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The Elemental Detectives: the first book in a cracking adventure series

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One of those books that you can’t put down and need to know the end, but at the same time, you don’t want to finish it too soon. This beautifully written story is set in an ancient London filled with dragons, ghosts and water spirits – it is absolutely bursting with magic, bound to enchant fans of books such as Nevermore and Philip Reeve’s Mortal Engines series. Instead, it just seems to be the real Georgian London… only with a bunch of spirits lurking around corners. The fantasy worldbuilding of this is wonderful; I love elemental magic and meeting the versions of that in this book as they’re all very distinctive, and I hope we learn more about the groups we didn’t see so much of in this installment which was largely focused on the water element Chads. Her first book for young adults, Orangeboy, was shortlisted for the Costa Children’s Book Award and won the Bookseller YA Prize and Waterstone’s Prize for Older Children's Fiction.

The themes of race and class also weave through the novel providing stimulating points for discussion as the action unfolds from the perspective of the two young protagonists. Welcome to eighteenth-century London, where there are four Elemental spirits that most humans know nothing about: the fiery Dragons, airy Fumis, earthbound Magogs and the watery Chads. The Elementals, however, have become increasingly displeased from the years of pollution and lack of care from the ‘Solids’ (humans who live in this world). It explores themes of social injustice, such as slavery and poverty, with a clear eye, while the character twists and turns will keep the reader hooked.There's a promising book hidden in here somewhere, but there are so many characters and plot points and places all thrown at you in the space of just a few pages that the story feels cluttered. There was a line early on about how the dragons “were not forgiven for the unfortunate incident of 1666.

Overall this is a really interesting and deep MG read, and I think it deserves more hype than it got! Patrice Lawrence continues to champion the voices of British authors and illustrators of colour through her work with schools.Her writing has won awards including the Waterstones Children's Book Prize for Older Children and The Bookseller YA Book Prize.

But humans have been causing chaos for centuries, trampling through the landscape trailing noise, mess and pollution. Plus, the 'finish' is wonderful: an illustrated map of London landmarks leads you in; backnotes include: factual sources; a breakdown of those Elements; a note on the real Jonathan Strong; a pickle of a riddle.The system is a bit confusing at first, and the names of each elemental we’re introduced to were not easy to remember. The different layers of history uncovered in this book are expertly handled and encourage the reader to think about what may have happened in an alternative universe or sphere if describing different causes for well-known historical events (such as the Great Fire of London). But some are awake and chasing Marisee, controlled by a mysterious Shepherdess, who wants to find Marisee’s grandmother. A wonderfully busy cast of characters include the Cursing Boar of Fleet Ditch, versed in 83 languages (learn your London Horse! It follows Marisee and Robert who live in an alternate version of London where Elemental spirits linger, and a mysterious villain named the Shepherdess who is seemingly forcing most of the population into an eternal slumber.

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