The only problem I have with this book (other than it not being out yet) is that I can't really go into why I love it without spoiling what makes it so great. I was hooked on the first few pages. And it's one of those rare books that make you want to flip back to page 1 and start reading again immediately. I loved Skyward Inn, I had... issues with Three-Eight-One that were more about me than the book (I listened to the audio and the use of footnotes made it very difficult for me to find my footing). I think this book seals her as someone I'll definitely add to my must-buy list.

The main issue may come with the ending, which I can see being divisive. It definitely makes you think, and I really think people will have a wide range of opinions on it.

I have been following Aliya Whiteley for a while now and am always pleased by the uniqueness of the world's she creates. What starts as a medieval-esque fantasy spy thriller soon turned into a daring tale of alternate dimensions, where you're never quite sure who to trust. She paints wonderful characters whilst giving you very little of them (I had no idea of the protagonists gender for the first few chapters, because it felt like it could land either way!) The ending was a thinker, and I enjoy the way that Whiteley is an author who plays around with the words we see on the page; which is very refreshing in a world where everything seems to be a repeat of something else.

I am at a loss at how to introduce this book without betraying it and depriving the Reader of the pleasure of discovering it for herself. The story unfurls humbly from a conventional beginning set in a fantasy setting (a devastating war, a captive magician interrogated in a pinnacle of a prison-stronghold, stories spun unhurriedly as the war edges ever closer). And then, an escalation. One would be tempted to say the plot thickens, but it is more like a blossoming in vivid technicolour, or a metamorphosis, or a passage into another world that locks the fantasy in a reality that is both fascinating and frightening. The Misheard Word pits one world against another in a sort of game of double bluff, and the conclusion/collision/collusion is most thrilling. I will stop here. If I say any more, I will say too much.

I read, and greatly enjoyed, a couple of Aliya Whiteley’s books, but I absolutely loved this one. In Whiteley’s trademark fashion it is unpredictable and surreal, metaphysical and poignant. It is a fantasy, magical realism and existentialism blended together into something highly original and engrossing. The characters are dynamic. They are revealed, layers of mystery peeled off them slowly, with the Reader not really knowing them until the very end. Whiteley modulates her prose expertly to fit within each world and match it to each narrator. The tale has left me thinking about the true nature of our world and its many faces, about who controls it and who controls them in turn, and how little does it take to destroy it. Themes of cultures coming together and clashing, and scrambling over each other, and the role a humble individual plays in such a clash of titans are wonderfully explored.

As with any great book, The Misheard World will appeal to different readers in different ways, but appeal it will.