Review by Booklist Review
As she returned from her previous mission through time (in The Garden of Promises and Lies, 2020), Xanthe's boyfriend, Liam, was kidnapped by her mentor, Lydia Flyte. In Brackston's latest addition to the Found Things series, after some desperate leaps into the past searching for Liam, Xanthe realizes she must follow her usual process of finding an object that sings to her, hoping that the mission will lead her to Liam and Lydia. Xanthe's growth as a Spinner takes her beyond simple missions and embroils her in the politics and morality of Spinners and the spin-off group called Time Steppers. She learns that a pair of Spinners in the Victorian era are using their abilities as a business opportunity, leaping into the future to determine worthy investments and selling the knowledge to greedy opportunists, passing off the information as the result of séances. This delightful addition to the series includes new world building, with special abilities beyond time-stepping becoming known, and reasonable character growth in Xanthe and her burgeoning collection of allies.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Brackston's expansive installment of the Found Things series (after The Garden of Promises and Lies) continues the story of a time-traveling spinner and antiques dealer. Xanthe Westlake is desperate to find her boyfriend, Liam, who is trapped in the past (when, exactly, Xanthe doesn't know) after a failed attempt to join Xanthe in the present. During an appointment with a client, she acquires three objects that "sing" to her, including a writing slope, hoping one of them will take her to Liam. At home with the antique lap desk, she travels to Victorian London, where she lands on a far more urgent mission than finding Liam: protecting the future from the Visionary Society, a group of spinners who disregard the rules and norms that bind most time travelers. After having had Xanthe keep her time traveling a secret for most of the first three books, Brackston's decision to have her heroine tell her family and friends about her journeys pays off here, as does the introduction of the Visionary Society. Brackston repeats the formula from the past installments, but she does so without letting the story feel dull; it's fast-paced throughout, and features a new, unexpected twist. Series fans will enjoy. (Nov.)
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Review by Library Journal Review
To find and follow her next mission in Brackston's City of Time and Magic, fourth in the time-traveling "Found Things" series, Xanthe must choose between the songs sung to her by a mourning brooch, a writing slope, and gem-encrusted hatpin; she also hunts for the missing Liam and seeks to block the Visionary Society from using the Spinners maliciously (50,000-copy first printing). In A Man of Honor, prequel to the 1979 megahit A Woman of Substance, Bradford tells the story of Blackie O'Neill, who travels from County Kerry to England as a young orphan and begins his rise in the world while meeting Substance's Emma Harte, still a kitchen maid (75,000-copy first printing). Jago follows up The Northern Lights, winner of the National Biography Prize, with the 17th-century-set debut novel A Net for Small Fishes, drawing on real-life events: when Frances Howard, the miserable wife of the Earl of Essex, meets the widowed Anne Turner, they form a friendship that leads to something radical (35,000-copy first printing). Driven to act after Pearl Harbor, new Steel heroine Audrey Parker and friend Lizzie join the Medical Air Evacuation Transport Squadron, Flying Angels who regularly wing their way into enemy territory to rescue wounded soldiers from the battlefield. Harriet Szász once appeared in vaudeville with sister Josie as The Sisters Sweet, posing as conjoined twins at their parents' behest, but when Josie betrays the scam and runs off to Hollywood, Harriet must decide what to do with her life. In-house love for Weiss's debut.
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