THE MIME ORDER - SAMANTHA SHANNON - REVIEW

Book: The Mime Order
Author: Samantha Shannon
Publisher: Bloomsbury
ISBN:
Rating: 10/10

Paige Mahoney has escaped the brutal penal colony of Sheol I, but her problems have only just begun: many of the fugitives are still missing and she is the most wanted person in London. As Scion turns its all-seeing eye on Paige, the mime-lords and mime-queens of the city's gangs are invited to a rare meeting of the Unnatural Assembly. Jaxon Hall and his Seven Seals prepare to take centre stage, but there are bitter fault lines running through the clairvoyant community and dark secrets around every corner. Then the Rephaim begin crawling out from the shadows. But where is Warden? Paige must keep moving, from Seven Dials to Grub Street to the secret catacombs of Camden, until the fate of the underworld can be decided. Will Paige know who to trust? The hunt for the dreamwalker is on.

Breathless. That's how I felt after finishing this book. A year I waited for this book and for something I waited so long for, I finished so quick and now I'm waiting for the next one... already.
But seriously, The Mime Order utterly blew me away. Phenomenal doesn't even begin to describe it.

The story. Whilst I knew vaguely where the story would go after the massive cliffhanger that was 'the Bone Season' I had no idea it would go the way it did. This story and world is already so unique and special, as it is, and Shannon has succeeded in penning another riveting and twist filled plot that will keep you up till the dead of night, turning the pages until there none left to turn.
I love how we saw the story progress through this novel and how we followed Paige as she travelled through London as well as being on the run from everyone. No joke, everyone is after Paige (she doesn't really catch a break in this book) and that's why this is just such an insane, action packed book, that I just couldn't put down.
The story, I found, flowed, well. It was never slow in any way, but the further you read the more the pace picked up and the more riveting it became, to the point where I was locked to it and could not put the book down. Shannon has masterfully created this plot and whilst it gave me everything I wanted it left me wanting so much more. (I know this is kinda vague around the plot but I really don't want to give anything away guys, you really have to read this is experience how perfect this book is)

The setting. It was really interesting to see London through Paige's eyes, but in a different way to how she saw it in book 1. In book 1 it was very much a place hide from but now it's her place to hide within, and I loved seeing how she moved around London with all these secret places that only she knew about. Needless to say, I just loved seeing this fantasy ridden London (in the future) and even though I've been to London so many times, I didn't even need to use those images to engross myself because Shannon's writing was so fluid and rich that it just built up the new London so vividly in my mind.
Also, this is a personal thing, but I feel like this story and novel just wouldn't have worked or had the same effect had it been set elsewhere and London and Oxford really were and are the perfect settings for this book and Shannon makes them work beautifully with the story.

Now onto the writing. Shannon's writing wowed from book one and it's done nothing but get better with book 2. The writing has only become more seamless and a pleasure to read. Words flowed easily, building up worlds and characters in my mind with ease. The way Shannon used words to craft this world is on a whole new level of amazing and from page one I slipped into this story, and lived it first hand through this articulate and beautiful prose.

The characters in this were even better than last time. Not only did we get to delve deeper into their mind and not only see them in a different light, responsive to different situations, but we also got to know them and their history better, allowing us to understand them better and their place within the story. However, the two I want to focus on are Paige and Warden, first separately, then together.
Paige, as a character, grew so much in this book and I loved watching it. Even though, really, she's always been on her own, she becomes alone properly for the very first time and we see her come into her own, take control of her life and somehow just about manage to keep it together in the middle of the biggest mess ever. Seeing her develop in this book was exactly what I wanted because now she's a stronger and better character and I can't wait to see her take on everyone in the next book (hopefully).
Now to Paige and Warden. Although Warden isn't in this novel straight away (he comes back about halfway through), the chemistry and electricity between these two characters is off the charts. They're literally the perfect couple together and Shannon has made it this way, so that you can't help but love them together, which also worries me that she's made us love them as a couple so she can do something devastating, however until that happens I can't wait to see them together in the next book.
That's another great point to the book; whilst there is romance and it does have a key role it doesn't ever overwhelm or take over the book, nor does Paige let it become the most important thing in her life. The book still stays strongly focused on the main storyline and Paige says focused on herself and what she needs to.

So overall I can say I am not disappointed at all with this book; It's everything I wanted and more. Whilst it's still a complete mess everything came together in a satisfying way, that's left me needing the next book now. All the aspects of this book have tied together to create a masterpiece, and quite honestly this book is dripping with perfection.

THE MIME ORDER - NEWS

So guys, The Mime Order, by Samantha Shannon, is nearly upon us and whilst I've had a proof for a good few months I can not wait for it to come out and for all you guys to be able to read it because trust me it is insanely amazingly good! You guys are going to be blown away, and if you haven't started this series yet, then buy yourself the Bone Season and get started now please!!

Anyway as for news: I am going to be part of the Mime Order blog tour!!!! Yes, tomorrow is my stop on the tour so keep your eyes peeled for some awesome posts to do with the mime order, it's going to be great! I am also so honoured to be a part of this books release, especially a series that is so amazing and that I love so much!

So as you can see below is a schedule of all the stops on the tour and all the different blogs and if you scroll a little further down from that you'll be able to see the covers for both the bone season and the mime order, with blurbs!

EVEN A DREAMER CAN START A REVOLUTION Nineteen-year-old Paige Mahoney works in the criminal underworld of Scion London. Her job: to scout for information by breaking into people's minds. For Paige is a dreamwalker, a clairvoyant and, in the world of Scion, she commits treason simply by breathing.

Paige Mahoney has escaped the brutal prison camp of Sheol I, but her problems have only just begun: many of the survivors are missing and she is the most wanted person in London...As Scion turns its all-seeing eye on the dreamwalker, the mime-lords and mime-queens of the city's gangs are invited to a rare meeting of the Unnatural Assembly. Jaxon Hall and his Seven Seals prepare to take centre stage, but there are bitter fault lines running through the clairvoyant community and dark secrets around every corner.Then the Rephaim begin crawling out from the shadows. But where is Warden? Paige must keep moving, from Seven Dials to Grub Street to the secret catacombs of Camden, until the fate of the underworld can be decided.

THE BONE SEASON - SAMANTHA SHANNON - REVIEW

Book: The Bone Season
Author: Samantha Shannon
Publisher: Bloomsbury
ISBN: 9781408836422
Rating: A

The year is 2059. Nineteen-year-old Paige Mahoney is working in the criminal underworld of Scion London, based at Seven Dials, employed by a man named Jaxon Hall. Her job: to scout for information by breaking into people's minds. For Paige is a dreamwalker, a clairvoyant and, in the world of Scion, she commits treason simply by breathing. It is raining the day her life changes for ever. Attacked, drugged and kidnapped, Paige is transported to Oxford - a city kept secret for two hundred years, controlled by a powerful, otherworldly race. Paige is assigned to Warden, a Rephaite with mysterious motives. He is her master. Her trainer. Her natural enemy. But if Paige wants to regain her freedom she must allow herself to be nurtured in this prison where she is meant to die. The Bone Season introduces a compelling heroine and also introduces an extraordinary young writer, with huge ambition and a teeming imagination. Samantha Shannon has created a bold new reality in this riveting debut.

Phenomenal.

I got the email about this book and even though it was New Adult I knew I had to read it. The story idea itself had me gripped and just reading some of the glowing praises left me hungry for this. I admit when It popped though the letterbox I was a teeny bit daunted by the size of it but I do not regret reading it. It's such a quick, amazing novel you'll barely notice time fly by as you're sucked into Shannon's stunning world.

The plot of this is so unique and such a killer story that not once will you be bored. We follow Paige Mahoney, through a dystopian world in which Clairvoyants exist in society and are shunned. She find out she is a Clairvoyant, but unlike typical YA she's known for a while. anyway she get's taken to a place called Sheol - not going to talk about this part because there are too many spoilers - and she falls in love {though romance plays a pretty low key in this) and they uprise and leave you on a cliffhanger, thirsty for book 2. What I loved about this is whilst maintaining the main theme of Fantasy, the novel wove in some many other genre's like Romance, Dystopia and even a little Sci-fi.
The plot really was unique. The whole story covered everything you want to know and although it's a series It hast left me with any major unexplained questions apart from what happens next. The whole story flowed extremely nicely and all made sense, and like I said it contained all the memories and thoughts you needed for all the answers to explained, whilst still keeping you interested. The separate parts of the story were seamlessly interwoven and every chapter has so much actions and mystery there wasn't a day that went by when I wouldn't stay up to read this.

The setting of this was quite unusual. The inner cities I've found fairly normal as far as future Dystopian cities go but Sheol, the main fantasy location - and where the majority of the novel was based - was built up on an already existing places so it was interesting to see how Oxford was transformed into this new eccentric and fantastical setting. even iconic location like Port Meadow were completely redesigned and I think the use of current locations with twists really helps to build up he we see the settings because we already have a basic idea of what the lace should look like.
Beyond that though I think it's fait to Say Shannon has mastered the art of World Building. This way she creates the new world, the way the whole style of the Sheol builds up is perfection. I liked how instead of taking key design features from time periods Shannon created her own and her new world was truly her own. Every idea and concept was perfectly drawn from Shannon's imagination and pushed into ours and it just worked perfectly.

The writing of this was on a whole other level. I'm not sure I can even quite describe it. Whilst keeping very neutral and very balanced it still had that certain type of personality that marked it as Shannon's. Shannon s definitely a very skilled writer and looking at her background - she studied English Language at Oxford - I wouldn't expect any less. The writing was a pleasure to read. The words were well crafted and the story flowed, one chapter leading on from another. She used the perfect words in both description and dialogue and the way the images and scenes built in my mind were just glorious. This whole novel is just dripping with talent.

The Characters. Well what makes this interesting in it's own way is that within the set of characters there were different species, and yet again Shannon has managed another amazing feat in this novel. She has successfully and believably created her special (Rephaim) and created them in such a way there is nothing to question. One things I loved about this book is that although there was a lot of supernatural elements these elements were all explained and had reason which made them more real to me. More real than a book where the author says there is no explanation, it's magic because it is. Another interesting aspect of this was that although there were only a small set of main characters is that the set of main characters changed as the novel progressed, always with Paige at the front though.
The characters were all explained, history and all revealed, though I still feel like Shannon will hit us with more surprises and new secrets in book 2. The characters were formed well in our minds and the emotional connection were there but like with any book 2 I think we'll see everyone's true colours in the sequel which is something I'm raring for.

So this is one of those book that there are so many words to describe it with but even then they're not enough. Because quite honestly The Bone Season left me speechless.

Phenomenal.