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Frances Hardinge
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A Skinful of Shadows Kindle Edition

by Frances Hardinge (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 912 ratings
See all formats and editions
From the award–winning author of The Lie Tree, “a delicious combination of historical adventure, coming-of-age tale, and supernatural intrigue” (Publishers Weekly, starred review).

Sometimes, when a person dies, their spirit goes looking for somewhere to hide. Some people have space within them, perfect for hiding

Young Makepeace has learned to defend herself from the ghosts that try to possess her in the night, desperate for refuge, but one day a dreadful event causes her to drop her guard. And now there’s a spirit inside her.

The spirit is wild, brutish, and strong, and it may be her only defense when she is sent to live with her father’s rich and powerful family. There is talk of civil war, and they need people like her to protect their dark and terrible family secret. But as she plans to escape and heads out into a country torn apart by war, Makepeace must decide which is worse: possession—or death.

“Darkly splendid . . . a wonderful, resonant narrative whose subtlety and insight will challenge, entertain and enchant.” —The Guardian

“A Skinful of Shadows is outlandishly creative and thoroughly blood-chilling. Her storytelling is visceral and unfurls at an exciting pace, making this novel a wonderful, weird and terrifying addition to her body of work.” —Shelf Awareness (starred review)



“A book that only Hardinge could write . . . [a] masterful and spooky historical fantasy.” —School Library Journal (starred review)

“Hardinge’s writing is stunning, and readers will be taken hostage by its intensity, fascinating developments, and the fierce, compassionate girl leading the charge.” —Booklist (starred review)

“Deliberate, impeccable, and extraordinary.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
Previous page
  1. Reading age
    12 - 18 years
  2. Print length
    406 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Grade level
    6 - 12
  5. Lexile measure
    HL800L
  6. Publisher
    Amulet Books
  7. Publication date
    October 17, 2017
  8. Page Flip
    Enabled
  9. Word Wise
    Not Enabled
  10. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
  11. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  12. ISBN-13
    978-1419733765
  13. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

**STARRED REVIEW**
" . . . a delicious combination of historical adventure, coming-of-age tale, and supernatural intrigue"―Publishers Weekly

**STARRED REVIEW**
"Hardinge's plot is both unpredictable and rock-solid, her settings full of smells, her imagery vivid . . . Deliberate, impeccable, and extraordinary."―Kirkus Reviews

**STARRED REVIEW**
"A Skinful of Shadows is outlandishly creative and thoroughly blood-chilling. Her storytelling is visceral and unfurls at an exciting pace, making this novel a wonderful, weird and terrifying addition to her body of work."―Shelf Awareness

**STARRED REVIEW**
"Hardinge’s writing is stunning, and readers will be taken hostage by its intensity, fascinating developments, and the fierce, compassionate girl leading the charge."
―Booklist

**STARRED REVIEW**"Hardinge continues to create multifaceted characters, well-researched historical settings, and laugh-out-loud dialogue that will enrapture strong readers of fantasy and complex historical fiction. VERDICT A book that only Hardinge could write; add this masterful and spooky historical fantasy to upper middle grade and YA shelves."―School Library Journal

**STARRED REVIEW**
"The visceral immediacy of Hardinge’s prose . . . can sometimes be unsettling, but the prose itself is always original and invigorating"
―The Horn Book

"The setting allows for plenty of action and intrigue . . . It all ends on a strange and bittersweet note, but Hardinge fans will be accustomed to that by now and will not be disappointed here."―The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

"​The novel is a very descriptive and craftily written . . . It would be ideal for tenacious students looking for a good ghost story."―School Library Connection

About the Author

Frances Hardinge is the winner of the Costa Book of the Year for The Lie Tree, one of just two young adult novels to win the major UK literary prize. Known for her beautiful use of language, Hardinge has written many critically acclaimed novels, including Unraveller, Deeplight, A Skinful of Shadows, Cuckoo Song, Gullstruck Island, Fly by Night, Verdigris Deep, and Fly Trap. She lives in England.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B074QHGLDP
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Amulet Books (October 17, 2017)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ October 17, 2017
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 3305 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 406 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 912 ratings

About the author

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Frances Hardinge

Frances Hardinge

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Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
912 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Selphyne
5.0 out of 5 stars A new favorite
Reviewed in the United States on March 16, 2018
Verified Purchase
I will admit I was a bit skeptical after reading the synopsis in a book shop. Having time to start a new book I took the chance and I’m so glad that I did.
I’m not one for ghost tales in general, but this plot for this one tethered me.
A necromancy of a sort is practiced by a high holding family steeped with legacy and secrets. A young bastard girl is sucked into this family drama after losing her mother and sent to them, her fatherhood’s family.
A bubbling war bursts upon the country and matches the battles that have been simmering within the confines of the family’s estate. The girl has been kept more like a prisoner and house servant than any sort of family member. The war provides an opportunity to escape and along the way she learns some terrible family secrets that ignite the will to endure and rise above the curse of her family.
This author creates a new way to look at ghosts and spirits and the vessels that can store them. I would love to keep reading about the characters- even if some of the Puritan names drive me a little crazy.
The ending had all the feels and propped me up for more!
7 people found this helpful
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LA in Dallas
4.0 out of 5 stars Ghosts in the English Civil War
Reviewed in the United States on March 12, 2024
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Frances Hardinge's A Skinful of Shadows is a historical fantasy set in the English Civil War. The English Civil War is the name given to that period (1642-1651) in English history that began with war between King Charles I and Parliament. (This in contrast to the many, many other internal wars fought in England. England, like most European nations, was more or less constantly fighting with itself until the 18th century, when the internal wars ramped down to a focus on fighting with other European nations.)

As everyone knows, one of the big problems with historical fiction, and indeed with the historical record itself, is its focus on powerful people. Aside from "nasty, brutish, and short", it is not easy to know what life was like for the poor, or for women, or especially for poor women. Hardinge's hero Makepeace, a by-blow of the powerful Fellmotte family, grew up the daughter of a poor lace-maker in a small Puritan community. As an unwed mother, Makepeace's mother is barely tolerated by her Puritan relatives.

The Fellmottes have a secret. They contain ghosts. The word "shadow" in the title refers to ghosts. Makepeace is in this regard a true Fellmotte. She accidentally succors the ghost of a captive bear. Then, searching for her father, she comes into contact with her father's family.

The Fellmottes try to use her. This produces perhaps my favorite scene in the book. It is the scene, familiar to readers of books about magic, in which a powerful sorcerer runs up against our intrepid hero

"You meddling fool! You don't know what you've done! YOUR selfish plan destroyed MY selfish plan!"

That, of course, is not a literal quote -- I don't want to spoil it for you. But it's a righteous moment.

That is followed by a devious tale of Makepeace's involvement in the struggle of members of the Fellmotte family to survive the war between the royalists and Parliament -- not just survive, but come out on top.

Makepeace, our bear-hearted girl, is a great hero -- brave and smart and also kind when she can be. I liked this a lot.
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Michelle
5.0 out of 5 stars She’s done it again
Reviewed in the United States on December 2, 2019
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I’ve read a few other books by Hardinge, and pretty much knew it was going to be good from the get go.
She definitely didn’t disappoint.
Hardinge knows how to tell a frickin story.
Just read it. I promise you won’t regret it.
One person found this helpful
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Recommend by my 13 yrs old
Reviewed in the United States on November 21, 2019
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My middle schooler loves her books. He has to read books to test on and always picks her books. He has recommended that I read them all.
One person found this helpful
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Karissa Eckert
3.0 out of 5 stars Slow and disappointing when compared to her more recent books.
Reviewed in the United States on January 28, 2021
Verified Purchase
Series Info/Source: This is a stand alone book that I bought for my Kindle.

Story (3/5): This ended up being a bit of a disappointment to me after reading “A Face Like Glass” and “Deeplight”. There are some neat ideas here and it is beautifully written but the story is really slow and I struggled to stay engaged in it. The story follows Makepeace who ends up at the estate of the Fellmotte family after the death of her mother. There she finds she is one of the few people who can be possessed by ghosts. The Fellmotte family are keeping Makepeace as a spare to hold the ghosts of the family. She ends up foiling all their plans as she flees across an England at war. The story ends up being sort of a cat and mouse chase and was devoid of a lot of the ingenuity I’ve seen in Hardinge’s other books.

Characters (3/5): While I admire Makepeaces’s determination and wits I never engaged with her all that well as a character. You don’t really get to know any other characters all that well aside from the ghosts that Makepeace shares her head with. Makepeace was okay but I never fell in love with her. This is one of those books where all of the characters are somewhat selfish and unlikable.

Setting (3/5): The other two Hardinge books I read were set in such amazing worlds that this setting was a bit of a let down. Yes, I guess it was decently done and the war torn English countryside was described well enough...but wasn’t really the point of the story. I am just so used to amazing world-building from Hardinge and there wasn’t really any world-building here. It was okay.

Writing Style (3/5): While parts of the book are beautifully written and lyricall and I did enjoy some of the psychological discussions, mostly this book is just slow. Makepeace chases and is chased by various Fellmotte’s all around England, it gets repetitive and boring. I almost stopped reading this a couple of times and in the end I don’t think finishing it really bought me much. The idea of transferring souls of the dead into people who can host ghosts is fascinating and makes for some interesting scenarios, but the overall plot was just too slow.

My Summary (3/5): Overall this was a disappointment for me. I was really looking forward to reading another Hardinge book, but maybe I just picked the wrong one here. I struggled with this some; it was boring and I didn’t like the characters. After being so impressed with “A Face Like Glass” and “Deeplight” I was just soooo sad I didn’t like this book more. I have both “The Cuckoo’s Song” and “The Lie Tree” to read as well, hopefully I will enjoy those books more.
3 people found this helpful
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Calsem
4.0 out of 5 stars Anything by Frances Hardinge is going to be amazing, or good at the very least.
Reviewed in the United States on February 2, 2018
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I was a bit bored at the start but the story got pretty exciting halfway through. The historical setting was interesting - I found it funny how much they were afraid of baths. Also I had no idea that they hated catholics that much.
2 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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Deborah Valentine
5.0 out of 5 stars Beautifully written, classic storytelling
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 18, 2017
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Since its purchase I’ve read this book more than once and with each reading have been struck by the richness of Ms Hardinge’s storytelling. With so many twists and turns in the plot, I won’t detail the story itself—too afraid of spoilers—but will say she has the ability to sum up an essential concept in a single exquisite sentence. The first chapter alone contains one of the most perfect I have ever read. I won’t quote it here (read the book!) but it speaks of priests, parents and children so truthfully, and poetically, it’s a delight.

No matter how dark things get—and believe it, this story gets very dark and very creepy indeed—within the dark there is light, there is love and there is an underlying moral compass (and if ‘moral compass’ sounds pious, it’s not—here it’s a lively, intelligent, very practical thing). She explores the political machinations of the time and the ordinary people caught in the squeeze. The human relationships are complex, rife with tension and, as such, believable. She creates profound connections to the natural world without sentimentality. Makepeace’s poignant alliance with Bear, a case in point; as is the mouse in the graveyard. This book, like her others, stirs the emotions and challenges you to think. All these elements are seamlessly weaved into a great, exciting adventure—there’s no dearth of action. Makepeace is a scrappy, resilient heroine who has the wit to see what needs to be done and the gumption to do it, even when it terrifies her. You’re rooting for her all the way.
.
This is beautifully written, classic fiction. Not just for YA, but for those of us who have left our YA years far behind.
9 people found this helpful
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May
5.0 out of 5 stars Read it!
Reviewed in Germany on November 9, 2017
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I'm always impressed with how different the novels of Frances Hardinge are - and yet always unfailingly beautiful, sad, funny, and brave. Mostly, I think, they are about what it means to be human, to struggle, to make compromises, to come up with solutions that are by no means perfect but that help you keep going.
This book combines so many different topics (war, religion, the meaning of family, questions of identity) and at the same time manages to tell a gripping tale. I absolutely loved it.
One person found this helpful
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Carol Kanthan
5.0 out of 5 stars A Skinful of Shadows
Reviewed in Australia on November 14, 2018
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A well-written story which held my interest right through. I highly recommend it to other readers I am sure they will enjoy it.
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Pamela Scott
4.0 out of 5 stars Original & engrossing
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 26, 2020
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This is my second read by the author. I own The Lie Tree and haven’t got round to it yet. I will read the author’s back catalogue as I’ve been impressed by what I’ve read so far. Apparently this is a follow up to The Lie Tree. I had no idea while reading this and don’t think this made a difference. This is very different than other books I’ve read, so original and absorbing. Makepeace is sent to live with sinister relatives, the Fellmottes after her mother’s death and discovers creepy skeletons in the family closet. The Fellmottes are gifted, able to capture and be used as a vessel for spirits which makes them an object of fear, suspicion and terror in the Puritan society the book is set in. The author brings to life the Puritan society with fantastic historical detail of The Civil War. Makepeace is in a very tricky situation, if she sets one foot of line her relatives can have her locked up as a mad witch. I enjoyed this so much.
One person found this helpful
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Amazon Kunde
5.0 out of 5 stars Creepy story you will love
Reviewed in Germany on July 22, 2018
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This is probably one of the creepiest of Frances Hardinge's books, but as the other books I have read so far by this author A Skinful of Shadows is full of creativity and unconventional ideas packed into an interesting story.
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