First Reread of 2020
The Rook
Author: Daniel O'Malley
Series: The Checquy Files #1
Genre: Fantasy, Urban Fantasy
Original publication date: January 2012
Book description: "The body you are wearing used to be mine." So begins the letter Myfanwy Thomas is holding when she awakes in a London park surrounded by bodies all wearing latex gloves. With no recollection of who she is, Myfanwy must follow the instructions her former self left behind to discover her identity and track down the agents who want to destroy her.
She soon learns that she is a Rook, a high-ranking member of a secret organization called the Chequy that battles the many supernatural forces at work in Britain. She also discovers that she possesses a rare, potentially deadly supernatural ability of her own.
In her quest to uncover which member of the Chequy betrayed her and why, Myfanwy encounters a person with four bodies, an aristocratic woman who can enter her dreams, a secret training facility where children are transformed into deadly fighters, and a conspiracy more vast than she ever could have imagined.
Filled with characters both fascinating and fantastical, The Rook is a richly inventive, suspenseful, and often wry thriller that marks an ambitious debut from a promising young writer.
Thoughts:
I just loved the beginning. It is one of the best introductions I have seen, at least I remember the first time I picked it up and that made me dive right in, it was amazing.
This time, it had been quite a while since I read it and it felt like the first time. Mainly because I had forgotten most of it. I vaguely remembered the bad guy. But then again I remembered one of the but not all the reveals.
M because her name is too long, is an amazing young woman. She is completely alone, worse still, she is in danger and does not know who is after her. She does not anything about herself and she is finding out about the life she leads, her abilities and her stranged family.
We have a bit of political intrigue. We have a secret government society and people using this secretive situation for their own gain.
It is not overly graphic and violent but still does not shy away from harming the characters either in an emotional or physical way.
I liked it but at the same time, the "big bad" enemy was a huge ñet down. I had completely blocked that part, the Grafters, were a big disappointment. They were kind of a huge threat in the background and then when they show up, they are dismissed because they're presented as comical and odd characters.
So I loved most of it, even the huge chunks that were original M explaining in letters who, what or how-tos to the new M. We were suddenly cut off from the main storyline in order to read the ñetter/page in the blue binder that explained everything to the person who had no memories.
It is astonishing that someone could be so prepared ad managed to take the time to prepare an escape of the current unknown situation, a detailed explanation of their life and info of everyone you know and work with. Just Wow. Sometimes I feel lazy with much less workload than that.
I really enjoyed most of the story.
I had intended to read this in order to be able to get to the second book, which I hope I'll read in February. I want to start with a good vibe and start working towards my yearly goals rereads and continue/finished started series. This is a bit odd as I did take a long time to finish my first reread, even if I had initially planned to read it in 3 days XD
Series: The Checquy Files #1
Genre: Fantasy, Urban Fantasy
Original publication date: January 2012
Book description: "The body you are wearing used to be mine." So begins the letter Myfanwy Thomas is holding when she awakes in a London park surrounded by bodies all wearing latex gloves. With no recollection of who she is, Myfanwy must follow the instructions her former self left behind to discover her identity and track down the agents who want to destroy her.
She soon learns that she is a Rook, a high-ranking member of a secret organization called the Chequy that battles the many supernatural forces at work in Britain. She also discovers that she possesses a rare, potentially deadly supernatural ability of her own.
In her quest to uncover which member of the Chequy betrayed her and why, Myfanwy encounters a person with four bodies, an aristocratic woman who can enter her dreams, a secret training facility where children are transformed into deadly fighters, and a conspiracy more vast than she ever could have imagined.
Filled with characters both fascinating and fantastical, The Rook is a richly inventive, suspenseful, and often wry thriller that marks an ambitious debut from a promising young writer.
Thoughts:
I just loved the beginning. It is one of the best introductions I have seen, at least I remember the first time I picked it up and that made me dive right in, it was amazing.
This time, it had been quite a while since I read it and it felt like the first time. Mainly because I had forgotten most of it. I vaguely remembered the bad guy. But then again I remembered one of the but not all the reveals.
M because her name is too long, is an amazing young woman. She is completely alone, worse still, she is in danger and does not know who is after her. She does not anything about herself and she is finding out about the life she leads, her abilities and her stranged family.
We have a bit of political intrigue. We have a secret government society and people using this secretive situation for their own gain.
It is not overly graphic and violent but still does not shy away from harming the characters either in an emotional or physical way.
I liked it but at the same time, the "big bad" enemy was a huge ñet down. I had completely blocked that part, the Grafters, were a big disappointment. They were kind of a huge threat in the background and then when they show up, they are dismissed because they're presented as comical and odd characters.
So I loved most of it, even the huge chunks that were original M explaining in letters who, what or how-tos to the new M. We were suddenly cut off from the main storyline in order to read the ñetter/page in the blue binder that explained everything to the person who had no memories.
It is astonishing that someone could be so prepared ad managed to take the time to prepare an escape of the current unknown situation, a detailed explanation of their life and info of everyone you know and work with. Just Wow. Sometimes I feel lazy with much less workload than that.
I really enjoyed most of the story.
I had intended to read this in order to be able to get to the second book, which I hope I'll read in February. I want to start with a good vibe and start working towards my yearly goals rereads and continue/finished started series. This is a bit odd as I did take a long time to finish my first reread, even if I had initially planned to read it in 3 days XD
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