2020/139: The Kingdoms -- Natasha Pulley

2020/139: The Kingdoms -- Natasha Pulley

"...It's what we're calling silent epilepsy; it doesn't come with convulsions, only the symptoms we would usually associate with an epileptic aura -- amnesia, paramnesia, visions. Had anything of the latter two?"
"What does paramnesia mean?" Jo asked. The doctor's voice was so posh that he could feel himself furling up inside with the urge to keep his answers short, and not to ask questions or waste time.
"The blurring of something imaginary and something real. Most commonly, deja vu ... and its opposite, jamais vu, which is when something that should be familiar feels wholly alien."
"Yes!" said Joe fast, and felt his eyes burn, desperately grateful to hear someone name the feeling.[loc. 96]

I was so very happy to get an advance review copy from NetGalley, having loved Pulley's previous novels (The Watchmaker of Filigree Street, The Bedlam Stacks, and The Lost Future of Pepperharrow. I am happy to report that The Kingdoms (UK publication date 27 MAY 2021) is an absolute delight, the kind of book that I race through, immediately read again, and mourn for days because it's over.

( no spoilers )