An excellent fantasy story full of history and excitement where a 12-year-old girl sees events from the past, by touching buildings. This makes a local historian very jealous. Aurelia Bon lives in Venice and is caught up in trying to work out why young boys are disappearing from the area. Her parents plan for Aurelia to marry the son of an awful friend of her father – or be sent to a convent.

She discovers that the cursed palazzo, which used to belong to her family and seems the place where a young boy has recently disappeared, now houses an Arabian Palace. A Djinniya made a mistake and transported the palace instead of just herself. The feline Afreet has much to say…too much according to the
Djinniya

There are lots of unique characters in the book, however, the mermaids are my favourites. They have learned their language from pirates so you can imagine what their language is like!

I found this novel started incredibly, throwing you into the pages and making you intrigued to continue! I would have loved to read this as a kid. It had the right combination of mystery and magic which compelled you to read on to find out what is going on in this piece of time, wedged between Venitian and Arabian history.

Michelle Lovric's descriptions and explanations in this story were astounding and within the first few pages I could easily conjure up images of the setting and character. Although the descriptions really sold this intriguing story, I found some of them a bit much and felt slightly like I was wading through the description to get to the actual story.

I really appreciated the character development in this and the ease at which each character's flaws are highlighted, without making you despise them.

The information in this story is clearly well-researched and is, therefore, fascinating. From the Arabian and Venetian architecture to the hard-to-swallow truths of slavery and the descriptions of the Djinn (which tackle a wide majority of stereotypes). This read made me want to travel and learn a lot more about the locations that I do visit. Michelle Lovric also tackles the mistakes made in history, as well as more personal mistakes, whilst assessing the impact of them on other people, both near and far, as well as the perpetrators.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for this eARC of The Water's Daughter!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Hachette for the earc to read and review

This has a very imaginative and creative idea with our protagonist having history at the tips of her fingers, she uses her ability to figure out what happened to the missing boys.

The writing style was at times very confusing, but we got so much interesting history within the story such as the connection of Venice to Arabia. We also get to meet some interesting characters such as The Djinn, Mermaids, pirates and statutes that talk.

It has a very strong female lead and is very detailed throughout the story. It’s a both a interesting darker middle grade fantasy and a magical historical book.

“I’ll make you sorry, you lamentable Bon-Bon!”
—Michelle Lovric, The Water's Daughter

In The Water's Daughter, history fingered twelve-year-old Aurelia Bon can see the history behind the buildings she touches. But when her history fingers start showing her impossible things, and boys start disappearing, Aurelia doesn’t know what to believe or whom to trust. Can she find the missing boys and can she solve the mysteries of the strange magic that is happening?

I found this book a bit confusing to be honest, and the narrative just felt a little disjointed for me. Maybe it’s because I’m working full time and my mind is a little zombie-ish, but I just thought some sections were a bit to long and didn’t contribute much to the narrative.

Although, I did like the magic in this novel. Lovric built up a very unique system that had historical and legendary contributions which was so fascinating to read about.

But on the whole, this wasn’t my favourite middle-grade read this year.

Read Be happy. Stay safe.

Not being familiar with Michelle Lovric as an author, I was instantly drawn to this book by the blurb on the back. An historical novel set in Venice featuring a main character with 'history fingers' ticked all my boxes. Add into the mix some missing boys, an abandoned palace with a sinister reputation for eating them and a deluge of never-ending rain and I was hooked. Within the first couple of pages, I knew this was going to be a sizzler.
Little did I know that the description above was a fraction of delights hidden within the pages. Forget my prediction that this would be a mystery novel, solved by a girl who can see history with a mere touch of her fingertips. This is a dazzling tale of djinns, mermaids, talking statues and pirates woven through the history of two exquisite settings: Venice and Arabia.
When another boy goes missing near 'The Palace that Eats Boys', Aurelia Bon tries to use her history fingers to uncover the secrets of her mysterious ancestral home. Instead, she finds a palace inside a palace, an Arabian castle trapped for centuries by a careless, lovesick djinn, Ghazalah
Desperate to escape the fate she has bestowed upon herself, Ghazalah wreaks havoc on the city she despises. But there are worse dangers in store for Venice - Barbary pirates led by the legendary Irish Duchess! Now it is up to Aurelia, the water's daughter, to ally with the mermaids and parley for peace.
This novel galumphs along at breakneck speed into a plot that encompasses all the magical elements you could ever wish for. Lovric's sensory descriptions bring both Venetian and Arabian history vividly to life brick by brick, and intertwines them in a deliciously inventive way. The twists and turns are as unpredictable as Ghazalah's magic and as breath-taking as Aurelia's talent.
There were times when I wondered whether the plot was too busy to allow us to spend enough time with each character, who were all highly original and complex. Dear Valerio was endearing and constant and provided a much needed anchor to the other wilder personalities, who clashed beautifully with sparky and fiery backchat. I adored that Aurelia, Ghazalah, Simoneto Ghezzo and the Irish Duchess were all hugely flawed and had bags of agency, allowing them to make disastrous decisions again and again. Yet, none of these characters, even the villains, were cast aside. Lovric allowed the reader to see the past intricacies of each personality in the same way she allowed the characters themselves to grow in self-awareness, aiding their chance at possible redemption.
The historical element of the story was fascinating. Never before was I aware of the ancient relationship between Arabia and Venice. Lovric covers exceptional ground in a very short space of time, weaving hard facts through myths and legends and religious beliefs, then adding a large dose of magical fantasy for extra sparkle.
All the information is fascinating. From the Arabian and Venetian architecture to the tough truths of slavery to the stereotype-busting descriptions of the Djinn - this is an eye-opening read which makes me want to travel and learn and explore. It holds up mistakes made in history and mistakes made on a personal level and explores the impact they have on other humans, other nations and on the people that make them in the first place. The result is a novel that has more cleverly-crafted layers than the number of pages.
This is a magical, historical fantasy with a dark heart based in truth. It's intense, tackles serious issues and yet never stops being enjoyable. The humorous dialogue is a highlight, as are the feisty, self-absorbed characters and the shimmer of the Arabian sun shines through the rain, leaving us with hope in the future and with hope in mankind.
An absolute scorcher!

Really enjoyed this. It was a very energetic narration. I loved the strong female characters. Really well written and fun to read. Definitely recommended.

Thanks a lot to NG and the publisher for this copy.

Aurelia is a noble Venetian daughter, who fits not want to be married off or sent to a convent, but she has magical powers in her fingers that allow her to feel the history of buildings. This action packed book involves her discovering that the cursed palazzo that used to belong to her family now houses an Arabian palace with a trapped djinniya, a leopardess and boys that have wandered into the attached graveyard. The female, greedy and incompetent djinn narrates, and makes for a fun story teller. The plot includes a jealous historian, mermaids, an Irish pirate duchess and various orphans, secret societies and talking statues! It can be a bit hard to keep track of it all, but it was a fascinating dive into the history of Venice and Islamic folk stories of the Djinni. I think this would appeal to many keen readers aged 10+, and I appreciated that the subject matter was all suitable for children but still thrilling and a little spooky.

Lively narrative with a very evocative sense of place. Good character development, and I liked the knowing comments from the narrator about the way the narrative should go, as opposed to how it was actually going. Strong female characters.