They say you shouldn't judge a book by it's cover; 'they' being the type of people who clearly don't read books because I always judge books by their covers. Case in point, I knew I was going to read Andrew S. French's The Arcane the minute I saw that cover, James Helps's design is exquisite and perfect for this book. The good news? I really enjoyed the story too.
Sixteen-year-old child prodigy Alice is studying biology, physics and mathematics at Teesside University when her logical, carefully-curated world of science is turned upside-down. In the course of one particularly life-threatening evening, she learns that the twin-sister-she-never-knew-she-had kills monsters. Cue record scratch.
Part one of the Arcane duology, The Arcane is a young adult, urban fantasy set in the UK. If you're a fan of Supernatural, Buffy, Lucifer or Doctor Who, you'll feel very comfortable with an all-star cast that includes vampires, werewolves, angels, demons and an unexpected encounter with Medusa. There's even some timey-wimey, space travel stuff to add to the madness. I'm definitely not going to spoil more of the story because it was enjoyable letting it unfold. Suffice to say, discovering you have an identical twins raises questions.
The Arcane is a lot of fun. I really appreciated that each twin had a unique voice and personality. It was amusing seeing Alice desperately trying to frame everything she was seeing within logic and science, despite the increasing evidence that physics had left the building. I also loved the pop culture references and the song titles for chapter names.
The only problem I have with The Arcane was that unforgivable cliffhanger. I haven't scrambled that quickly for a sequel in years! The good news, dear reader, is that both The Arcane and sequel The Arcane Identity are out now to buy. I suggest you buy them together. For a wild rollercoaster ride of a book, paranormal shenanigans and making me crave more, I give The Arcane an excellent four out of five stars.
★★★★☆
The Arcane Blog Tour
I'm taking part in The Arcane blog tour. Definitely visit the other blogs on the tour for more reviews and other snippets.
I received an electronic copy of this novel for the purposes of this review. I will always provide an honest review, whether books are provided to me or purchased by me.
