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The Secrets of the Drearcliff Grange School

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The Secrets of the Drearcliff Grange School

By: Kim Newman
Narrated by: Joan Walker
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Summary

A week after her mother found her sleeping on the ceiling, Amy Thomsett is delivered to her new school, Drearcliff Grange in Somerset. Although it looks like a regular boarding school, Amy learns that Drearcliff girls are special, the daughters of criminal masterminds, outlaw scientists and master magicians.

Several of the pupils also have special gifts like Amy's, and when one of the girls in her dormitory is abducted by a mysterious group in black hoods, Amy forms a secret, superpowered society called the Moth Club to rescue their friend. They soon discover that the Hooded Conspiracy runs through the school, and it is up to the Moth Club to get to the heart of it.

Kim Newman is a well-known and respected author and movie critic. He writes regularly for Empire Magazine and contributes to The Guardian, The Times, Time Out and others. He makes frequent appearances on radio and TV. He has won the Bram Stoker, International Horror Guild, British Fantasy and British Science Fiction Awards and been nominated for the Hugo, World Fantasy, and James Herbert Awards.

©2015 Kim Newman (P)2016 Audible, Ltd Classics Fantasy Horror Science Fiction Scary
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The period post WW1 is interesting as a setting for fantasy. It’s well written and I really liked the narrator.
The tale ends on a mysterious note indicating a new adventure about to start, having shown us where the main characters would be about 10 or 15 years hence.

Lengthy but well constructed

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I enjoyed this immensely and don't care that technically it's meant to be YA. Amy's alienation at joining a new school late and the casual tortures - physical and psychogical - that girls inflict on each other as she tries to fit in is convincing. She soon discovers that she, like some of the other pupils, is an "unusual" with odd powers that she must explore and master. In this universe unusual powers are acknowledged and, in a few cases, celebrated but there are dark plots afoot.

I do appreciate the gung ho adventurous spirit of the girls of Drearcliff and their distinctly odd teachers. The girls do not hesitate in setting off to rescue a friend held captive by masked criminals, or stop another girl having her face cut off, or launch violent physical attacks on any other rotters including dastardly prefects.

It's not quite as jam-packed full of cultural references as Kim Newman's other books but there's enough to enjoy spotting. Not exactly sure what age it's aimed at but I would have LOVED this book from about 11 onwards.

Joan Walker gets the tone of a 1920s boarding school story just right and sounds as if she's enjoying herself too.

All in all it's tremendous, exciting fun.

Spiffing school story via Lovecraft & the X-Men

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It's brilliant. It's young adult which just means it's not unnecessarily graphic and there are no awkward sex scenes. Ripping story, brilliantly told. More please.

Another corker from Mr Newman

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I’ll be honest and say it took me three attempts to get into this which is reason enough for someone not to enjoy it. I really didn’t like the narration at all at first. The for some reason it just ‘clicked’ and now I only wish there were more books I like to read that are narrated by Joan Walker. In a way, her narration almost makes the story spookier which I love.

The story itself was pretty good for the most part. It doesn’t quite get 5 stars from me as it seems to get a little disjointed towards the end but that’s just my personal opinion. I love that the main characters are all female particularly as there are also no relationship lines or typical ‘male viewpoint’ writing of them. The fact they are girls is almost incidental though Kim has still managed to capture the interaction between female school-mates rather well I’d say.

Took three attempts BUT

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Kim Newman is the master of gothic horror. He writes beautifully and his characters come fully rounded. The only cliches are those he satirises. And it's the dark comedy he uses that makes this exceptional. The idea of the rise of the Black Skirts was wonderful and alarmingly appropriate given the grim times we live in.

Another perfect period piece

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