Just a little note to say... 

My last review took me so long as I was listening to Tom Hiddleston read The Red Necklace by Sally Gardner.  

 We have a problem...I now want to buy the physical copy of the book and it's sequel. Or perhaps half the attraction came from Hiddleston's excellent array of voices!

Set in the French Revolution, the story focuses on Yann Margoza, a seventeen year old boy with the power of mind reading. He has spent his life with his friend Tetu after his mother died. Travelling with a magician and being asked to perform at one of the Marquis de Villeduval's parties, there he meets Sido, his very unloved daughter.

And there begins the entwined fates of Yann and Sido.

Kalliovski is a really, really creepy villain and you can't help but hate him. Many a nobleman in France borrowed money from him in exchange for revealing their secrets. When they failed to pay him back, well...they kind of disappeared. Then their bodies were found with a red ribbon of garnets around their neck. The payment he wants from the Marquis de Villeduval who borrowed heavily from him, is Sido whom he wishes to make his wife.

If you know your history, a lot of noblemen died or were imprisoned in the French Revolution. After having been sent to England to escape Kalliovski, Yann returns as an educated gentleman keen to rescue Sido from her father, the rebels and Kalliovski. Along the way, secrets about Yann's past get revealed, as does Sido's.

At the end of the first book, Yann and Sido's story was not quite complete. It is a necessity that I read the next one. It may not be read to me by my favourite actor, but I'm sure I'll enjoy the continuation of Yann and Sido's story.