[yasr_overall_rating]
In October, Chicken House, an imprint of Scholastic Inc., released a new young adult novel called City of Halves by Lucy Inglis. Their PR people likened it to the Mortal Instruments novels, which did it a disservice. The story was fun on its own, but had little in common with Cassandra Clare’s creation, aside from being an urban fantasy with romance. Readers went into it thinking they were getting a Mortal Instruments-ish novel and judged it harshly when it turned out to be something different.
The book revolves around the two main characters, Lily and Regan. Lily is a human with a rare blood type who lost her mother to mysterious circumstances. Regan is an Eldritche – a member of paranormal society. He has no family. His job is to protect London from the Chaos, or dark Eldritche. He saves Lily’s life and helps her stop a renegade government agency intent on kidnap and murder to create perfect humans. Can they also solve the mystery of Lily’s mother’s disappearance and teach Regan the true meaning of family?
The story is well written with a definite hometown knowledge of London. This should come as no surprise, as Inglis is a published historian who lives in the city. While urban fantasy is a busy genre these days, the book has enough unique and well thought out ideas to separate it from the chaff. The only thing that really brings it down is the tiresome love triangle. At some point in time, three-sided love interests may have been interesting, but nowadays they’re overplayed.
City of Halves isn’t the Mortal Instruments, but it doesn’t have to be. The book stands on its own as enjoyable YA literature. It should be judged by its own merits. While not perfect, it’s greatly recommended for the YA fantasy lover in your life.
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