And the way Nan changes by both standing up for herself and taking care of her golem is so cool. The friendship between Nan and Toby is just absolutely lovely. The characters, specifically Nan and her golem, are fleshed out really well. But it’s the characters that make you want to flip the pages as soon as possible. The mystery of the golem and what happened to The Sweep is what drives the story forward. It can be heartbreaking to see how an eleven year old is working herself to death to simply survive in this harsh environment. And the whole concept is very reminiscent of Oliver Twist. The atmosphere of the setting is Victorian London through and through.

The writer just absolutely smashed it in terms of the setting. This is a very gripping story, even though it can be a bit predictable. But Nan has no idea what that reason could be. It seems he gave her this golem for a specific reason.

We learn that he is the one that gave her the charred soot that eventually turned into a golem. In between the normal chapters, we see flashbacks of Nan with a man she calls The Sweep, an almost legendary figure amongst the chimney sweepers. The charred soot she’s had with her since she was very little seems to have come alive by the fire and was turned into a golem. Nan passes out, thinking that this is the end of her life. And the boy thinks the best idea to free her, is by starting a fire right under her, forcing her to escape on her own, or not at all. The boy who comes to save her from her predicament is unfortunately her biggest rival at work. One day on the job, Nan gets stuck in a chimney. Nan is an eleven year old orphan in Victorian London who cleans chimneys for a living.

Sweep by jonathan auxier