Ciannon Smart

Originally posted on Just Geeking by.

Content warnings:
This book contains scenes of kidnap, violence, monsters, and nightmares. There is a scene where the main character reflects on being a victim of racism.

I enjoyed Ciannon Smart’s debut duology, Witches Stepped in Gold, so when she announced that she was writing a middle grade book next I knew I had to check it out even though I’m not a huge middle grade reader. I was not disappointed, Rayleigh Mann in the Company of Monsters by show more Ciannon Smart is a wonderfully dark and fun tale about monsters.

Set in London, Rayleigh Mann in the Company of Monsters is a unique coming of age story. Rayleigh Mann’s plans for trick of treating with his friends turn upside down when a strange girl tries to kidnap him. As the night gets even stranger, Rayleigh learns that he’s actually only half human; his dad is a monster. Not just any monster, the infamous Bogey Mann. Now that he’s twelve it’s time for him to learn all about monsters and Below, the hidden subterranean city of monsters beneath London.

Whisked away to Below-London by his uncle, Rayleigh learns all about monsters and being a monster. Everything he knows about monsters is wrong, they’re not bad, they’re good. They exist to scare children straight during childhood, so they don’t grow up to become murderers or worse in their adulthood. As a monsterling Rayleigh has to take part in an induction to determine his monstrous heritage, consisting of three trials. Each trial is designed to help monsterlings uncover their monstrous identity and powers, and decide whether they wish to remain in Below-London or return to their human family.

It’s a hard decision for Rayleigh who misses his Mum, Nana, and friends, but recognises the advantages of Below-London. Labelled as a trouble-maker at school, in monster society he’s encouraged to cause trouble. He can also walk around the city without anyone watching him, crossing the street to avoid him or dubiously eyeing his fashion and afro. There’s also the biggest benefit of all; getting to know his dad.

Unfortunately his Dad is missing, and as Rayleigh tries to focus on his trials he finds himself getting drawn into dangerous conspiracies. With his new family and friends by his side, can he get through the induction and save his Dad?

I loved everything about Rayleigh Mann in the Company of Monsters. The world of monsters that Smart has created is brilliant, pulling on mythology, folklore, legends and urban legends from all around the world, with an emphasis on Jamaican mythology like her previous duology. Her world-building is once again top-notch. Also, as a South East (SE) Londoner I was very happy to have a book set in East London rather than central London – not much of a surprise as Smart is also from SE London. There’s London vernacular used in the dialect, including some cockney rhyming slang in there which was a delight to see!

If you’re wondering if the topic of monsters and nightmare is a topic too dark for a middle grade novel, don’t worry. Although there’s an edge of darkness, there is so much fun and humour in this book that readers of all ages will fall in love with the “monsters”. Older readers like myself will adore the sassiness of Bloody Mary, and the charm and sarcasm of Shade.

The characters and their relationships are at the heart of Rayleigh Mann in the Company of Monsters, and Smart has done a fantastic job with their dynamics. I loved the relationship between The Terrors, in particular, and their moments of banter were great. Here are some of the most terrifying monsters, and they’re sniping at each other as best friends do. I also appreciated the way that Smart represented relationships between young people, showing that sometimes people are just scared and mess up. Not everything in a book needs to turn into full on drama.

Smart’s dedication reads “I hope this story gives the different among you, the shelved, a chance to been seen as you deserve: the hero of your story” and I felt that in every word of this book. Rayleigh Mann in the Company of Monsters is a must-read for everyone, and I’m certain that young readers are going to love this one as will the adults in their life.

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Witches Steeped in Gold by Ciannon Smart is everything I love about fantasy novels. Simply, it is a fabulous story, rich in backstory and culture with its basis in Caribbean folklore. The two main characters play off each other to perfection with their opposing desires for revenge versus better leadership. I never knew what was coming, and I definitely didn’t know how it was going to end. While I find myself more sympathetic to one of the main characters, the entire story has me vested in show more both their stories, so much so that the sequel will be one of my more anticipated stories for 2022. show less

This is one of those well done books that turn out to not quite be for me. It’s about two girls in different magic orders, one the daughter of the current doyenne and one the daughter of the ousted (and murdered) former. The magic system was awesome and well described, the plot and pacing was well done, so I do recommend it if you like stories of revenge and where people work together but only by forced necessity. I really really hope they become friends in the next book, they could do so show more much if they were truly working together. I don’t know that that is going to happen though, and it is the main reason I did not end up loving this book. show less

I was disappointed in this book. The premise sounded really cool: a story of begrudging allies, betrayals and magic, but it wasn’t that??

This world was complex, there were magic orders, lizard familiars, longstanding feuds and it really had a Jamaican atmosphere to it. I liked how the two groups had opposing ideas about magic and neither of them was right. However, it was so complex that it took me well over hundred pages to understand it. Especially the beginning was very confusing.
It show more was made more confusing by the writing style. A lot of sentences were just wordy and complex to read, as if a third of the words were replaced by a synonym from the thesaurus.

Jazmyne and Ira both had interesting character arcs and I liked how they developed in opposite directions, but the book was too slow to make me care for either of them? They barely interact as well, which I found disappointing, and both their romances were terrible.
I liked some of the twists, (not all of them made sense). Some books that are advertised as such are very predictable, but this one wasn’t. It’s a shame that they were saved for what felt like the last few pages.

I do want a lizard familiar though. show less