The Whisperling

The Whisperling is a lively, warm and endlessly inventive story. There are surprises on almost every page. Real - often terrible - historical facts are blended with the fantastical and the supernatural to brilliant effect. I genuinely loved it! The characters are great fun too: quirky, hilarious and multi-dimensional - especially Peggy! It’s her voice that pulls the reader through each chapter with an irresistible force. As a main character, she’s brave, loyal, stubborn and very, very funny! There were thought-provoking moments hidden in all the comic scenes, just as there were some very modern themes deftly slipped into the period setting. I hope there’ll be more to come…

Enthralling and very well written. Bought one copy for ourselves and one copy for our eleven year old Granddaughter.

My granddaughter absolutely loves it, excellent book

Gripping, can’t wait for the next book

Highly enjoyed this atmospheric story with an immersive historical setting and vivid characters!

I love it when a book begins in an undertakers. You can guarantee a ghostly experience. The author gives us her unique twist on a well known genre.Peggy is a whisperling who can speak to the dead before they pass over with the burn. Her family have to keep it a secret because a lot of people are frightened by her skill and don’t want their secrets revealed by the dead. But when her best friend, Sally is accused of murder, Peggy knows she must use her powers to save her from execution.Peggy is a fabulous character who knows how to value true friendship and her loved ones. As the story progresses, so does her unique gift with the help of the people around her. She starts to understand what it really means to be a whisperling. The ending was action packed and explosive with an unexpected twist.Set in 1897, the author has captured the gothic atmosphere and the fear of clairvoyance among the general public. This book is utterly spell-bounding and it was a complete joy to root for Peggy as she came to understand what she was actually capable of. This book is middle grade fiction and perfect for fans of Sophie Anderson, Jenni Spangler and Michelle Harrison.I really hope we get to meet Peggy again as she learns to be the clairvoyant she was always destined to be.

I loved this ghostly adventure set in a dark and dangerous Victorian world, it was everything I wanted it to be and more!The Whisperling is beautifully written, a compelling, page turner of a story with great characters that feel so real right from the start. I especially loved our feisty young heroine; Peggy, her determination and strength, her bond with Sally and watching her character development as we moved through the book. The villain was completely terrifying and the sense of peril that built up towards the end of the story was brilliant.The Whisperling doesn't shy away from complex themes with death, prejudice, forgiveness and found family all featuring.It's dark, atmospheric, and unsettling with a gothic feel throughout.An impressive debut and I hope there may be more books to follow in this series and this world. Either way Hayley Hoskins is definitely one to watch."When you're dead, you're dead. When you're gone, you're gone.Unless, of course, you're not.And that's where I come in."

A Fantastical adventure The Whisperling will make you wonder who is sat in the empty chair at the table!The Story follows Margaret (Peggy) on her journey to discover just how powerful her gift of talking to spirits is. After, fear mongering turns the village against her and the trouble her best friend has got herself into Peggy finds she must seek the help of an unlikely bunch of “charlatans” to help her rescue her friend Sally and unlock the true potential of her abilities.An incredibly well written magical fantasy story that children and grown ups alike will enjoy. Set in the middle grade genre I did feel there were parts that were definitely on the older end of the grade and as far as fantasy goes this book is way up there with some of the best I’ve read in adult genres!I loved Peggy and her family, I felt immediate warmth for Peggy and felt for her, trapped with a gift she wasn’t sure she wanted and in testament to the authors skill, I felt the pain and fear she experienced throughout the story, an incredibly powerful twist at the end had me bursting into tears.It’s so difficult to do a review of The Whisperling without giving too much away as there as so many good bits of this story that keep you gripped from beginning to end, a perfect mix of peril and adventure that kept me turning page after page, not one part of this storyline dragged, there was no lull as the scene was set it just got cracking. I didn’t feel it lost anything by being as fast paced as it was as the author carefully weaved in context and world development as they went.This book left me wanting more and I so hope I’ll be reading more about the Devona's’ soon but let me leave you with this….As a book blogger I read A LOT of books on a weekly basis and in all honesty not all of them stay in my memory for very long, there are a special few that I can recall the full story just by looking at it on the shelf. I truly believe that The Whisperling by Hayley Hoskins has earned it’s little place in my forever memory and I cannot wait until my nearly middle grader is ready for this one so it can be a forever book for her to!