Iremonger #1
Trigger warnings: suicide
The Iremongers are a powerful family who manage the refuse of London, the Heaps. One of the younger generation, Clod can hear objects speak, including his own birth object.
The rest of the family regard Clod as something of a disappointment but objects all over the house are waking up and acting strange. When a new serving maid, Lucy Pennant arrives Clod must decide which side he's on.
SPOILERS
I really wanted to like this book but found it really gloomy and full of terrible people. Heap House itself surrounded by mountains of garbage and made up a reassembled parts of other buildings is disturbing enough.
The Iremongers have built their fortune on other peoples' misery. They treat Clod like an aberration when all along there's been others who can hear the objects.
The servants of the house are all distant Iremonger relations and have no names except Iremonger, acting like a cult. They call Lucy "it" and seem to think anyone who's not family is not a person.
The speaking objects are horrifying, seeing that they were once people. People who don't age or remember their past, except for their names. One of the objects even turns out to be a baby.
Clod is the only one who immediately wants to find a way to turn the objects back into people.
I'm not really sure who this book is for. The writing is for young teens, but the subject matter seems a bit too disturbing for them.
2 Stars
