How to Catch a Bogle by Catherine Jinks

I loved many things about this tone perfect book, the characters, smart but human, the action, always exciting, the dialog and narration, but maybe it was the actual setting which gave me the element which launched this book into must-read status for me.  Set in a slightly parallel late nineteenth century slum, the city itself, with its poverty, sewers, and human villains, took on the character of the ultimate dystopia, all the more so because it could have been real.  The bogles themselves, dangerous though they are, are taken care of with an exciting but almost reassuring certainty by Alfred, the bogle slayer; it's the humans you have to watch out for, but there are also plenty of human helpers in this community at every turn.  This is a very rich and a very rewarding read. Certainly recommended for fantasy lovers; even young historians and realistic readers might be beguiled by the strong history behind Jinks' work.