Sarah Reviews… Cogheart by Peter Bunzl

Title: Cogheart

Publisher: Usbourne

Publication Date: 1^st September 2016

Format: eBook

About the book:

Some secrets change the world in a heartbeat…

Lily’s life is in mortal peril. Her father is missing and now silver-eyed men stalk her through the shadows. What could they want from her?

With her friends—Robert, the clockmaker’s son, and Malkin, her mechanical fox—Lily is plunged into a murky and menacing world. Too soon Lily realizes that those she holds dear may be the very ones to break her heart…

Murder, mayhem and mystery meet in this gripping Victorian adventure.

What I Thought:

From the moment you open the front cover until the moment you reach the conclusion this book does not stop! The prologue is action packed and perfectly formed to draw you firmly into the story, within seconds I was invested in what happened to John and Malkin.

Following the prologue Lily is visited at school by their housekeeper who tells her her father is dead and she needs to return home. Once she’s there it’s clear that something isn’t quite right, the housekeeper is raiding the rooms looking for something, and then there is creepy mirror eyed man who arrives asking questions. It’s clear they’re after something but just what is it they’re looking for? Lily isn’t sure but she’s determined to find out what happened to her father.

Cogheart gave me everything I could ask for in a book, a wonderful action filled plot and a superb cast of characters. Let’s start with the plot, this story was so well put together, I loved the way the story switched between Malkin and Lily’s points of view. I think it was a brilliant way of allowing the reader to connect to two brand new characters quickly while also moving on the plot and allowing us to see two important parts of the story progress simultaneously.

The whole story was filled with adventure and had me turning page after page keen to figure out what was happening, what was it those who attacked the Dragonfly were after? What happened to John and just who could Lily trust?

The ending was simply outstanding, the drama and the tension built to a perfect level as we were given information to help us understand the past and secrets were revealed before the final climax. My heart was in my mouth, it was so well done and I was desperate to find out what would happen to the characters I had come to care about so much.

And onto the characters, there were so many wonderful characters in this story:

Lily is such a brave little girl! I cannot imagine any better character as the heart of the story; throughout the book she shows herself to be a kind and compassionate girl, especially with her love for the mechanicals like Mrs Rust. I challenge anyone not to feel a connection to Lily will all she faces and overcomes over the course of the story.

Robert was such a relatable hero, he’s not some superhuman who is completely fearless and able to do everything with ease. He has his fears which he works to overcome and when it truly matters he battles his way through them to be there for Lily. Quite frankly I adore him.

Malkin the mechanimal fox! I adored this grumpy lovable wee fox! He’s incredibly loyal and does whatever he can to help Lily, he’s a little snarky which totally appeals to me, if mechanimals were a thing I would totally have a Malkin!

Cogheart also contains a wonderful cast of villains – I won’t go into detail as I wouldn’t want to risk any spoilers but it’s safe to say the mirror-eyed man was delightfully creepy and wonderfully wicked – I say this as an adult of course!

Final Thoughts

This was such an incredible story filled with action and adventure. I got major Sally Lockhart vibes in places and I mean that in a positive way – the Sally Lockhart Quartet was one of my favourite series growing up. I’m so pleased I can catch up with Lily and Robert again already! I shall be reading Moonlocket soon!

The Cogheart Adventures – On Goodreads

More Peter Bunzl on SWB

About The Author

Peter grew up in South London in a rambling Victorian house with three cats, two dogs, one little sister, an antique dealer dad and an artist mum. Peter has always wanted to tell stories, and found inspiration visiting film and TV sets including James Bond and Postman Pat, where his mum worked as a costume designer. As a child he loved writing and drawing his own books and comic books and was enamoured with the idea of bringing his characters to life, this led to a deep interest in film and animation.

Peter went on to study animation at art college and then at the National Film and Television School. He has animated on commercials, promos, and 2 BAFTA winning children’s TV shows (Yoko! Jakamoko! Toto! and The Secret Show) and has also written and directed several successful short films. His film, Mind Games was a finalist for Virgin Media Shorts Award (2008) and screened in over 200 UK cinemas.