The Misheard World by Aliya Whiteley

Aliya Whiteley’s new book The Misheard World, opens in an intriguing way: a box arrives at a prison called the Crag with a man inside it. Following this Whiteley brings readers into what feels like a fairly standard fantasy world. Until she pulls the rug out from under the reader, not once but multiple times in ways that might well break some readers’ brains.

Since the destruction of a city called Droad by a mysterious destructive weapon there has been a war between the North and the South. The man in the box is a former magician called Mondegreen and he is a hero of the North. Mondegreen, who goes by the nickname ‘The Misheard Word’, has been captured and sent to the Crag, a prison considered to be unassailable. He is there to be questioned by one of the leaders of the South, a woman called the Syld. The forces of the South want, among other things, to understand the secrets behind the destruction of Droad. The story of their interrogation sessions is narrated by a guard at the Crag, a woman called Elize Janview. Elize is ordered by the prison warden to observe the meetings between Mondegreen and the Syld and report back every detail. Unknown to the warden, Elize has a connection not only to Mondegreen but also to Droad.

It is best not to say anything more about the plot of The Misheard World which twists and turns and reinvents itself in ways that no reader is likely to predict. As a result, it is likely that many readers will to want to go back to the beginning and read it a second time. The twists allow Whiteley to dig into themes around storytelling and the lies people tell both themselves and others to get by, loyalty, control and the yearning to lead a different life. The Misheard World is by no means a perfect book but it is a mind bending one and one that will make readers think.

The Misheard World by Aliya Whiteley

7.5

7.5/10