Early Review – Sweep: The Story of a Girl and Her Monster by Jonathan Auxier (5/5 stars)

Reading Level: Middle Grade
Genre: Historical Fantasy
Length: 368 pages
Publisher: Amulet Books
Release Date: September 25, 2018
ISBN-13: 978-1419731402
Stand Alone or Series: Stand Alone
Source: eGalley from NetGalley.com
Rating: 5/5 stars

“For nearly a century, Victorian London relied on “climbing boys”—orphans owned by chimney sweeps—to clean flues and protect homes from fire. The work was hard, thankless, and brutally dangerous. Eleven-year-old Nan Sparrow is quite possibly the best climber who ever lived—and a girl. With her wits and will, she’s managed to beat the deadly odds time and time again. But when Nan gets stuck in a deadly chimney fire, she fears her time has come. Instead, she wakes to find herself in an abandoned attic. And she is not alone. Huddled in the corner is a mysterious creature—a golem—made from ash and coal. This is the creature that saved her from the fire.”

I got a copy of this book from NetGalley to review. Previous to this book I read Auxier’s “The Night Gardener” and “Peter Nimble and his Fantastic Eyes” and really enjoyed both of them. I ended up really loving Sweep as well and zipped right through it.

Nan Sparrow is a chimney sweep that was raised by an old chimney sweep (father figure) in a very unconventional way. When the old chimney sweep leaves, Nan is forced to take up work with another sweeping crew. The only momento Nan has from her old chimney sweep father-figure is a piece of coal that never gets cold. When Nan is trapped in a chimney fire she finds out that the piece of coal is much more than she expected.

I loved the setting and characters in this book. I also really enjoyed the “monster” that emerges from the coal. Reading about the struggles that Nan and friends go through was also engagin. The book was perfectly paced, fun to read, and very well written. I learned a ton about chimney sweeps in historical London that I didn’t know about before.

Overall this was a spectacular book that I really enjoyed. So far, I have enjoyed everything I had read by Auxier which makes me want to go and pick up the few books of his that I haven’t read yet. Anyway, I would recommend to those who enjoy middle grade historical fiction with a touch of magical realism.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
– New Release Reading Challenge
– Goodreads Reading Challenge