abigail into the fold, it did well. I just wanted more.
If you are not a Peter Grant fan and are reading this for the first time then I highly recommend you check out Rivers of London (Midnight Riot in USA) which is the first book in this amazing series which I can only describe as “Harry Potter joins the Police in London”. It is a series criminally underrated, full of Urban fantasy action with smart writing and devious enemies.
If you would like to purchase Rivers of London then you can do so at Broken Binding and get a free 5% off by using the code BLURB5.
You can purchase What Abigail Did That Summer here on Amazon UK and Amazon US.
Thanks for reading and don't forget to check out the blog and drop a follow :)
It’s here! The newest book in my favourite book series. It’s a novella but the two previous novellas have both been decent, can this one be just as good?
Some information about this book:
Release date: March 18th 2021
Published by: Gollancz
Pages: 183
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Series: Rivers of London (Book #11, Novella #3)
Blurb:
GHOST HUNTER, FOX WHISPERER, TROUBLEMAKER.
It is the summer of 2013 and Abigail Kamara has been left to her own devices. This might, by those who know her, be considered a mistake.
While her cousin, police constable and apprentice wizard Peter Grant, is off in the sticks chasing unicorns, Abigail is chasing her own mystery. Teenagers around Hampstead Heath have been going missing but before the police can get fully engaged, the teens return home – unharmed but vague about where they’ve been.
Aided only by her new friend Simon, her knowledge that magic is real, and a posse of talking foxes that think they’re spies, Abigail must venture into the wilds of Hampstead to discover who is luring the teenagers and more importantly – why?
This installment in Ben’s brilliant Rivers of London series about a police officer called Peter Grant who investigates magical crimes and disturbances within London is the first time we have seen Abigail (Peter’s cousin) in her own adventure. Cock-sure of herself, full of sass but street wise with enough wisdom for the humans and the foxes, we begin to find out what Abigail did in the summer of 2013 while Peter was away in Herefordshire during the events of Foxglove Summer (Book #5).
Abigail has learnt that foxes can talk and they seem to like her and so spending her summer of school, making friends, she soon finds herself pulled into the curious disturbance of children from her manor. For real.
“We’re walking down to the east side of the Model Boating Pond because I reckon there’ll be fewer people to notice that I’m carrying a talking fox around my neck.”
I’m a huge fan of the Rivers of London novels after stumbling across it somewhere and I read the majority of them back to back a couple of years ago which is a big thing for me to do as I get bored but the imagination, the investigation and the combination of crimes and magic made for a brilliant story. The books themselves contain demon traps (magical booby traps), talking dead people, poltergeists, vampires, wizards, river gods and lots lots more. They’re generally set in London and this book is no different, setting it’s feet in the area of Hampstead Heath.
Reading this from Abigail’s point of view I always knew that everything would be “toned down” to match her stature. I wouldn’t expect to find Abigail facing off against armed criminals (magically or firearms equipped) or dealing with large deities, be them river or others, and to be fair to Ben, he has toned this down well but at a cost.
Abigail finds herself dealing with problems suitable to her knowledge and abilities, kids going missing and the secretive foxes proving to be her allies while Peter was away, thus showing us (and herself) that she can handle business. The foxes themselves are cool secondary characters and I felt that Indigo was the perfect sidekick for Abigail to have with her during this story.
I thought the parts where there was action or the tensions were raised up were done well and the main threat in this story was a clever one. I wasn’t sure about the back story to this threat and if I’m honest, the parts revolving this threat were a tad confusing and in the end I didn’t worry about the details and just continued reading to enjoy the magical predicament Abigail was in since that is the highlight of the books for me, the cool magic.
As I’ve said, this is my favourite book series but I have to be honest in my reviews. I really wanted more, expected more even? Maybe Abigail could have stumbled upon people with guns carrying out a magical heist or something and set the foxes about to surveillance then bringing in Nightingale? The danger would have been grander but then so would have the pay off and excitement for long term fans. It was almost like this was a teens version of the Peter Grant novels I have come to love. I wanted more danger and I wanted more magic but the limits put onto Abigail by Ben meant that there was only so far she could have been pushed.
In terms of conveying a young black girl in London with the lingo that the kids use today, Ben did a great job and I genuinely felt like I was reading this from the point of a teenage girl. Ben also pulled in new characters (Simon’s Mum) and the River Fleet who I’m sure will make further appearances in the stories he writes which only adds to the options he has for further stories since I felt False Value (Peter Grant #10) took the story into places that weren’t where I wanted it to go.
If you are a Peter Grant fan then you should read this. It’s not a bad book at all, far from it, but you might be left slightly hungry for more when you have finished it. I felt the Tobias Winter novella, October Man, had a bigger magic punch than this one did and only wished this had more action but in terms of character development and bringing Abigail into the fold, it did well. I just wanted more.
If you are not a Peter Grant fan and are reading this for the first time then I highly recommend you check out Rivers of London (Midnight Riot in USA) which is the first book in this amazing series which I can only describe as “Harry Potter joins the Police in London”. It is a series criminally underrated, full of Urban fantasy action with smart writing and devious enemies.
If you would like to purchase Rivers of London then you can do so at Broken Binding and get a free 5% off by using the code BLURB5.
You can purchase What Abigail Did That Summer here on Amazon UK and Amazon US.
Thanks for reading and don't forget to check out the blog and drop a follow :)