A wandering narrative with lacklustre prose. Akala, of Hip Hop Shakespeare fame, clearly has some knowledge of Shakespeare, but this young adult novel fails to understand the Elizabethan world picture and make the historical element believable. The Dark lady of the sonnets is the stepping off point. Dr John Dee, Elizabeth I's conjuror and code breaker, is thrown in for good measure. There is a walk on part by Shakespeare, about as convincing as Autolycus pursued by a bear, and a spattering of Tu...

Although marketed as a book for children and young adults, this is really for any age and this 40+ person thoroughly enjoyed the tale of Henry as he navigates his way through racist Elizabethan London. Magic and realism combine to tell a tale of capture, escape, magic, privilege and oppression, and ultimately of friendship and love. I cannot wait to see where Henry and Mary end up and what they do, if indeed they do stay together. There is a glossary of historical slang terms at the back of the

It took me a little while to get to grips with the Elizabethan slang, which I felt was a rather fun and authentic touch once you settled into it. The only real issue I had was, unfortunately, with the magic - Henry has the ability to translate any language written on paper, a feat that - as far as the many European characters are concerned - is something wholly unique and unheard of before. His adoptive mother figure, Joan, also seems to have the ability to perform actual magic, including 'chi b...

An intriguing story about magic, race, and family in Elizabethan era London. Akala brings to life a world through the eyes of a poor black boy with exceptional gifts, gifts that would shape his future and mark his worth to London’s aristocracy, while also painting a target on his back. I enjoyed reading this book, its well written and the mystery surrounding Henry’s gift and origins kept me engaged and eager to get to the end. I would have liked some of the side characters to be fleshed out a bi...

A story exploring the power of reading, magic, race, class and family in Elizabethan London.Honestly I was disappointed in this after the raw rage of Akala's "Natives" autobiography. This novel was SLOW. Like pull out my eyes slow. I've rounded up to 3 stars because I liked the premise and Elizabethan realness but omg literally nothing was happening and the few things that did were so over -explained it sucked my joy away. Not to my taste sadly but if you love historical fiction then it may be f...

Sophisticated engaging historical mystery, with many gaps I suspect will be filled in future books. It doesn't feel like a standalone.

Oooops, I did just finish this in one evening after picking it up from Waterstones earlier today. Trying to read some more Young Adult fiction with a view to my new school librarian post.What this book did well: Highlighting racism in a historical context. Great that the black experience in Tudor England is given some light. It feels spooky and uncomfortable to realise how little as a society we have progressed on these fronts.The main character's thought process and self-reflection was great, s...

3.5★s Fifteen-year-old Henry lived with Mary and her brother Matthew, Aunt Joan and Agnes. They were destitute on the streets of London at a time when beggars and thieves ruled the rough streets of the city. Henry was a master pickpocket and thief and while Mary’s beautiful singing voice provided the distraction, Henry and Matthew robbed the nearby watchers so they could eat for a few days. But when a robbery went wrong, Henry’s life immediately changed…Henry had a magical gift; one he’d used to...

I received a free arc of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.I wanted to read this book as I admire Akala as a musical artist and an activist, and was confident in his ability to be a good fiction author. I was not disappointed!This book was nothing like I expected - we open with three young people, one black and two white, in Elizabethan London. The language they use is quasi-Elizabethan and it works to anchor the reader to the time period, while still be...

Thanks to NetGalley and The Publisher for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.3.5 stars rounded up.I enjoyed reading this. A lovely little adventure with a historical fiction background. There's lots in here for young people to think about; identity, loyalty and consequences of ones actions. Back to the historical fiction element, I really like what Akala has done here. He's choose a time in history that Black people being in London are not often associated with. And he's also chosen to i...

'A PICKPOCKET WITH AN EXCEPTIONAL GIFTA PRISONER OF EXTRAORDINARY VALUEAN ORPHAN HAUNTED BY DREAMS OF THE MYSTERIOUS DARK LADYHenry is an orphan, an outsider, a thief. He is also a fifteen-year-old invested with magical powers ...'I didn't love this book.I went into this book after reading Natives by Akala, unfortunately I was a little disappointing by his debut novel for teens The Dark Lady.While I feel that Akala is a natural storyteller this book just didn't work for me. I had issues with the...

Goodness, that was terrible.A brutally slow, meandering tale with little discernible plot, awkward prose, and thoroughly unlikable characters, "The Dark Lady" was an absolute chore to read.The book follows a fifteen year old orphan named Henry living in Tudor England. His father an unknown and his mother having left him as a small child, he has grown up with a woman named Joan, her sister, and her sister's two children, Matthew and Mary. He spends his days in petty thievery, trying to scrounge t...

On the surface, this book seemed to offer everything I like: Shakespeare, pickpockets, references to Moll Cutpurse, and Elizabethan London. The title refers to the mysterious 'Dark Lady' referenced in Shakespeare sonnets and a few of his plays (I think Rosalind in Love's Labour's Lost, for example). However, the lady herself didn't play much of a role in this story, and I'm assuming a sequel will come.The excess of Elizabeth jargon was a fun addition, though it petered out fairly quickly. Akala

The Dark Lady was a surprising read for me, but not for the reasons that you're probably thinking.It's not because the story itself took a different turn that I wasn't expecting - though that's definitely one of the reasons why. It's because even though I was very excited to dive into this book, I was only three chapters in when I was already considering DNFing it. It was slow-moving almost instantly, and I just found that I was not connecting with this story whatsoever, and I could just feel it...

Didn’t understand the ending.

This is a good debut novel that is written very well, with a strong lead character and a well drawn setting that is let down by weaker secondary characters, an unexplored magic system and a rather muddled narrative that doesn’t really go anywhere. It’s one of those books that you enjoy whilst your reading it, but have to wonder what the point was. I also didn’t really get the point of the poetry verses interspersed between chapters, I suspect that they are intended to build on Henry’s abilities

Want to see more... Bookstagram Website Thank you Hachette for this book in exchange for an honest reviewSo I wanted to like this book. I really did. Pickpocket, prisoner, orphan that has haunted dreams, this has every concept to make an interesting story but I overall felt like the author was beating me with a Shakespeare novel and I wasn’t impressed. If I’m to have books shoved in my face, its book I choose. Don’t get me wrong, I like Shakespeare but I felt as though this was the main thing th...

I came to this book with high expectations. I knew Akala was a rap artist, journalist and lecturer with a keen interest in Shakespeare and Black history, and had founded the Hip Hop Shakespeare Company, seeking to bring the Bard to young people in a new way. His YouTube videos and lectures are very insightful as he seeks to educate young people about the existence and history of Black people in Britain.So, did this book deliver? Yes indeed. We delve into the backstreets of London through the len...

(As a warning I want to make it clear I review this with my professional hat on not personal. Personally, I thought this was pretty good but I review this in a professional capacity and as such must keep that in mind):Some would argue that using his mainstream appeal to young people as a tool to get them to read what is essentially educational historical fiction is very clever. Some would argue it will inspire today's youth to view Shakespearean language and culture with new eyes. However, I, so...

I received an ARC through Netgalley. I am a massive Akala fan and recently finished Natives: Race and Class in the Ruins of the Empire, so I was geeked to see the email that popped up with mentions of this book. Honestly, initially hoped that we were going to see a merge of Akala literary rapping skills and a contemporary native. Understanding Akala, then it makes logical sense that he would choose to write a book set in the Elizabethan era and explore his love for Shakespeare. As a YA fantasy,