In a glass coffin deep in the wood sleeps a horned prince. It sounds like something out of a fairy tale, but it's quite real in the small modern town of Fairfold
- like the faeries themselves, tricky and often deadly beings who prey on tourists and the odd careless local. Like generations of children before them, siblings Ben
and Hazel told themselves stories of the prince, how they alone must be destined to wake him and how he'd save the town, and themselves, forever and ever. For a time,
they even hunted monsters in the woods, playing at heroes... but, as all too often happens, childhood dreams fall behind through the years. Ben turned away from his
music, Hazel gave up on delusions of heroism, and life stretched on before them as it had for everyone else growing up in the small, strange town: dull and dark and
devoid of hope.
Then the coffin is shattered and the prince disappears... and a dark terror, a monster from the darkest part of the Fairfold woods, stirs. The town needs a hero to
save it, now more than ever - but Hazel can't even save herself.
Review
Black draws off elder lore to create this modern-day fairy tale, one where the heroine carries a cell phone and a changeling attends high school alongside the human
boy he was intended to replace, where the rest of the world scoffs at magic even as tourists come to snap selfies with the sleeping prince (whose grove is also a popular
drinking spot for bored small-town teens.) Her faeries are capricious beings, not necessarily amoral (well, not all of them), but operating on a very different sense of
right and wrong and reality itself, as doubtless they would given their immortality and deep ties to the mysterious forces that manifest as magic. I found it a rather
intriguing mixture, most of the time. The characters, though, particularly the nominal heroine Hazel, grew rather irritating, especially when she can't even help herself
and often actively works against her own best interest, let alone those of her friends and the town. Some of this can be explained by a rather rough upbringing and
sacrifices made on behalf of others - sacrifices that, in the manner of most such things when the Fair Folk are involved, went sour. (Indeed, everyone in the book has
been touched by fae magic at some point... and even the most well-intentioned gift often becomes a curse.) At some point, though, it crossed the line, making Hazel less
an intriguingly flawed character and more an annoyance to be tolerated for the sake of the story. She also takes far too long to work out vital clues because she's too
busy beating herself up. It didn't help that the plot often felt jumbled, jumping around in time and to other characters without warning, with events not always connected
in a particularly logical or sensible manner. There's fairy tale logic, and there's just plain confusion... Hazel and her companions trip and frequently stumble along a
twisted forest path of a storyline, traveling through strange and dark and occasionally surreal terrain, eventually arriving at a conclusion that didn't feel entirely
earned. It was satisfying enough to (somewhat) ameliorate my earlier frustrations, but I couldn't quite justify a full Good rating. It just isn't my cup of cocoa, I'm
afraid.
Since almost before he can remember, Zach has been best friends with Alice and Poppy. Their games take on lives of their own, stories of mermaids and pirates
and curses and adventures, many featuring the dreaded Great Queen: the antique bone china doll locked in the glass case in Poppy's house, which the children are
forbidden to touch but who has come to rule their imaginary world. Zach can't ever imagine anything changing... but change is coming, whether he wants it or not.
They're in middle school now, and surely none of his friends on the basketball team play with dolls or action figures anymore - especially not with girls, who are
starting to seem a little different to him in confusing, irritating ways. Now that Zach's father is back in his life, the man is encouraging his boy to "grow up"
and stop playing kiddie games, even going so far as to throw out Zach's action figures. Through his frustration and anger and grief, the boy is starting to wonder
if everyone else is right, and he is being a baby. He decides it's time to stop playing.
Then Poppy does the unthinkable: she opens the glass case and lets the Great Queen free. Suddenly, what was a remote, untouchable inspiration for childhood
stories seems a lot more sinister - especially when Poppy insists the doll is haunted, that it contains the bones of a murdered child, and that the spirit won't
rest until they give it a proper burial in its home town, hours away by bus. Already it's plaguing her dreams. Despite his misgivings, Zach agrees to what he's
more than half certain is just Poppy's final, big game with her friends before they all get too grown up for such things... but there's more than just imagination
at work, here, and spirits are not to be trifled with...
Review
This is a nice, somewhat unsettling story of friendship, imagination, and what growing up means (and what it doesn't, particularly the idea that growing up
means having to let go of everything that makes a person who they are in favor of what other people tell them they should be). At twelve, Zach and his friends are
at the end of true childhood and entering adolescence, a time of confusing changes that can make a body feel they don't even know themselves, let alone their
friends, or what's expected of them now that they have one foot in adulthood but one still lagging behind. He's also struggling to deal with a father who, after a
prolonged absence, is trying to settle back into his home and his life, and not doing the best of jobs; throwing out his son's favorite toys is his way of making
him "man up", but he didn't think through how the boy would take having his privacy violated and favorite possessions literally tossed in the garbage. In true
adolescent fashion, Zach doesn't handle the frustration well, lashing out at family and friends, who are going through their own problems. The "quest" to bury the
china doll Eleanor becomes much more than a game to all the children, and not just due to the supernatural aspect (which is very strongly implied but never
specifically or blatantly confirmed): they all recognize the journey as a pivotal point in their lives and relationships, possibly the last "game" of their innocent
youth, and even if they remain friends afterward they know nothing will ever go back to the way it used to be before. Running away from home to go to another town
feels grown-up, but doing so for the sake of a haunted doll also feels childish. Yet the more time Zach spends on the road, finding eerie echoes of their games, the
harder it is for him to pretend that the ghost is all in Poppy's head. By the end, the children and their relationships have indeed been changed, but they've also
managed to set their own terms, at least for now, on what growing up will mean for them and their bond. It makes for a memorable and worthwhile story.
