quinta-feira, 22 de setembro de 2011

The Body at the Tower, Y.S. Lee

I'm submitting this book to the YA Historical Fiction Challenge hosted by YA Bliss.

Description

Review: It's been a year since the events in A Spy in the House, and Mary has been working for the Agency in order to become a full-fledged member. In this book, she is presented with a great challenge: to pass as a 12 year-old boy to apprentice in a building site, when she is a 18 year-old woman.

Her objective is to learn more about the trouble at the building site of St. Stephen's Tower (that we know nowadays as Big Ben), where a series of strange events have occurred, among them a death. Meanwhile, James, poor James, has been in India engineering... well, something I can't quite remember. Instead, he got himself some malaria, which has taken him too close to death and has left him weakened.

Honestly, I didn't mind much the mystery, as it seemed a bit obvious to me what was going on (although the specifics failed me). The most important part to me, and I devoured the book until I got there, was Mary and James's reunion, which was especially awesome because she was in boy clothes (quite scandalous in Victorian times), and he sort of pretended he didn't recognize her at first.

And well, their scenes dominated the rest of the book for me. James was adorable, always trying to kiss Mary and trying to exert himself climbing up the Big Ben's stairs. That ending was just maddening. I understand Mary had to share that little tidbit about her... but James's lack of response was just unnerving!

I wonder how he will react to the other things she hasn't shared about her (like the Agency and her heritage). But then again, she already shared the most shocking piece of information, so I'm hoping he'll come around and avoid giving me a heartbreak next time. And, as Mary put it when they parted:
My life was in your hands on Sunday night. Nothing's changed since then, James. Not for me.
*swoon* So please, James, don't do something foolish. There was a new character in this book, Octavius Jones, the journalist, and I'm hoping that he can get James insanely jealous and then something more substancial can happen between Mary and James. I also expect that we get to know more about Mary's father, at least if she doesn't keep sticking her head in the sand about it.

I would recommend this story to historical and Victorian fans who don't mind YA, to mystery fans, and people who just love rooting for a couple.

Pages: 352

Publisher: Walker Books

3 comentários:

  1. E a cena em que ela toma banho lá em casa dele? AAAAAAAAHHHH xD Eu apostava as minhas estantes em como o James passou a dormir com o nariz metido na camisa que a Mary usou (sem nunca a ter mandado lavar, claro) *LOL*

    Again: 3º livro!! U must read it!! NOW! xD

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  2. Ohhhh, quase que me esquecia dessa cena! :D Até estou a ver o James a guardá-la, mas a passar o tempo todo a convencer-se que não faz sentido tê-la, armado em Sr. Racional. xD

    Tenho que mandar vir. :) A ver se os Correios não se portam mal, ultimamente as entregas do BD têm levado mais tempo. :/

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  3. Yep, provavelmente tem conversas com a camisa todas as noites:

    This has got to stop. I’m sending you to wash. Right now.
    *throws the nightshirt to the laundry pile*
    WHAT?? Don’t look at me like that! You don’t even smell like her anymore!
    *picks up the nightshirt again, sticks his nose into it and inhales furiously*
    Oh God…Mary.

    Sim, mas deve ser geral, porque na minha zona também noto isso :s (às tantas cortaram pessoal nos ctt - culpa da Troika!)

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