Why? To go back to her fake spiritualist practice? If there had been a reason for her to leave, like she was trying to serve as a decoy or distract the bad guys, then maybe it would be understandable, but this does not seem to be the case. Jess's mother has spent all her daughter's life protecting her daughter from evil, keeping her safe, and now, when she is definitely not safe, her mother just leaves her – untrained. Why, for example, did Jessamine's mother leave her once she found out that Jessamine would be facing the most evil creatures imaginable? To go back to her sham spiritualist operation? It makes no sense. It seemed to me that the events were created to meet a certain outcome, rather than the outcome resulting as an accumulation of the events. Soon into the story, however, I started to have some serious problems with the plot. I was enthralled with Jessamine and her abilities and I wanted to know more. The Mesmerist has a powerful, spooky start that grabbed me. This is such a gothic, supernatural, horror, adventure MG sprinkled w/faerie magic even! Beautiful cover too!! Gorgeous!!😍😍I really loved this, & I highly recommend!!💜💜 She quickly has to turn into a brave, fierce fighter she’s always supposed to have been. That nursery rhyme thing?! That was so creepy too!!😳In the beginning of the book Jess is a well mannered girl, with good upbringing, & ladylike manners & beliefs. It was the perfect setting, & I imagined everything perfectly. This is in Victorian London, & I loved that too.

The city is under attack by monsters & ghouls, & it’s up to the society to stop them. She joins a secret society she just learned about, that includes kids that also have talents like herself-A talent she just found out she had. I think she handles it all the best that could be expected. She is thrown into a situation that is scary, unbelievable, & full of family secrets. So b/c of that I would say maybe upper MG?(Again I don’t have kids, so I’m just throwing an opinion out there lol). I also loved this one! Maybe even more! This blew me away! This is a darker MG in all the right ways. Wow! I love this author! I read Gloomtown by him in April, & loved it.

The Mesmerist by Ronald L. Smith