Terrier

Beka Cooper, 16, lives near the worst of her district because it's closer to where she has to write up her papers after working in the Lower City. Her world revolves around thieves, beggars, and the like. She's a “Puppy” for the Provost's Guard—an in training sort of cop with two of the best “Dogs” (that's like a real cop) to train her. Beka's largest obstacle is her shyness. She wouldn't have any friends, if they all hadn't known her forever. So obviously, it's hard for her to talk to strangers, which is part of her job (to find criminals through criminals). With her cat, Pounce, she walks around towns, listening to birds and dirt (it's her magic, they tell her the things that they hear/see/have lived). The trouble begins when Beka notices that babies are going missing and her birds (they have dead souls) of mining and being poisoned. And when Crookshank's grandson goes missing (also her friend Tansy's baby) Beka begins a sort of chase to find the kidnapper. She uses every resource she has: her friends (including the new “rushers” Rosto and Anniki; and the mage Kora); her magic; her cat; other people she knows; and her status. Beka solves the case (eventually, you know she has too), turns out it was the baker's son who was stealing the children so they could collect ransom's, and it was Crookshank who was hiring the miners and then having them, unless they died on the job. Rosto, a used-to-be rusher, kills the old Rogue and is named as the new Rogue (a respected position among most of the poor and other “rushers”). It ends with her presenting all of the case in court, to have the kidnappers and such convicted.

I love this book. I can't really explain why. I just do..

Re-read June 2017
I finally bought the rest of this series and I wanted to read it....but I was also nervous to get started. Also, it is a pretty hefty book (over 500 pages), so I've been putting it off to read other library books, netgalley books etc. Finally, I picked it up, and gave it another try.

Reading Tamora Pierce for me is so warm and cozy. My worries vanished as soon as Beka started narrating and I could feel myself settling in for what I knew would be a good book.

Beka and all the other characters are so fun and different and just so awesome to read about. I felt close to the characters, so there are moments I felt the tears welling up! The mystery is not obvious to figure out. The plot moves along at a nice pace– not too wordy for me! I like the diary format of the book and even though I was worried about not getting into it–I totally did. I always like when there are dates, so you know how long the book is...if that makes sense.

There is also a glossary in the back to understand some of the slang of the lower city, character names, and information about the history (who is the king, when did the provost dogs start?).

I will say, the magic was not really explained... and for someone who has read all of the other Tortall books, it was different to read about someone who had a passive magic–there did not seem to be much she had to learn to use it, nor can she turn it off.

I absolutely recommend this book to people who like YA fantasy and mystery with strong female characters (of all kinds) with a little hint of mischief (because we can't forget who Beka's 6-times-great grandson is (; )

3.5 stars. Wonderful, but it felt long and didn't capture my attention like the first books in either the Song of the Lioness or The Immortals series.

Well, that was unexpected. Now, I don't know what, exactly, I expected, but it wasn't this.

Okay, ever since I started reading young adult fantasy, I've heard the name Tamora Pierce. (Actually, I'd been hearing it before that, but I always thought she was a mystery writer.) I'd heard the talk of Alanna. Seriously, who hasn't? I knew I was going to eventually read a book by her. Enter another blogger, who mentioned a character in Terrier in the same sentence as a certain roguish pirate from Once Upon A Time. So, much to no ones surprise, I decided to read this book.

I bought the book, picked it up and flipped through it. The first thing I noticed was the first person perspective - something that I somewhat hate. The second thing I noticed was the diary format. Then I noticed the second journal entry of someone besides Beka (of which there's three at the beginning of the book) and the first sentence of that entry says: ‘My hart is the betur for this day.'

Let's just say, it was with some trepidation that I started this book.

There is a steep learning curve at the start, with all the characters and place names that you have to remember, plus figuring out and remembering what words like ‘mot' ‘cove' and ‘glims' mean. (There is a glossary in the back, but not all the unusual words are there.) But, I love fantasy, sometimes just for this very reason. Memorize dozens of people, places, gods and nations? No problem. Especially if they're interesting.

And let me tell you, these characters are so interesting and even more fun. Beka is amazing. (Is it okay that I've got a little crush on her?) She's really shy, can't even look strangers in the eye to talk to them - but she's got this inner drive and fire that is just amazing. The book is aptly named Terrier, as anyone that's been around the little dogs will tell you. And she's tall - five-eight, in fact. I love it that's she's not this thin little waif that a strong wind could blow over. (But if I have to hear one more thing about what her ‘tripes' are doing, I might scream.)

The other characters are just as endearing, whether they be Dogs, Puppies or something on the other side of the law. Beka gathers an odd mix of them to her, befriending ‘rushers' and - horror of horrors - putting them to work for the Dogs. It's a sad state that, while I'm talking about her friends, I want to make note of how many girl friends she's got. It really shouldn't be that unusual to find a strong girl in ... well, any book, actually, that also has strong girls as friends. It's sad that it is, but makes this book stand out all the more.

The plot was much more of a mystery - kind of a crime procedural - than I was expecting. It's really difficult for me to talk about this without spoilers. There's two crimes Beka in investigating, one concerning groups of dead Lower City denizens and the other the kidnapping and ransom demands of dozens of children by a criminal taking on the moniker of old legends. The resolutions really were not that surprising, but they were sure fun to read about.

And for those that care, Rosto is a bit like Hook. Whistles innocently

(Originally posted on my blog: http://pagesofstarlight.blogspot.com/)

Ahh okay. When I announced my intention to read my first Tamora Pierce book, a lot of people were very excited for me, and a few people said they thought maybe you had to grow up with Tamora Pierce to really appreciate her, and I could totally see that being the case.

I thought it was cool that it was a fantasy police procedural rather than a straightforward fantasy quest, and I liked the social commentary aspects of it. And I could totally, totally see how young girls would love this kind of plucky, magical, talented orphan girl protagonist.

Anyway, overall I thought this was... fine? A bit too long for my taste, and a bit too... well, it had a map of a made-up place in it. And a super long list of characters. Yet it did not have a glossary for all the weird made-up slang. Like, I get why you need new words to describe magical stuff, sure, but why in magic land are we calling girls “mots” and boys “coves” now? Why. BUT that's me and my grumpfest, I know there are plenty of people who would view that as a bonus.

So, lots of appeal factors for plenty of readers who like fantasy/intro to second wave feminist characters/police procedurals, but not a lot of appeal factors for me personally. But you keep doing what you're doing, Tamora Pierce, cuz I know I'm in the minority here.

PS apparently this is a prequel to some of her other books? Which I do remember the beginning being a letter to somebody about Beka being their ancestor? Possibly there are things a reader would appreciate more if they already knew this world and understood some of the references. The plot certainly stood on its own to a new reader.

Fantastic characters, plotting, world building.