Hello friends I am very excited to bring you a review of A Conventicle of Magpies by LMR Clarke A huge thanks to NetGalley and BooksGoSocial publishers for the advanced copy of this book. A Conventincle of Magpies by LMR Clarke was published on 6th Jan 2021.
Overall rating – 4 out of 5 stars.
Let me start by saying the cover of this book is absolutely gorgeous, it was one of the main reasons why I decided to request this book as it caught my eye straight away!
On the whole, A Conventicle of Magpies was an excellent read and I thoroughly enjoyed the journey that we were taken on throughout this book.
From the start I loved the vibe of this book, there is a very Victorian/Jack the Ripper kind of feel throughout the first chapters which grabbed my attention. And all credit to the author as they kept this theme going throughout the whole book, which definitely kept me hooked onto this one.
I found A Conventicle of Magpies to be really easy to read, and that is in no way a criticism! It just flowed so well through the plot and before I knew it I was halfway through the book, I was so desperate to find out what would happen next that I just kept on turning the pages.
Whilst the idea of two sides being opposed to each other and one trying to remove the other from society isn’t the most original plot, the way the author wrote made us feel like it was a brand new trope. The introduction of the authors own groups (the Saosuíasei and Avanish) only helped that feel.
And with the introduction of Rook’s sister being missing, Billy Drainer our Jack the Ripper-esque serial killer and the bloodskill aspect (discussed further below) this book was not short of other interesting layers to elevate the story to a higher level.
I would like to praise LMR Clarke for the bloodskill aspect within this book. I’ve seen a lot of magic/fantasy ideas as to how people gain their skills but never through bloodwork, so that was a nice new introduction.
I have to say though my favourite part of this book was the Magpies, the way this book was very female led, and how strong and supportive they were of each other and the Saosuíasei people around them. It’s nice to see some female representation!
This isn’t to say that the Jaguar and every other character in this book wasn’t excellently written, it’s just that, for me, Rook stole the show.
The ending of this book was absolutely excellent too, it rounded the story off perfectly but also left it open for later books to be written. And I, for one, will be picking up the next book in the series when it’s written.
Until next time, Em xxx
What Em's Reading 