The Peculiar by Stefan Bachmann

Synopsis

Part murder mystery, part gothic fantasy, part steampunk adventure, The Peculiar is Stefan Bachmann's rivetting, inventive, and unforgettable debut novel.

Don't get yourself noticed and you won't get yourself hanged. Bartholomew Kettle and his sister, Hettie, live by these words. Bartholomew and Hettie are changelings - Peculiars - and neither faeries nor humans want anything to do with them.

One day a lady in a plum - colored dress comes gliding down Old Crow Alley. Who is she? What does she want? When Bartholomew witnesses the lady whisking away - in a whirling ring of feathers - the boy who lives across the alley. Bartholomew gets himself noticed. First by the lady in plum herself, then by something darkly magical and mysterious, by Jack Box and the Raggedy Man, by the powerful Mr Lickerish...and by Arthur Jelliby, a young man trying to slip through the world unnoticed, too, and who, against all odds, offers Bartholomew friendship and a way to belong.

I say ...

I Ŀ♡√Ɛ the book...physically. I Ŀ♡√Ɛ the smooth front cover with eye-catching drawing/picture and the sandy back cover. The mechanical owl(?) with strange metal attachment all over its body and feathers on the cover is awesome. Cool! Re to the author, since this was his first book...well I couldn't say much bout it then. Let's just dig in :-)

And it was confusing...new terms...weird things...strange environment...really peculiar. But I loved how the author writes, like he put some charms into each weaving words, like reading an English poems. Though the way he described Bath of few decades ago in such a gloomy way, I still could sense the beauty in it. Thumbs up!

I guess...another book is coming soon since the ending of this one is a bit hanging. I just hope the author finishes it at the soonest (unlike this one which he wrote since he was 15yo...‎​=.=! pheω...‎​⊙﹏⊙ ...I couldn't wait for that long) LOL.