The Otherwhere Post by Emily J. Taylor

A fan of dark academia and fantasy, I couldn’t resist trying The Otherwhere Post by Emily J. Taylor, especially as the blurb said that it was perfect for fans of Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross which I had enjoyed. It is a cleverly crafted novel that will appeal to readers who like to escape into strange worlds where young people pursue justice with courage and intelligence.

Maeve Abenthy has been living under a false name for seven years, after her father was accused of a terrible crime allowing a deadly plant to invade Iverly and closing off access to nearby worlds. She constantly moves on, never allowing anyone to get close to her. Iverly is a strange world where the magic of scriptomancy allows couriers to deliver letters to other worlds. When she receives a letter from an anonymous author that says 'Your father was innocent', she fakes her way into the Otherwhere Post, a magical school where her father had worked, hoping to find the truth. Here she meets Tristan the son of the Postmaster, a gifted scriptomancer, who is given the task of teaching her – and she finds it increasingly difficult to  cloak her identity. Who can she trust? Is her father innocent? Will she be able to escape capture? Who wrote the anonymous letter?

Taylor has built a fascinating and unique world where people can travel from one place to another by scribing magical words. The couriers can find the owners of the letters even when they are hiding. The background of the school, the Otherwhere Post, drew me in, as I wanted to find out how it worked and then the suspense surrounding Maeve’s dangerous quest had me finishing the story in a couple of sittings.

The search for justice, unexpected plot twists, a slow burning romance, and Maeve’s growing friendship with two other apprentices, all set in a unique world, make this a novel that is sure to appeal to fantasy lovers.

Themes: Fantasy, Quests, Justice, Magic.

Pat Pledger