The Perilous Word

Book Reviews. Mostly positive. Peregrine, adult.

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Rivers of London quotes 2/?

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Rivers of London quotes 1/?

[peregrinereads]

Rivers of London (Ben Aaronovitch)

I can make no secret of the fact that I love the Rivers of London books. I hadn't read this one for years and I really enjoyed it (again).

I'm not sure if it's part of growing older, having read it before, or that I simply took more time reading it this time but the plot was a lot clearer than I remember it and it was a lot of fun to see all the hints and foreshadowing in the book.

[functiondys]

Molly calls Nightingale"Songbird"

Molly calls Nightingale her songbird.

Her SONGBIRD.

She hears him sing even in his sleep. She dances to the backbeat of his heartbeat 😭😭

I'm not okay about these two, I'm not

[peregrinereads]

That scene on the underground where Punch talks to Peter is so good! I think it's probably one of the most chilling scenes in the series, at least to me.

The slow realisation of the nature of threat, combined with the fact that Punch is responding directly to Peter's thoughts is deeply unnerving even before the more overt threat of the behaviour of the other passengers.

[travellingdragon]

A police whistle on Bow Street. For a moment I felt a connection, like a vestigium, with the night, the streets, the whistle and the smell of blood and my own fear, with all the other uniforms of London down the ages who wondered what the hell they were doing out so late. Or it could just have been me panicking; it's an easy mistake to make. Nightingale's breath started to falter. 'Keep breathing,' I said. 'It's a habit you don't want to break.' I heard sirens coming closer - it was a beautiful sound.

Rivers of London, chapter 10

[peregrinereads]

I'm up to chapter nine in Rivers of London and there is so much foreshadowing for Lesley's relationship to Henry Pyke and Punch.

Not only does she know without being told that Macklin murdered two people but her complaint that getting away with two murders is 'unfair' feels like a very personal kind of complaint.

It's also really interesting that this serves as foreshadowing that she has been sequestrated when the (real or perceived) 'unfairness' or illegality of the actions of some of the demi-monde and her wish to get revenge will (if I remember correctly) be part of the motivation for her betrayal.

[peregrinereads]

I was right - there are other references to magic being like music in Rivers of London.

I'm also paying more attention to how the forma are described as shapes in the mind and how that relates - I think I remember it being related to Simone and her sisters gaining their powers in Moon Over Soho, as well.

Now that I'm looking out for it, I'm really enjoying the theme of magic and music being compared.

[peregrinereads]

I've reached Rivers of London in my read/re-read and I'm sure it's been said before but that conversation between Peter and Lesley at the start about why they joined the police is so revealing about who they are/where they end up.

Honestly their whole interpersonal relationship fascinates me, in part because they are two extremely different people and, in retrospect, hanging over all their early scenes together is the question of how much of their friendship is one-sided, and how much their eventual enmity was inevitable.

[peregrinereads]

The Masquerades of Spring (Ben Aaronovitch)

As expected, I really enjoyed this novella!

Aaronovitch's style is extremely fast paced and dense, so I do sometimes find his work a little hard to follow in places but that has never put me off and I do enjoy going back to his books for a better understanding.

Short as it is, this novella will definitely reward multiple readings - it was bright and fun, packed with charming characters.

[peregrinereads]

I haven't reached the end of the novella yet but I already love what The Masquerades of Spring reveals about Nightingale and Molly.

I had always assumed their closeness came from spending so much time together/being the only people in the Folly for decades.

There's something very sweet about the fact that they were friends before that - and the implication that maybe part of the reason Nightingale never left the Folly is because he didn't want to leave Molly.

[peregrinereads]

I'm hoping to read/reread the Rivers of London series this year. I've started reading The Masquerades of Spring already and I'm really enjoying it. (I do miss Peter, though!)

The ties between magic and music are especially present in this book, and I remember them being compared in Moon Over Soho but it makes me wonder if the two were more closely linked in other books and I just didn't notice/have forgotten.

[thearcanecat]

Love Thomas writing in violet ink and making the binder purple. She’s cast herself as the personal staff of the Court. She’s already passed on the title of Rook to whoever wakes up in her body. They’re the ones in control now, the best she can do it set them up for success and be as prepared as possible

[danamartist]

Myfanwy Thomas 

from The Rook by Daniel O’Malley

day 7 of favorite book characters

Myfanwy Thomas wakes in a park with two black eyes and no memory of anything, even her own name. But the name is provided by the letter she helpfully left in own pocket. Following a trail of clues from her former self, Myfanwy tries to figure out who attacked her while faking her way through her job – not easy since it turns out she’s a high-ranking official of a supernatural MI6.

The plot is what makes the book so much fun, but it’s Myfanwy that makes it stand out. A quiet, methodical young woman taking out monsters and then recuperating with tea and a bunny is a heroine I can sympathize with.

[peregrinereads]

I've been thinking about this and I don't think it ever comes up aside from a brief conversation between Shantay and Myfanwy, but Rook Thomas/Myfanwy and Bronwyn both pronounce her name differently.

It could be that their parents used both pronunciations, or that the 'rhymes with Tiffany' pronunciation was some kind of nickname, but I think there are two more likely possibilities.

The teachers/other children at the estate couldn't/didn't pronounce it properly and young Myfanwy couldn't or didn't correct them.

Or Myfanwy's family used the 'rhymes with Tiffany' pronunciation and after Myfanwy left home her family didn't talk about her to the extent that Bronwyn, who obviously adored her and desperately wanted to know where she was, who was one of the people Rook Thomas said she loved the most, didn't know how to pronounce her name.

Both of those options are just so interesting and sad! On the one hand young Rook Thomas, taken away from her family in a way that clearly hurt her deeply and losing the last shreds of her old life as even her name is altered, and on the other, young Rook Thomas, suffering and alone, while the people who loved her and were fighting for her were separated from her to the point where they couldn't remember how to say her name.

[peregrinereads]

#personally I like the second more#young Myfanwy was probably to nervous to correct other people#but she stresses it in her very first letter#she wants her future self to know how to say her name#even if she chooses to run away from the checquy#and bronwyn!#almost as much as Myfanwy herself she is unaware of her sister#even without amnesia bronwyn doesn’t know her sister#with the context of Alix in Royal gambit#I think the Thomas parents feel guilty#they are profiting from the loss of their daughter#gaining a heafty sum of money#even if they didn’t want to let Myfanwy good#and even if they didn’t know they would get money#I bet they feel very guilty about accepting the money#even when they use it to help their other children#so I bet they avoid taking about her out of that guilt#I think bronwyn has a quote about how it was easier to just not think about it#they’ve always had two children and ignore the money#no childhood stories told to bronwyn and any questions shot down#maybe bronwyn didn’t even know her sister’s name until after her parents passed#or maybe she found out from like a school yearbook#and had never heard the name said aloud before

I hope you don't mind me copying your tags but I love your point about Rook Thomas making sure Myfanwy can pronounce her name! I hadn't thought about it like that!

And poor Bronwyn! I can definitely picture Myfanwy's absence being something unspoken. Haunting her family the way she will eventually haunt her new self.

I'm disproportionately fascinated by the Thomas siblings for the amount of page time they get. (I haven't had a chance to read Blitz or Royal Gambit yet so I don't know if they show up again?)

[peregrinereads]

5 Things I Loved About The Invisible Library Series by Genevieve Cogman

Spoilers!

I love the relationships between the characters, especially the mentorships, and how seriously both the books and the characters take them.

I love that Vale's nature as a kind of Sherlock Holmes figure affects the plot. Not only is he Irene's favourite type of character, and his detective skills help him in the books, but his nature becomes a threat to him. While his nature as Irene's favourite archetype is often funny for the reader, it's never reduced to a joke.

The Library and Librarians. An interdimensional library whose denizens do not age could feel divorced from the world but instead it feels very lived in - they have favourite books, and families, and petty enemies.

Alberich and Irene's relationship. I love the way that, while they do have things in common, Cogman never takes the cheap path of chalking this up to their being related. Instead this is a natural consequence of them both being Librarians, of both being the kind of person who would choose to be a librarian.

I love Irene's intense practicality! She's so sensible and self aware, even while she's worrying about her own morality.

[iluminaes]

@bookclubnw‘s first event: favourite literary character: myfanwy alice thomas from the rook

→ “She felt a little pang of fondness for the woman who’d lived in her body. You couldn’t help liking someone who put all this effort into making you feel welcome.”