Ottilie Colter and the Narroway Hunt by Rhiannon Williams

"Of course it's only boys. That's the way things go, isn't it? Girls aren't allowed to do anything. Rich girls sit, poor girls clean, and girls with nothing at all hide in the dark. ... Maybe now you're here ... You could change things, Ottilie."

Young boys are being kidnapped from the Swamp Hollows "a series of caves and tunnels on the edge of Brakkerswamp." Ottilie, aged twelve nearly thirteen, wakes up one morning and discovers her eleven year old beloved brother Gully is missing. Ottilie is frantic. She is very aware young boys regularly disappear from their tiny settlement. 

"They pick lonely, hungry boys, the really reckless ones. They bring them here, tell them they were selected specially for the job. They offer them a family, food, three stations full of brothers, and girls to wait on them."

Ottilie sets off to find and rescue her brother but of course things are not that simple. Her brother and many other 'innocent' young boys have been taken to fight the most hideous of monsters. Ottilie has disguised herself as a boy and so she is caught up in the boy's training program. Ottilie will need to face a series of deadly and unpredictable monsters all the while fearful of discovery. Girls are not permitted to become a fledge. What will happen if she is caught?

These monsters are truly impressive and dangerous. I marvel at the imagination of Rhiannon Williams to create such creatures. They also have amazing names - scorver, jivvies, barrogaul and yicker.

"The thing to remember, always, is that a dredretch is an unnatural beast. They are a plague upon humanity and serve no purpose in the living world. We are not their food source; they do not attack us out of necessity. It is merely their primary instinct to attempt to tear us apart starting with the heart - a dredretch will always go for the heart."

Ottilie Colter and the Narroway Hunt was a total surprise. I am not sure I would have selected this one from the cover although taking a close look, the huge white cat does look a little like the Falkor, the luck dragon from The Neverending Story which is a long time favourite fantasy book of mine. He is actually a wingerslink named Maestro.  Also I had not heard of Rhiannon Williams which makes sense because this is her debut novel. The things that did appeal were curiosity about the Ampersand Prize (mentioned on the cover) and the word Narroway. 

I am so glad to have discovered this book and even though I rarely rate books I give this a resounding ten out of ten. Ottilie can stand tall with other strong girls such as Keladry (Tamora Pierce), Isabel (Laurie Halse Anderson) and Calpurnia (Jacqueline Kelly).

Now back to the Ampersand Prize (making Writers authors). This award was established in 2011 by Hardi Grant Egmont. “The Ampersand Prize aims to find brilliant debut novels by writers of young adult and middle-grade fiction.”  This book is certainly BRILLIANT.

Right from the first few pages I was hooked. Rhiannon Williams understands the power of word placement.  Take a look at this passage:

"Fine kippygrass, greener than green beans, tickled her elbows and her feet sunk a little into the mushy soil."

Kippygrass?  The first indication that we are entering a fantasy world - one beautifully created, possibly dangerous and yet intriguing.

It is interesting the way some books receive so much publicity while others just appear and perhaps wait to be discovered.  This book will be in some Australian Primary school libraries because luckily it was included with a recent parcel from Australian Standing Orders (Scholastic). I do hope heaps of Middle Grade fantasy fans find Ottilie Colter. Also the publisher will hopefully send this book across the globe so it can reach an even bigger audience. Book Two in this series will be published in 2019. I hope to read more about this complex world, to meet Bill again  - he appears early in the story, to discover the truth about the 'innocents' and of course celebrate the girl power of Ottilie. Read  Kids Book Review they also loved. Here is a set of teachers notes from Pegi Williams.

I would follow Ottilie Colter and the Narroway Hunt with the following books:

• Protector of the Small series beginning with First Test by Tamora Pierce
• A Very Unusual Pursuit by Catherine Jinks (and sequels)
• The Lost Children by Carolyn Cohagan
• Wings of Fire series by Tui T Sutherland
• The Rogues series beginning with Accidental Heroes by Lian Tanner

Filled with gruesome monsters, fantastical beasts and life or death challenges, its uniqueness is thrilling. Kids are going to love the mysteries and intrigue, and they will be HUGE fans of the action and adventure that never ever stops.

The characters, too, are strong, real and relatable. They are characters with sass, inner strength, courage and strong ideals. They are characters every reader is going to want to be. Kids Book Review