Right now' - Patrick Ness, author of A Monster Calls. In a quest to find the truth she must travel into the terrifying Underbelly of the city to meet a twisted architect who has dark designs on her family - before it's too late. Soon Triss discovers that what happened to her is more strange and terrible than she could ever have imagined, and that she is quite literally not herself. She looks through her diary to try to remember, but the pages have been ripped out. She is insatiably hungry her sister seems scared of her and her parents whisper behind closed doors. A couple of weeks ago, it was named Best Fantasy Novel at the British Fantasy awards (a first for a young adult novel) and this reminded me that I really should get round to reading it. 'Who do you think you are? This is my family.' When Triss wakes up after an accident, she knows that something is very wrong. I bought Frances Hardinge’s Cuckoo Song over a year ago, where it’s been on my Kindle in my long list of unread books ever since. 'What are you doing here?' It was uttered in tones of outrage and surprise, and in a voice as cold and musical as the clinking of cups. Cuckoo Song is the sixth novel by Hardinge, who took the Branford Boase award with her debut, Fly By Night, in 2006, and has since been shortlisted for several children’s book prizes. Then the tiny mouth moved, opened to speak. Slowly they swivelled, until their gaze was resting on Triss's face. The first things to shift were the doll's eyes, the beautiful grey-green glass eyes.

'What are you doing here?' It was uttered in tones of outrage and surprise, and in a voice as cold and musical as the clinking of cups.Ĭuckoo Song by Frances Hardinge, the Costa Award-winning author of The Lie Tree, is a fantastically eerie and beautifully written novel, and was shortlisted for the prestigious Carnegie Medal. Cuckoo Song by Frances Hardinge, the Costa Award-winning author of The Lie Tree, is a fantastically eerie and beautifully written novel, and was shortlisted for the prestigious Carnegie Medal.