SPOIL-FREE SUMMARY
Bartholomew is a changling living in Victorian England with his mother and sister. He knows he has to keep his head down because of the hatred towards his kind. But circumstances push him into an adventure where he must join with a stranger in an attempt to save a loved one.
CAST OF CHARACTERS
Bartholomew is a young changeling. For the most part, he is obedient and keeps his head down. But he does have a strong desire for friendship and a strong responsbility to look after his little sister.
Mr. Lickerish is a member of Parliament. Being from the fairy world, he seems to have disdain for humans as he is from the “high faeries” which were the elites in their world. He is the villain of the story.
Mr. Jelliby is a low ranking member of Parliament. He just wants to get by without much of a fuss nor does he have any ideas of being a hero.
Melusine is a young woman who seems to have two personalities. One that is violent and vicious and another that is vulnerable and scared.
THE WORLD
Probably my favorite aspect of the story is the world. An alternative Victorian world where fairies accidentally crossed over to our world and are now trapped.
We get a brief history explaining there was a war directly after this, but eventually they had to learn to live together. There is still bigotry, but it's mostly for the lower fairies. The higher faeries are often wealthy and powerful. Like Lickerish, who is a member of the government.
The attittudes of the two groups are different as well. While the lower classes just wish to be left alone, the higher classes feel entitled to their previous status. They look down on humans as much as humans may look down on faeries.
ABOUT MELUSINE
Eventually we learn the truth about Melusine from a woman who knew of her. She ran away from home and married a man her family didn't approve of. Unfortunately, we never get to interact with her much. So although I felt a slight sympathy for her, I didn't feel attached. And I had a hard time thinking that the main characters had any serious attachement for her. They just kind of felt bad for her.
THE END OF A LIFE
One of the side characters eventually dies. But we don't even get to see the death, we just hear about it later. I was surprised that this character was discarded so easily.
If a character dies, and isn't just a minor character, I expect to witness the death myself. Especially if the main characters are saddened by it. The only emotion I felt was surprise, as I felt as if I had barely known the character.
MOTIVATION
We know what motivates Bartholomew, his guilt in being partially to blame for someone's kidnapping. But when it comes to Jelliby, I wasn't quite sure. He is described as average in most ways, someone who just wants to get along with everyone.
He sees a strange woman at Lickerish's house and then is told that the man isn't even married. His curiosity is aroused but it's not until then he overhears Lickerish discussing killing changelings that he realizes he has to do something. Melusine's asking for help perhaps spurred him on.
It's not as if Jelliby suddenly becomes brave. For the most part he is terrified, but he tries to investigate anyway. I wish he had some sort of mentor or confidante to encourage him. The only one in his life is his wife, who seems nice enough but isn't let in on what's going on so she isn't allowed to have any influence over Jelliby.
Perhaps its easier to believe Bartholomew's motivation because his family is all he has. So he ends up risking it all to keep it together. While for Melusine, Jelliby doesn't know her, only knows about her.
JELLIBY & BARTHOLOMEW-SPOILERS
Jelliby and Bartholomew meet alittle more than half way through the book and they eventually come to care for each other. But I didn't see what bound them together, as he never met Hettie and Bartholomew barely knew Melusine.
Jelliby shows up and protects Bartholomew from a bully. But after that doesn't want him around. They kind of felt like they were together without getting to know each other.
It's not as if they don't help one another: Bartholomew tries to stop Jelliby from approaching Melusine because he knows she has two faces and one of them isn't nice. He also gets a policeman to come and help. Bringing them together gets Melusine in police custody.
A PLEA FOR HELP
Bartholomew ends up meeting a loved one of someone who died. He asks for help but this person just commits suicide. I wasn't sure what the point of the scene was. To show what a coward this person was? I was annoyed and thought it was a waste of time.
CLIMAX
Bartholomew and Jelliby learn that Lickerish intends to open a fairy door. They both confront him and try to stop the gate.
BARTHOLOMEW'S CHOICE-SPOILERS
Bartholomew ends up having to choose between saving Hettie or saving the city. If he breaks the gateway the whole town will be destroyed and everyone killed. So Bartholomew ends up trying to encourage Hettie to stay put.
CLIFFHANGER ENDING-SPOILERS
In the end, Bartholomew ends up keeping the world safe, but losing Hettie to the fairy world. He vows to save her. To be honest, I wasn't expecting a cliffhanger ending. I wasn't even sure if this story would have a sequel. After all, a character they wanted to save died, as did her spouse. So that part felt done. Mr. Lickerish wasn't defeated but I hadn't given him much thought.
CONCLUSION
Bartholomew was a pathetic creature that I couldn't help but feel sorry for. Unfortunately I didn't feel much else. Perhaps if he had a stronger relationship with his mother and sister it would have made him feel more fleshed out.
Jelliby was likable but again, suffered from a lack of relationship with anyone, even Bartholomew.
The world was unique and had great potential. I most enjoyed seeing how Bartholomew's mother kept her children safe in a world that hated them. I think the themes of racism could have been explored, especially considering the differences between the high and low faeries.
I wanted to know Melusine better than I did and that was a disappointment.
The pacing was good and there were plenty of suprisingly creepy moments in the story.
The cliffhanger ending didn't feel like it fit. Because nothing had really been accomplished and put to rest in this story for me to think we could move on to the next step. No characters were saved and I was left unsatisfied.
I give “The Peculiar” two stars.
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