Dark and twisty and fantastical

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‘Of course I want to be like them. They’re beautiful as blades forged in some divine fire. They will live forever.

And Cardan is even more beautiful than the rest. I hate him more than all the others. I hate him so much that sometimes when I look at him, I can hardly breathe.’

It sounds like a love story. It’s not. Not really. Romance comes into play in the plot so rarely that, for a YA fantasy, this was a breath of fresh air. It’s dark and enchanting and political, and the faeries are just delicious in their various ways and forms.

Our main protagonist, Jude, sees her parents brutally murdered and is swept away to live in the world of Faerie. She wants to fit in, but the youngest son of the King and his monstrous followers have other ideas. Then she receives an intriguing opportunity: to become a spy...

With numerous twists and turns and more deaths than I can count, Holly Black has written the beginnings of a fabulous story about the evil side of fairies. No Tinker Bells here. I’m excited to continue with the series!