York by Laura Ruby

Walden Pond Press

476 pages (hardcover)

© 2017

York is Book One in Ruby’s The Shadow Cipher series. I ordered this title because I loved the author’s book, Bone Gap, a magical realism story. York will appeal to readers who like steampunk, mystery, magic, and history. The story starts out a little slow, but the mystery of the Old York Cipher lures the reader on.

The Morningstarr twins, architects of dazzling machines and buildings in New York, disappear and leave behind a puzzle which promises a treasure beyond all imagining. Despite tries by many people over the decades, the cipher remains unsolved. A note here: the imaginative machines and inventions would make a wonderful movie on the big screen!

Tess and Theo Biedermann and their friend Jaime Cruz live in a Morningstarr apartment. When a real estate developer buys the building with destruction in mind, the young people decide to save their home by proving the cipher is real. This means they have to solve the mystery.

Written to appeal to younger and older readers alike, this story lacks the depth and literary beauty of Bone Gap. But then this is an entirely different book. Delighted with the fantastic world of York and curious about the cipher, I will definitely read Book Two when it comes out!

Side note: If you enjoy magical realism stories, try Bronte’s Thunder!