(Read Jan. 2013)
I started reading this novel through the holidays. It dragged me back to its pages despite all the holiday insanity. I launched one of my own novels Christmas day, camped in front of my PC for hours, but I couldn't escape this book. I kept trying to find the time to snatch a few more minutes of reading.
About a 1/3 of the way in I was thoroughly seduced by the 2700 acre Weald. I found myself contemplating the purchase of real estate in Arkansas, and I've never been there. The author transported me to this enchanting countryside through three whole seasons of the year. Forestry, islands, country cottages, gardens, cliffs, caves, I could see it all crystal clear in my mind's eye.
The tale is an enthralling read about teenage Maggie's discovery that what she thought was a dead-end backwoods life in Arkansas is actually a secret sanctuary of the Weald Fae, a.k.a. Fairies. But these are not little Tinkerbelle pixie wing creatures. These are the demigods of old, masters of the elements. The Fae are extremely powerful, and not overly fond of mankind. Trespassers on the Weald property find horrible misfortune. And this brave teenage girl Maggie has been entrapped into a position of great responsibility and peril as the new Steward of the Weald.
It's a coming-of-age romance, an awesome supernatural thriller. It's a young adult paranormal fantasy. It's a damn good book for just about anyone of any age. I can't help but wish this was a movie.
And of course, I must read the second in the series, "The Changeling". The ending guarantees you cannot live without reading the next book. Hooked on the Weald.
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