The Book of Days by K.A. Barker ~ Review

The Book of Days

by K.A. Barker

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Genre: Young Adult Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Steam-punk
Released: September 1, 2014
Publisher: Pan Macmillan Australia
Format: Softcover 392 pages
Source: Publisher
Buy It Now: Amazon | Publisher

Most people believe the best way to forget someone is to throw them down a well. Or lock them in a room with eight keys, or bury them at a crossroad in the thirteenth hour. But they’re wrong. The best way to forget someone is for them never to have existed in the first place.

Madame Marisol’s Unreality House was where you brought people to make that happen.”

When Tuesday wakes from sleep for the first time at sixteen, she opens her eyes to a world filled with wonder – and peril. Left with only a letter from the person she once was, Tuesday sets out to discover her past with the help of her charming and self-serving guide, Quintalion.

Along the way she runs into one-legged mercenaries, flying cities, airships, and a blind assistant librarian. But danger lurks amidst the steam. The leader of the merciless Daybreakers is hunting her, convinced that she killed the only woman he ever loved. Tuesday will need all her wits about her to survive long enough to find out who she is and her connection with the mysterious Book of Days: a book that holds untold power…

~ Review ~  

Turning the last page of this book was truly astounding and left me breathless...my mind hasn't stopped reeling from how it all came together at the end. The Book of Days by Australian Author K.A. Barker is truly a treat to read. It is so engrossing, original and the concept and characters within the book cannot be compared to any other book I've read in the past, that is truly how original this book is!

The Book of Days by KA Barker begins with a girl being released from Madame Marisol's Unreality House where people go to be forgotten, she does not recall who she is and the only clue she had to her past identity is a letter from her past self begging her to forget who she was and to live a new life. This is where we are introduced to Tuesday, the name she decided to call herself as she couldn't recall her past name, and Quintallion, the strange man that showed up at Madame Marisol's Unreality House to pick up Tuesday despite him not knowing who she was or why he was picking her up. This is where their adventure begins as Tuesday seeks to find her true identity and Quintallion comes for the ride, almost immediately they are faced with disaster, a strange reunion and a new friend.

The Author truly created a magnificent story line that keeps the readers captivated and glued to its pages. The mystery was superbly written with enough clues unfolding in a timely manner, it kept me guessing and I loved it! It's like having something in the back of your mind but not quite being able to put your finger on it! I cannot wait to re-read this book in the future, now knowing the ending I want to see the clues I missed the first time.

The whole book was imaginative, from the concept of the Unreality House, to the Fortune City, the Book of Days and the Days themselves...WOW is all I can say, I'm yet to find a book apart from The Harry Potter series that blew me away this much with the imagination in the concept, plot and world creation as The Book of Days has.

The characters were well written and I found myself falling in love with them all, the camaraderie amongst the group was truly heartfelt and it was truly a pleasure to be part of their journey. I even had a love hate relationship with Sterling and empathised with his heartbreak.

The Book of Days by K.A. Barker is seriously a must read for all those that enjoy YA Fantasy with a dose of Steampunk. The originality and imagination within these pages are truly astounding and it's certainly something one must experience. As Author, John Marsden writes about The Book of Days:-

All Hail K.A. Barker, for giving us something so dazzlingly different! And funny too!

Many Thanks to Pan Macmillan Australia