The Light at the Bottom of the World by London Shah

However, the themes of love, the power of story, family influence, and holding onto belief are well rounded and add depth. While the pervasive magic and concept of the Fates as a religious system add interest, other fantasy elements are haphazardly incorporated without enough time devoted to building a cohesive world. The writing style fluctuates from clever and original to overly verbose and often confusing in its jumble of senses. The bargain they strike sends her on a dark and magical journey throughout the land. Evangeline desperately prays to the Prince of Hearts, a dangerous and fickle Fate famed for his heart that is waiting to be revived by his one true love-and his potentially lethal kisses. Despite inheriting a steady trust in magic, belief in her late mother’s homeland of the mystical North (where fantastical creatures live), and philosophy of hope for the future, her dreams are dashed when Luc, her love, pledges to marry Marisol instead.

When her father passes away, Evangeline is left with her cold stepmother and kind but distant stepsister, Marisol.

This thrilling journey packed with unexpected discoveries will leave readers eager for plot resolutions in the next installment.Īfter praying to a Fate for help, Evangeline discovers the dangerous world of magic. Leyla is Pashtun and of Afghan heritage diversity in the book reflects that of contemporary London. Leyla’s character grows and changes over the course of her journey, her love and loyalty toward her family only growing stronger. Debut novelist Shah vividly describes a world below the ocean’s surface, evoking people’s nostalgia for the Old World, when Great Britain lay aboveground. Along the way, she learns that she must question the statements of a corrupt government, as themes in the story echo issues in the present day. Leyla, along with unwanted partner Ari, the son of a family friend, must drive her submersible through waters she has never before navigated. But things do not go as planned, and when Leyla learns that her father is not really being detained in London as she’d been told, she leaves, evading the Blackwatch security forces who are kept busy overseeing New Year’s celebrations. Sixteen-year-old Leyla McQueen, a Muslim submersible racer, will stop at nothing to find her father, Hashem, who has been arrested and charged with encouraging “seasickness sufferers to take their lives.” When she is picked as an entrant in the London Submersible Marathon, Leyla is determined to win and ask the prime minister for her father’s freedom.

The Light at the Bottom of the World by London Shah