Cuckoo Song by Frances Hardinge

Synposis (from Goodreads) 

My thanks go to Pan MacMillon and Netgalley for providing me with this e-arc.

Pages: 416

Publisher: Pan MacMillon

Released: 8th of May 2014

The first things to shift were the doll's eyes, the beautiful grey-green glass eyes. Slowly they swivelled, until their gaze was resting on Triss's face. Then the tiny mouth moved, opened to speak. 'What are you doing here?' It was uttered in tones of outrage and surprise, and in a voice as cold and musical as the clinking of cups. 'Who do you think you are? This is my family.'

When Triss wakes up after an accident, she knows that something is very wrong. She is insatiably hungry; her sister seems scared of her and her parents whisper behind closed doors. She looks through her diary to try to remember, but the pages have been ripped out. Soon Triss discovers that what happened to her is more strange and terrible than she could ever have imagined, and that she is quite literally not herself. In a quest find the truth she must travel into the terrifying Underbelly of the city to meet a twisted architect who has dark designs on her family - before it's too late . . .,

What I Have To Say

Some books can be tricky to review. This is one of those books, but only because as I sit down to write this review, I've realised, I have absolutely no idea what to call the main character. Her name changes so much. So I'm going to refer to her by my favourite of her names, Not-Triss. It's simple and states the facts with a hint of humour. And I think it's kind of cute. 

I honestly cannot think of anything that bothered me about the book. The only thing I can think of is the pace could be a little slow for some readers. But I liked it. This isn't a book you race through, desperate to find out how it ends, it's one to take your time over and enjoy the writing. Everything fits with the pace.  

And the prose. Oh how I love beautiful prose. This book is a work of art. Every sentence is an elegant, perfectly constructed gem. All right. I'm exaggerating a little. But really I found some very beautiful sentence. 

I'm trying to keep this fairly short, but I just need to mention some things. The characters were amazing. The fact that the point of view character was the changeling child and the way she had to work through the mystery and confusion surrounding everything was unique and intriguing. And the sister Pen and how they had to form a new relationship was so interesting. 

There are so many other things I could talk about. The whole dysfunctional family is something I could talk about for hours and I haven't even mentioned the people who took Triss and planted Not-Triss in her place. But I don't like long reviews. If I try to read one I tend to zone out after a while. Though this blog is not all about me. I want to do what I can to cater to you, my reader. So if you would like longer reviews when I have something to say, drop a word in the comments.