Daniel O'Malley

A quick-witted, genre-bending, and wildly imaginative thriller about the secret organization keeping England--and the world--safe from supernatural threats (one staff meeting at a time). "The body you are wearing used to be mine." So begins the letter Myfanwy Thomas is holding when she awakes in a London park surrounded by bodies all wearing latex gloves. With no recollection of who she is, Myfanwy must follow the instructions her former self left behind to discover her identity and track down the agents who want to destroy her. She soon learns that she is a Rook, a high-ranking member of a secret organization called the Chequy that battles the many supernatural forces at work in Britain. She also discovers that she possesses a rare, potentially deadly supernatural ability of her own. In her quest to uncover which member of the Chequy betrayed her and why, Myfanwy encounters a person with four bodies, an aristocratic woman who can enter her dreams, a secret training facility where children are transformed into deadly fighters, and a conspiracy more vast than she ever could have imagined. Filled with characters both fascinating and fantastical, THE ROOK is a richly inventive, suspenseful, and often wry thriller that marks an ambitious debut from a promising young writer.

A Novel

The Rook

Annika Arguemore

A very curious and compelling read. It was mild and simple in its execution, but you could still feel yourself gravitating towards it. Good job! It kept me entertained and interested the whole time I was reading it!

exciting, detailed, and a satisfying story with so much so chew on. really enjoyed the characters and the way exposition fit into the narrative with letters and explanations, it satisfied my practical brain immensely.

rin 🐇

Dr Seth Jones

This was an exceptionally well constructed, fun, and wild concept. I didn't want the story to end and thought Rook Thomas was a thoroughly engaging character.

rumbledethumps

This book started great, with an intriguing premise, and executed very well. But by the time we reached the final act, it simply became a novel of exposition, with pages and pages of one character telling another how everything happened and why. What started as excellent and exciting became just plain boring.

Myfanwy Thomas awakens in a London park surrounded by dead bodies. With her memory gone, she must trust the instructions left by her former in order to survive. She quickly learns that she is a Rook, a high-level operative in a secret agency that protects the world from supernatural threats. But there is a mole inside the organization, and this person wants her dead. Battling to save herself, Myfanwy will encounter a person with four bodies, a woman who can enter her dreams, children transformed into deadly fighters, and terrifyingly vast conspiracy. Suspenseful and hilarious, The Rook is an outrageously imaginative thriller for readers who like their espionage with a dollop of purple slime. "Utterly convincing and engrossing -- -totally thought-through and frequently hilarious....Even this aging, jaded, attention-deficit-disordered critic was blown away."-Lev Grossman, Time

Colleen

5 Stars

**My #3 best read of 2018**


  
    “The body you are wearing used to be mine”
  

 And so opens The Rook, with our heroine waking up in the body of one Myfanwy Thomas surrounded by dead bodies and with no memory of what lead up to that. And things only get more complicated from there, because it turns out that Myfanwy Thomas possesses supernatural powers, works for a secret government agency, and has a lot people trying to kill her.
 
I wasn’t sure what to expect from this book, but it was a delightful surprise! I was hooked from page one and read the whole thing in two days. It is an Urban Fantasy story that excellently stands apart from other books in that genre. Since Urban Fantasy has a tendency to lean towards cheesy and simplistic, The Rook was a breath of fresh air.
 
Many of the characters have supernatural abilities, but it never felt like a superhero story which is good because Marvel has me 100% burnt out on all things superhero. It is more like The Bourne Identity but with supernatural powers and a dash of humor. The story is exciting, creative, and has just the right amount of snark.
 
I can’t say that I was wild about the main character’s name. Myfanwy states that she pronounces it as if it rhymed with Tiffany. But I kept having to remind myself of that, because my first thought upon looking at it was that it is only one letter away from “Myfanny.” Rather unfortunate that. Although, I guess when you can psychically inflict pain on people they are a whole lot less likely to make fun of you. At least to your face anyway.
 
But Myfanwy was a compelling main character. She was complex and struck a wonderful balance between power and insecurities. On the one hand, she has extremely strong supernatural powers, but on the other hand, she does not know how to fully use them. She is intelligent, organized, and a bit fastidious. But she is also underestimated by everyone. She is squeamish, practically walks into walls whenever there is a hot guy in the room, and thinks eating chocolate is great solution for any problem (I concur). Far from being an obnoxious Mary Sue, she has strengths and weaknesses and room to grow as a character. You don’t often find a convincing and captivating female character written by a man.
 

  “All I have to do is put on my scary face.”
“You have a scary face?” Ingrid sounded skeptical.
“Yes,” said Myfanwy indignantly. “I have a very scary face.”
Ingrid surveyed her for a moment.
“You may wish to take off the cardigan then, Rook Thomas,” she advised tactfully. “The flowers on the pockets detract somewhat from your menace.”

The story rotates between a third person narrative following Myfanwy and epistolary sections told through the letters that Myfanwy wrote to her future self to explain her past. Those sections may lean a little towards infodump at times, but I enjoyed them. They fleshed out the world. I never knew what was going to pop up next. From political intrigue, heists, and murderous plots to mutants, a future telling duck, man-eating purple fungus, and one extremely awkward gynecological exam, this book had it all. There were just so many delightful little humorous moments and some Easter Egg references to other Fantasy stories. But it never got too goofy. There were some creepy moments too.
 
And it’s definitely not Young Adult. Not that there is anything too terribly graphic. But it isn’t that angsty, overly-simplified YA writing pretending to be Adult.
 
Another thing that made this book stand out is that it is not a romance. Now, I have nothing against romance. I read plenty of Chicklit and enjoy lots of fluffy Happily Ever Afters. But I do get bored with so many stories being sidetracked when the romance highjacks the story and heroines that turn out to be useless without their other half. So, I appreciated reading a story with powerful women (in more than one sense of the word) who never play damsel in distress and have too much going on to bother sitting around waiting to fall in love. It was great that the author bucked the trend and had a female lead character without romance watering down the rest of the story.
 
I did have trouble keeping track of some of the secondary characters at first, particularly since the main character does not initially know who they are either. But there are many unique and interesting characters! Myfanwy was so enjoyable to read about. And I absolutely adored Shantay! She is totally badass. I hope she gets a bigger part in the sequel.
 
There was a moment when I patted myself on the back for figuring out the plot… but it turns out I was wrong, and the rest of the story kept me guessing. I won’t give anything away. The less you know going in, the more fun you’ll have guessing.
 
The Rook was entertaining, distinctive, and engaging. Maybe it isn’t perfect, but it was just what I needed at the moment, and I had a blast reading it! It’s even more impressive that this was O’Malley’s debut book. I am definitely excited to read the sequel!


RATING FACTORS:
Ease of Reading: 5 Stars
Writing Style: 5 Stars
Characters and Character Development: 5 Stars
Plot Structure and Development: 5 Stars
Level of Captivation: 5 Stars
Originality: 5 Stars

3.5 You wake up and are standing in a park in the rain surrounded by a circle of dead bodies. A letter in your pocket starts, "The body you are wearing used to be mine". It belonged to Myfawy Thomas, a head administrator in a secret paranormal organization protecting the UK from unnatural threats. The choice is to become Ms. Thomas and learn how to do her job while also uncovering who within the organization tried to kill her or run and take on a new name and create a life but live in hiding. Whoever it was will keep searching and has vast resources to use. Return to work, clearly, and root out the conspiracy. 

This was entertaining and I enjoyed the creativity and variety in this world. The mystery/thriller plot had me hooked from the start and kept me going all the way through. Humor is highly subjective, so won't work for everyone. There were times when it did not land for me and sometimes the narrative voice was a little grating. It is a very particular flavor. The tone is self-aware, so I was willing to go along with some plot conveniences and flat character development. The world building is info-dumpy in the form of letters and dossiers prepared ahead by Myfawny Thomas for whoever would be jumping into her mind and inheriting her body. She had been told be several psychics that this was going to happen. This did not bother me and I was intrigued by what we learned from them. There were some harrowing and weird action scenes. This book was a fun ride. Do I feel a need to continue in the series? Ehh, maybe. Not sure. Not making plans to.

Cheryl Hedlund

3.5 You wake up and are standing in a park in the rain surrounded by a circle of dead bodies. A letter in your pocket starts, "The body you are wearing used to be mine". It belonged to Myfawy Thomas, a head administrator in a secret paranormal organization protecting the UK from unnatural threats. The choice is to become Ms. Thomas and learn how to do her job while also uncovering who within the organization tried to kill her or run and take on a new name and create a life but live in hiding. Whoever it was will keep searching and has vast resources to use. Return to work, clearly, and root out the conspiracy. 

This was entertaining and I enjoyed the creativity and variety in this world. The mystery/thriller plot had me hooked from the start and kept me going all the way through. Humor is highly subjective, so won't work for everyone. There were times when it did not land for me and sometimes the narrative voice was a little grating. It is a very particular flavor. The tone is self-aware, so I was willing to go along with some plot conveniences and flat character development. The world building is info-dumpy in the form of letters and dossiers prepared ahead by Myfawny Thomas for whoever would be jumping into her mind and inheriting her body. She had been told be several psychics that this was going to happen. This did not bother me and I was intrigued by what we learned from them. There were some harrowing and weird action scenes. This book was a fun ride. Do I feel a need to continue in the series? Ehh, maybe. Not sure. Not making plans to.

Myfanwy Thomas awakes in a London park surrounded by dead bodies. With her memory gone, her only hope of survival is to trust the instructions left in her pocket by her former self. She quickly learns that she is a Rook, a high-level operative in a secret agency that protects the world from supernatural threats. But there is a mole inside the organization and this person wants her dead. As Myfanwy battles to save herself, she encounters a person with four bodies, a woman who can enter her dreams, children transformed into deadly fighters, and an unimaginably vast conspiracy. Suspenseful and hilarious, THE ROOK is an outrageously inventive debut for readers who like their espionage with a dollop of purple slime.

I enjoyed this. Some of the stuff about the world and the government made me feel slightly stupid when trying to understand it, but it was a good read. 

The description of the gunk and goo on the enemies were so detailed I felt a little grossed out. Like, please Mr. O'Malley take it back a notch, I'm literally gagging.

I'm probably going to pick up the rest of the series.

Sarah Campbell

I enjoyed this. Some of the stuff about the world and the government made me feel slightly stupid when trying to understand it, but it was a good read. 

The description of the gunk and goo on the enemies were so detailed I felt a little grossed out. Like, please Mr. O'Malley take it back a notch, I'm literally gagging.

I'm probably going to pick up the rest of the series.

Gillian Rose

Highly enjoyable though I wish it had been a bit shorter as it tended to drag toward the middle. I loved that it was like a mix of X-Men and James Bond and all the characters were super interesting.

Ron Bronson

I desperately wanted to like this book. But I kept feeling like something was off. The dialogue wasn't where it needed to be, the characters seemed not nearly well-fleshed out enough. In the end, it just didn't do it for me. I'd recommend it if you wait for it on paperback or something, but it's not a must-read book that you need to spend a bunch of best-seller cash to read up front just because it gets a ton of good reviews...because the people saying otherwise aren't missing the boat, there are just a bevy of head-scratching choices in this novel that made it extremely difficult for me to finish.

But somewhere in the rough edges is a good story wanting to get it. It's just not coherent enough to make this story a must recommend.

'The body you are wearing used to be mine.' So begins the letter Myfanwy Thomas is holding when she awakes in a London park surrounded by bodies all wearing latex gloves. With no recollection of who she is, Myfanwy must follow the instructions her former self left behind to discover her identity and track down the agents who want to destroy her. She soon learns that she is a Rook, a high-ranking member of a secret organization called the Checquy that battles the many supernatural forces at work in Britain. She also discovers that she possesses a rare and deadly supernatural ability of her own.

Wonko the Sane

Fast paced, easy read - good for a break after heavier stuff. 

Two things that prevent it being a five star read for me - 1) Myfanwy and Shantay should have got together (no, seriously, I’m not just saying this cause I think everyone should be a lesbian, I think it would have been a cool idea to really hammer home the “this is a new person” theme by changing the character’s sexual orientation post-memory wipe, and who better to hook up with than Shantay?) 2) So many times the author doesn’t include punctuation before closing speech marks. Always when he’s not doing a traditional dialogue tag but instead going for something like “came the reply.” I don’t care. Put the goddamn commas in, Daniel.

Janice Hopper

I see I didn't leave a review when I first read this back in 2013. Oh well.

I re-read it since Starz is doing a series based on it. Now that I've re-read the book and seen the previews for the series, I'm less excited about watching the show. It looks grim compared to the relatively cheerful and interesting book. Myfanwy (the protagonist) is clever and interesting, and even though she's been left amnesiac by SOMETHING, she manages to come through and do what needs to be done in her role in the Checquy, and in finding who originaly stole her memory and why.

The series actually looks kinda grim in the trailers. If I actually watch it, I'll note my thoughts here later.

Later: I watched the first two episodes of the series. They seem to have decided to go in a totally different direction/mood from this novel. I have no particular interest in seeing any more eps.

Nicole Dykeman

I did not enjoy this book but it already took me 8,000 years to finish and I don’t want to invest the extra twenty minutes it would take to write a comprehensive review. Bottom line: poor pacing, too much telling and not enough showing (especially when it comes to world building), and outright boring at times.

The thrilling, hilarious, genre-busting Aurealis Award-winning novel about MI5 ... for wizards. 'Just outrageously good' Lev Grossman, Time magazine; 'I love this book!' Charlaine Harris. 'The body you are wearing used to be mine.' So begins the letter Myfanwy Thomas is holding when she awakes in a London park surrounded by bodies all wearing latex gloves. With no recollection of who she is, Myfanwy must follow the instructions her former self left behind to discover her identity and track down the agents who want to destroy her. She soon learns that she is a Rook, a high-ranking member of a secret organization called the Checquy that battles the many supernatural forces at work in Britain. She also discovers that she possesses a rare and deadly supernatural ability of her own. THE ROOK was published in 2012 to wide international acclaim. It was one of Time magazine's books of the year, and authors from Lev Grossman ('outrageously good') to Charlaine Harris ('I love this book!') lined up to sing its praises. In 2012 it won Best Science Fiction Novel at the 2012 Aurealis Awards, and in 2015 it reached the eighth most borrowed adult-fiction title position in Australian libraries. '[An] impressive debut, a supernatural detective thriller distinguished by its adept use of humour ... Dry wit, surprising reversals of fortune, and a clever if offbeat plot make this a winner' - Publishers Weekly 'Inventive and unstoppable ... A sequel? Yes, please' - Herald Sun

Latitude Tamarind

Danny Engström

Celeste Richardson

Here's another older review I found! It's pretty cool when you read something you wrote about a book you liked and it makes you want to give said book a re-read. Some day... Anyway, here's what I thought about the book a few years ago:

Dear You,

The body you are wearing used to be mine.

	So begins The Rook by Daniel O’Malley, one of the absolute strangest books I’ve ever read. A woman wakes up surrounded by corpses in latex gloves. She has two black eyes, countless bruises elsewhere, and absolutely no memory of who she is or how she got there. She finds a letter in her pocket that begins as I typed above. This is the start for a story of government intrigue from the point of view of the Checquy, the supernatural secret government that protects England from countless evils. Most of the people of the Checquy are powered individuals, meaning that they can do anything from secreting poisons from their pores to turning themselves into metal to walking into dreams. Some of the abilities are so bizarre that part of me wonders to what lengths O’Malley might have gone to create them. 

	I have read thousands of books in my lifetime, but I have never read anything like The Rook. It was an impressively creative and complex world, and yet managed to be incredibly funny. If you put X-Men, Ghostbusters, Harry Potter, 007, and the Bourne Identity all in a blender with a dash of snarky British humor and a touch of Memento, you would still be missing the special, unnamable something that makes O’Malley’s book so special. 

	(view spoiler)[Myfanwy Thomas is an amazing complex duo. Yes, duo. The former Thomas was a gifted but desperately shy and awkward administrator. The present Thomas is a phenomenal detective and actress, trying to find out who she was while convincing everyone around her that nothing unusual is happening. She is suspicious, sarcastic, and fiercely intelligent. Not to mention that she becomes a total bad-A as she figures out her powers (the ability to reach into and control the bodies of others) and leaves the safety of her office and heads into the field for the first time. She goes from being a joke among the other members of the Checquy to being feared and respected by many. And she was such a layered character that I cared what was happening to her, which sucked me further into the story than I might have ventured otherwise. (hide spoiler)] All in all, fantastic book. I give it 5 out of 5 stars on Celeste’s meter of bookish awesomeness.

i really enjoyed how there were twists and turns that were not expected in this book

Kristina K

Cams Campbell

From the hype I expected more of this book. I did like it, but found it rather pulpy and unmemorable. I mean who would write letters as long and chatty as Rook Thomas wrote to herself? That was the most grating thing about it. The story itself was fun, but not earth-shattering in the 'this is the best book of 2013' that I got from the panelists on the Incomparable podcast.

Leah Patton

The Rook was an interesting read. It was funny without trying and surprisingly heartwarming, especially the last chapter. I loved both main characters, past and present Thomas, and all the relationships that she made throughout the story. I loved the girl power! Myfanwy was coming into herself. The sister-like relationship that present Myfanwy has with last Myfanwy or Thomas is my favorite part. She defends Thomas and becomes more assertive on Thomas' behalf. She makes her new life everything that Thomas wanted but couldn't have.

Sarah Escorsa

● Epistolary Buddy Read courtesy of the BBB masochists ●



DNF at 62%.

Introducing...the Be Happy Little Barnacles for this Shall not Be a Pit-Stop Requiring Review Review (BHLBftSnBaPSRRR™)! Because I don't have time to write yet another Oh Bloody Hell this Review is so Long I Might Have Great Grandchildren by the Time I Finish Reading it Review (OBHtRisLIMHGGbtTIFRiR™)! And because I've wasted enough time on this book as it is! So let's do this! Let's…



☢ Warning: yes, the crap shall be cut in this review, but worry not, for it will be tastefully decorated with a crap-load of gifs to make up for the demoralizing lack of words. Lucky you  ☢

✘✘ Fact #1 ✘✘
I would have enjoyed this a lot more if it hadn't been a very pale imitation of a Tom Holt book. Minus the total wackiness. But it was, so I didn't. 



✘✘ Fact #2 ✘✘
I would have enjoyed this a lot more if the author hadn't tried so freaking hard to be freaking hilarious. But he did, and it wasn't, so I didn't.



(view spoiler)[Team Grumpy Cat FTW! (hide spoiler)]

✘✘ Fact #3 ✘✘
I would have enjoyed this a lot more if the narrative hadn't been interrupted by Myfanwy's (don't ask) mostly pointless letters to herself (don't ask) every five freaking seconds. But it was, so I didn't.



✘✘ Fact #4 ✘✘
I would have enjoyed this book a lot more if the author hadn't dedicated the first 50% of the story to glorious info-dumping. But he did, so I didn't.




➽ And the moral of this non-review is: looking for non-boring, fast-paced, entertaining, REALLY wacky fantasy? Forget about this book, read Tom Holt.
➽ And the other moral of this non-review: this is yet another book I read WRONG. Everyone else (except from Eilonwy, the most sensible person I know) loved it. You know what this means, right? Yep, that's right, it means that everyone but me (and Eilonwy, obviously) has despicable book taste. QED. 

»» Come on Edward, time to bail.

Sheila

This was such a great concept, but it turned out to be 200 pages too long with info-dumps that ruined the fun of it. This is more like 2.5 stars, mostly because Myfanwy did have some great moments & made me laugh (that has value, come on). The book picked up in the 2nd half after drowsily plodding through the start - shocking given that the first chapter begins with Myfanwy waking up in a park surrounded by dead men - but yeah I just feel disappointed overall. 

The character of Myfanwy was amusing & eventually badass enough for me to consider reading the next book when it comes out later this year, mostly because I'm hoping that the info-dumps will no longer be necessary to move the story along.

Melody Izard

What a clever, quirky sort of Harriet Potter for adults! I loved how Myfanwy Thomas develops from a person with no memories into a complicated, funny character who leads the plot action and who nicely orders up the telling of the past and the paving of the way into the future. I'm sure there are more coming and I will look forward to reading them.

Becky

This was such a surprising read and I don't know what to say exactly to explain why.

I had expected to enjoy it. I'd seen it mentioned and thought it would be a decent read but it ended up being this book I couldn't put down. I did feel like it took me forever to read but that was partly the fact it's a long book with a whole heap of words in it. Turns out words take a while to read.

I did have some gripes, I felt like the whole book was extra confusing and could have been made a touch clearer. But that may have been because I didn't figure things out until the end and once it got explained to me I felt like smacking my head and going 'duh'. The other thing is that Myfanwy should have figured out how to pronounce her name far sooner. Anyone that knows even a bit of Welsh names, as in able to correctly pronounce Welsh towns, would know how to say her name right. I wish that had been corrected immediately.

Apart from minor gripes I adored this book. I loved how intricate the world was and how it was written to be slightly hilarious and everything was a little weird and it totally worked for me. I loved the fact it kind of addressed the concept of nature vs nurture with the whole memory thing. I just really liked what was done with this book. Now I need to try and get my library to get the second one.

Nat Welch

This was surprisingly good. It was kind of silly in some parts, but overall was an interesting take on the scifi/fantasy thriller genre.

Scott Vandehey

“The body you are wearing used to be mine. …You are in danger. Just because you are not me does not make you safe. Along with this body, you have inherited certain problems and responsibilities. Go find a safe place, and then open the second letter.”

This book has one of the strongest opening chapters I’ve ever read. (You can read it here!) Myfanwy (rhymes with Tiffany) comes to in the pouring rain in a London park, surrounded by bodies wearing latex gloves. She has no memory of who she is, but in her pocket, she finds a letter from herself. It’s got a sort of X-Files meets Memento vibe, and I can’t recommend it enough.

The Rook A Novel

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