I Am Half-Sick of Shadows by Alan Bradley features ten-year-old Flavia de Luce, an amateur detective who's very interested in poisons. What's most refreshing about this book is the fact that the young heroine is not stuck in the dystopian future: instead, she lives in a small British village in 1950. She's smart, she's funny, and she's not perfect. It's not a series you must read from the beginning in order to enjoy, and in fact, I liked this book more than the highly acclaimed first book in the series, The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie. Why? I think there were fewer chemistry lessons in this novel than in the first one. Also, this novel felt very movie-esque, and not just because the story revolves around a film shoot at Flavia's home. I think when I say movie-esque I mean self-contained. It's a very charming book.
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Disclosure of
Material Connection: I received this book for free from Random House as an
Early Bird Read. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I
have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal
Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of
Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."
