A Skinful of Shadows

"In contemporary publishing, Hardinge is the queen of younger teen stories, a largely neglected space in young adult publishing right now. Her magical concepts are always elegant, with a single paranormal addition to our world that changes everything for the protagonist. Here, the premise is an unsettling one: some people have the capacity to store spirits of the deceased inside themselves – a living vessel for the dead. Our hero Makepeace loses her mother in the first English Civil War, when a riot breaks out between Parliamentarians and Royalists. She is sent to her relatives, where she discovers her own status as a living vessel, and flees to Oxford. This brings the story right back into the heart of the war, which is no incidental backdrop – this is historical fantasy, heavily entwined with the real conflicts of the time. Hardinge reliably offers rich reading for teens. Her books are thoughtful, and always packed full of an interesting ‘something else’ – here, the Civil War – in addition to the magical conceit. But the research never feels heavy handed, and Makepeace’s story is entirely compelling."