I tried hard with this, but everything about this book was just all over the place. The writing, plotting, historical details, and characters were very messy, even for a children's/Middle Grade novel. Way too many ideas, but none are new or interesting. I couldn't get very far before giving up.

Set in Victorian London, The Mesmerist tackles many dark stories: death, vengeance, and violence. Jessamine Grace lived a normal live with her mother, until the day they found out that Jess was actually a mesmerist—someone who can read people’s thoughts and communicate with the dead. She joins the mysterious League of Ravens in order to fight necromancers.

A great story with a strong voice, The Mesmerist is sure to please any lover of middle-grade stories. With many familiar story ideas, young readers will love it.

The full review can be found at rrwrites.com! Link will go live 2/24/17 at 8 am EST.

The adventures of Jessamine Grace and her newfound friends, Emily and Gabriel, are fast-paced, full of excitement and danger, and speckled with enough history to make it all somewhat believable. Unfortunately, Smith could not quite pin down his age range and it ruined most of the novel. Jess is a 13 year old girl and, from the front cover that catches the eye of a younger generation, this book is geared towards readers of the same age. Once a reader gets a few chapters in, although, the characters tend to act much older and deal with subjects and problems that are above a normal early teen’s head. The novel becomes very dark and even somewhat graphic when dealing with the killing of demons/zombies. Malacai is a foreboding villain whose presence is very minimal, yet easy to figure out. In the end, other than defeating the enemy, nothing seems to be truly solved as there is no rap up of what beating Malacai does to the larger organization or the sickness that they spread. I would have liked this to be a novel a little lighter and for junior readers or much darker and more in depth for teens. It simply did not sit well with the mixture of age and content which proposes a problem to the reader.

Oh goddess. Several times I wanted to give up on this cliched story which I'm sure I have read elsewhere, in a better novel.

The villain is all evil. The setting is Victorian London. The mentor is a fairy who just is never around when Jess needs him and all the rest have that annoying habit of withholding information from the reader and the protagonist for the sake of suspense. Sheesh.

I was never connected to Jess. I could care less about the great evil villain. I only wanted the book to end so that I could be put out of my misery.

I suppose this might appeal to middle school students who have not read any other adventure stories. For me it was a bag of cliches disguised as an adventure. I would say everything was telegraphed a mile away and all the great reviews were snoopers as well.

It did gave a good first few pages. It is s pity if could not keep it up.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

This is a book that I may very well have loved as a 10 or 12-year-old, so I’m willing to accept that the low rating I ultimately gave it as a 27-year-old is a case of “It’s not you, it’s me”. While the premise of this book sounded cute, it ended up falling flat for me.

Jessamine Grace and her mother make a living as sham spiritualists in Victorian England, until one day Jess discovers that she actually can talk to ghosts. Subsequently, she is thrust into a world of demons, ghouls, necromancers, fairies and angels, and sets out to avenge the deaths of those she loves.

My main issue was Jess herself. She was just so prissy and annoying. The book is in first person present tense, which is not easy to pull off, and I feel that the author did not manage it. There were also constant reminders to English-ness, or to being English – it seemed odd; I don’t think a regular English person would constantly be thinking “I’ll do that – after all, I am English.”

I also felt that there was a bit too much going on, so none of the world-building ever really got enough attention. As you can see from my summary, there are lots of different supernatural elements and they really all only get a bit of a turn to shine. On top of that, the book tries covering some socio-political issues of the time, as well as introducing a plague into the city.

Having said that, I did find that plot picked up in the last 25% or so. Before that, a lot of the action tended to be off-screen, whereas at this point, the main characters were really part of it and coming into their own.

As I said before, I do feel that a younger Emily would have enjoyed this more, so I recommend not writing the book off based on my review, particularly if you are interested in it for a younger reader. It just wasn’t for me.

The Mesmerist is a middle-grade, paranormal novel set in Victorian London. It has magic, faeries and beings with powers in a town under attack from some pretty creepy villains.

The first thing I noticed about The Mesmerist was the wonderful atmosphere that author Ronald L Smith has created. It’s easy to see where magic fits into this world where the paranormal permeates all areas, unbeknownst to the general public.

Jessamine Grace is a thirteen year old girl who, following the death of her father, works alongside her mother as a ‘spiritualist’ - a sham they have built to earn a small income and live in relative comfort. But all is not as it seems, as Jessamine is revealed to actually be able to speak to the dead, among as host of other abilities. She’s a confident, capable young girl who’s confronted with some strange truths and tough situations and manages to maintain a cool head.

There’s a small collection of side characters who’s abilities and histories are revealed throughout the story as the action unfolds. While there were some elements that strained disbelief at times, it was an enjoyable and easy read. The dark and perilous London underground is equal parts creepy and intriguing.

Overall I gave The Mephisto 3.5 out of 5 stars.

THE MESMERIST by Ronald L. Smith, Clarion Books, Feb. 7, 2017, Hardcover, $16.99 (ages 10 and up)

I’m not sure what I was expecting when I started Ronald L. Smith’s The Mesmerist, but it certainly wasn’t what I ended up reading.

The Mesmerist stars 13-year-old Jessamine Grace. Jess and her mother make a living as sham spiritualists, pretending to connect the living with the dead. That changes, however, when they discover Jess is a real mesmerist. Not only can she commune with the dead, but she can hear the thoughts of the living, too.

The gift of mesmerism is both a blessing and a curse, and Jess soon finds herself and those she loves in great danger. There’s a great threat hanging over London, and it’s up to Jess and a few new friends to enter the dark world of the city’s supernatural underbelly. There they will meet ghouls, monsters, and spirit summoners.

The Mesmerist is dark. The setting already has a very gothic feel to it, and then supernatural elements make it even darker. Beyond the overall setting, there’s not a lot of happiness or joy found throughout the book. While this was a bit off-putting for me, I found Smith’s prose to be strong and driving. In the end, I wanted to finish The Mesmerist because it was well written.

That said, however, too often, I found myself thinking I was reading YA instead of middle grade. With the exception of the character’s ages and the cover, the content just felt older to me. I wouldn’t recommend this book for anyone younger than 10, and even then, only a mature 10.

A middle grade story, for kids who like mysteries and dark fantasy books. Overall, a good plot. The characters were likeable but not very deep, even compared to other similar books. There were also some choices by the author that felt forced. Still a fun story.

Jessamine Grace and her mother practice spiritualism in their small English town in 1864. They aren't really spiritualist however, it is all a sham. Until the day they get an actual message from beyond. Mrs. Grace immediately whisks them off to London to see her old friend Balthazar. Turns out Mrs. Grace has been hiding a dark past from her daughter. She and Mr. Grace were once part of a group of talented people who fought against a dark group called Mephisto. Mephisto killed Mr. Grace during the battle that eventually defeated the evil group. Now they are back and a new generation must take up the fight.

That new generation includes Jessamine who seems to have a talent as a mesmerist (she can see thoughts). It also includes Emily, a lightbringer, and Gabriel, who can change emotions through music. They are the League of Ravens and their leader/teacher is Balthazar, who just so happens to be a fairy. The three kids are packed off to a house in the East End and train to fight this evil. They don't have a lot of time as Mephisto is coming for Jessamine. First he took out her father, then he killed her mother, now he is after her. She must find the strength and bravery to face him.

There were parts of this book I liked. I liked the group of talented kids who must fight this evil. I liked the setting and the inclusion of spiritualists and mesmerists, who were an actual thing during the Victorian era. What I had trouble with was the mess of a plot. There was just too much thrown in and it made it a bit incohesive at times. Not only do we have spiritualists and mesmerists and kids with the ability to bring light or affect you with music, we also have werewolves and faeries and ghouls. Then you throw in the bit about Mephisto infecting people with the plague and somehow the new Underground is involved. What a mess! There was just too much.

There were also some minor bits that really bothered me and were mostly the writing. Jessamine has this obsession with ladies sweating. She mentions it repeatedly. It is overdone and annoying. Also overdone and annoying was her surprise every time someone calls her Jess instead of Jessamine. She reacts as if this is the most astonishing thing. Really? Then there is the fact that Balthazar has this fancy house in the West End where he, Emily and Gabriel normally live, but once Jessamine arrives they move to this crappy place in the East End. Why? To be closer to the action? I didn't get it. There is also the fact that Mrs. Grace just accepts that Jessamine now has these powers and leaves her in London. Doesn't seem concerned that Mephisto has threatened her and her daughter or that Jess might need some maternal support. Nope. It is all so you have powers goodbye. Then she dies. It was a rather strange plot point that I didn't think really worked that well.

I received this book from Netgalley.

Fast paced, intriguing and fascinating!

The Mesmerist, written by Ronald L. Smith, is a creepy, magical tale set in Victorian London. Fans of fantasy and magic, will enjoy this story told from the perspective of young Jessamine Grace. Some readers may struggle initially with the first-person narration, as many other popular middle grade reads in this category are narrated in third-person. Some of the descriptions in the first few chapters felt awkward which might bring the reader out of the story. But after chapter 3 or so, the story picks up and the voice of Jessamine feels much stronger and more authentic.
The characters are original and interesting, and not lacking in depth. Readers will like Jessamine and might see a bit of themselves in her as she struggles to find her way and embrace her newfound gift.
A brilliant, dark, mesmerizing tale that fans of fantasy will enjoy. Best for older middle-grade readers due to some creepy scenes.

Jessamine Grace and her mother make their living as mediums. They have a slick trade but it's all a ruse. Jessamine is tiring of bilking people out of their money and is more and more scared about how much time her mother is spending at the bottom of an absinthe bottle.
One day, the trick goes wrong. The slate that is supposed to have a message to their client from "his daughter" instead contains a mysterious message that makes Jessamine's mother pack her up and move them both to London. There, Jessamine discovers that the man they go to meet is half-fairy and that he fought with her parents against the evil Mephisto and that she, Jessamine, has the power to speak to the dead. Her mother leaves her with Balthazar to be trained into the new League of Ravens, the protectors of England. So it's up to Jess, Emily, and Gabe to stand for the country. Why children? They apparently have more power and it lessens in adulthood so they have to be the ones to fight. Jess is only just settling in to London when she gets some horrible news... something that makes her determined to fight what is to come.
An interesting story, definitely some interesting political commentary in the current climate. A nice start (with a few starts and stops) to some world building on what could end up being a fun series.

Three and a half stars
This book comes out February 7

What I read was good but I think the file was corrupted as no matter what app I used to read it I found pages missing.

Thirteen-year-old Jessamine Grace and her mother make a living as sham spiritualists—until they discover that Jess is a mesmerist and that she really can talk to the dead. Soon she is plunged into the dark world of Victorian London’s supernatural underbelly and learns that the city is under attack by ghouls, monsters, and spirit summoners. Can Jess fight these powerful forces? And will the group of strange children with mysterious powers she befriends be able to help? As shy, proper Jess transforms into a brave warrior, she uncovers terrifying truths about the hidden battle between good and evil, about her family, and about herself.

I love books like this. I love the descriptions of spiritualism as well as the period setting of London. I would have loved this book when I was 11 or 12. It was when I started to get interested in books like this. Face moving.

Thank you for this book, unfortunately, since it is not in kindle format, I was unable to read it.