There is something wonderful about holding physical book in your hands and turning the pages, allowing the story to seep into you, but... there is also the lure of NetGalley which allows bloggers like me to read books before they're available in print. When I discovered that Deep Dark was on NetGalley, I hesitated for all of 5 seconds before hitting the 'read' button and diving in.
Deep Dark is very different to the Kingdom series but is just as wonderful. Upon opening the book, readers are transported to Victorian London and to the plight of the many homeless children forced to make a living on its streets. For Cassia, her life changed when her father's shipping business went bankrupt and now she and her father live in Fleet Prison, having made the long journey from India in a failed attempt to sort things out. Whilst she is allowed to wander free during the day, her father is confined to their squalid apartment. As a result, Cassia has no choice but to fend for herself, making money by selling ballads and by teaching the piano, all in an attempt to escape to a better life. But strange things are happening and children have been going missing all summer. With nobody willing to help, Cassia and her friends, Felix and Tao, decide it's up to them to save the missing children. However, what they uncover proves far more sinister than they could have ever imagined and saving the children becomes more urgent than ever.
Where the Kingdom duology (you can read my reviews here: The Kingdom Over The Sea The City Beyond The Stars ) transports readers to the rich and vibrant world of Zahaira, Deep Park brings to life the gritty reality of so many street children who were forced to live on the streets of London, stealing food and making money any way they can. Zohra's descriptions are vivid and brings the streets of London to life for readers who will find themselves visualising the city as they read.
Cassia is a fiercely independent and tough character who has a heart of gold; after all she's had no choice. She is fiercely loyal to her friends and desperate to do the right thing. Life has been far from easy for her and the move from India to London must have been difficult enough but to then have to grow up in prison and fend for herself, it's a wonder she isn't full of spite and bitterness. She is a truly wonderful character, full of resilience and gumption in the face of adversity - readers are going to love her. Along with her friends, Tao and Felix (characters who couldn't be more different from each other), she is determined to do right by the street children of London, and nothing will stop her.
At its heart, Dark Deep is an unputdownable adventure that will grab readers from the very beginning. I stayed up way too late last night reading it as I just couldn't put it down and I know that it's going to be a huge hit when it publishes on the 27th March. The Kingdom books showed us how well Zohra writes and Deep Dark firmly establishes her as a must-read writer. There are a select group of authors whose books I will read without even looking at the blurb and Zohra has firmly established herself in that group. If you only pre-order one book this year, make it Dark Deep - I promise you won't regret it. I'm now very much looking forward to getting my hands on a physical copy as I know how much my class are going to love it.
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