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A review by medievalfantasyqueen
The Formidable Miss Cassidy by Meihan Boey
adventurous
dark
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
4.25
A perfect book for the cultural melting pot that is Singapore, with the unexpected yet delicious blending of folklore from the two parts of the world, the United Kingdom, and the Malayan Peninsula.
--SPOILERS AHEAD--
All of this neatly packaged into a Mary Poppins inspired detective mystery with a dash of necromancy, geomancy, fortune-telling and all other manner of magicks both familiar and the new. I was impressed by the writing style and the characterisation of not only Miss Cassidy, but Anna, Haresh Nair, the twins, and practically everyone else. I was also very thrilled at the interweaving of Singaporean folklore with the storylines of the book, from Pulau Blakang Mati to Badang to the one and only Sang Nila Utama. For a book that has literally everything from pontianaks to toyols to orang minyak to bomohs and even Scylla, and the fay folk of Scotland. An utterly delightful read, and an automatic 5 star from me.
Just a little bit of criticism from me - though it does not affect my rating - is that the section with Sang Nila Utama felt a little off to me, where something quite distinctive as the legend of Singapura's naming was caused by a fay creature with British folkloric ties. Although, of course, a fay is not a person and hence, not technically white, it would have been better for that to have been left to a positively-presented local creature, perhaps.
--SPOILERS AHEAD--
All of this neatly packaged into a Mary Poppins inspired detective mystery with a dash of necromancy, geomancy, fortune-telling and all other manner of magicks both familiar and the new. I was impressed by the writing style and the characterisation of not only Miss Cassidy, but Anna, Haresh Nair, the twins, and practically everyone else. I was also very thrilled at the interweaving of Singaporean folklore with the storylines of the book, from Pulau Blakang Mati to Badang to the one and only Sang Nila Utama. For a book that has literally everything from pontianaks to toyols to orang minyak to bomohs and even Scylla, and the fay folk of Scotland. An utterly delightful read, and an automatic 5 star from me.