Book Review - A Face in the Leaves by Nina Oram (Luna Press Publishing)










Nina Oram is an acclaimed author of young adult fantasy fiction - The Joining, book 3 in her Carrowceel Series seeing her shortlisted in the best newcomer category of the British Fantasy Society Awards in 2020. I was intrigued, therefore, to see how Nina would handle a novella  for an older readership. I need not have feared. Nina accomplishes the task with ease, treating her readers as intelligent adults, avoiding the pitfalls of lecturing or patronising when writing about her main themes of deforestation and climate change. Nina demonstrates her in depth knowledge, without forgetting that she is writing a work of fiction. Her characters are warm and believable, instantly likable, which draws the reader in to what is, ostensibly, a dark, unsettling tale.

Although set in modern day London, it has the feel of an ancient (more Celtic) storytelling tradition and you can imagine a story teller recounting this precautionary tale round a village camp fire. Sometimes it did feel like I had landed in a creepy episode of Dr Who, but this was no bad thing.

I did have one, slightly personal niggle. ***SPOILER ALERT***

All the victims happen to be female - nature preying on the weak, perhaps, but leaving a slightly bitter taste of perpetually blaming women.

All in all, though, a very enjoyable and thought-provoking read. Perfect for a wet, windy evening, sat at the fire with a few cats and a glass of whatever and I look forward to reading more from Nina


A Face in the Leaves is available from Amazon and the Luna Press Publishing Website 



 

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