I wanted this book (even though I'm by no means a young adult) because I love anything supernatural, witches, mythology, etc....... and nothing can be more of a mythic legend than Merlin.
But, I will admit at first I thought I'd made a mistake. Ivy is such a boring, normal girl..... abandoned as a baby, growing up in care, loving her job in a butterfly zoo even though she's the butt of jokes from her lazy co-worker Tom and has to fight off the attentions of her lecherous boss, Tom's uncle. All in all a bit of a goody-two-shoes.
Then we learn that after years of looking, she has tracked down her mother. But when she speaks to her mother on the phone, her mother is very upset, saying she stayed away to keep Ivy safe, and that know they have made contect 'they' will be able to find her. 'They' are demons who move about as shadows then take over the body of any unsuspecting person. After two perfectly normal people try and kill her, Ivy realises she needs to find out more. Her mother lives in a lighthouse on an island off the coast of Wales, and after Tom causes Ivy to lose her purse he agress to drive her to the ferry.
On the way, more attempts are made on Ivy's life, and they reach the coast just in time for the last ferry as the island is shutting down for the winter, leaving just Ivy's mother living there. The ferryman wont take Ivy alone so she talks Tom into coming with her, keeping quiet about the fact that her mother doesn't know she is coming. On the trip over they are surrounded by huge scary looking cormorants, which the locals call witch birds. Clue? Yes. But to find out the rest you will have to read the book because I hate spoilers!
But, I will admit at first I thought I'd made a mistake. Ivy is such a boring, normal girl..... abandoned as a baby, growing up in care, loving her job in a butterfly zoo even though she's the butt of jokes from her lazy co-worker Tom and has to fight off the attentions of her lecherous boss, Tom's uncle. All in all a bit of a goody-two-shoes.
Then we learn that after years of looking, she has tracked down her mother. But when she speaks to her mother on the phone, her mother is very upset, saying she stayed away to keep Ivy safe, and that know they have made contect 'they' will be able to find her. 'They' are demons who move about as shadows then take over the body of any unsuspecting person. After two perfectly normal people try and kill her, Ivy realises she needs to find out more. Her mother lives in a lighthouse on an island off the coast of Wales, and after Tom causes Ivy to lose her purse he agress to drive her to the ferry.
On the way, more attempts are made on Ivy's life, and they reach the coast just in time for the last ferry as the island is shutting down for the winter, leaving just Ivy's mother living there. The ferryman wont take Ivy alone so she talks Tom into coming with her, keeping quiet about the fact that her mother doesn't know she is coming. On the trip over they are surrounded by huge scary looking cormorants, which the locals call witch birds. Clue? Yes. But to find out the rest you will have to read the book because I hate spoilers!