I received a copy of this book free in exchange for an honest review.

Simply excellent

I'd not previously read any of Maggie Stiefvater's books, but I'd heard good things about her work, and I'd seen that she'd also worked some with Tessa Gratton, who's books "The Lost Sun" and "The Strange Maid" I'd gladly devoured a couple months ago, so I thought it might be worth a shot to check her work out. I am quite glad I did!

The story is solid paranormal/urban fantasy, even though it doesn't have any of the standard hallmarks like vampires, werewolves, witches, angels or demons, nor does it have any grand romance at the center to fuel the plot. instead, it offers psychics, ley lines and a long dead Welsh king, along with four very different prep-school boys, several psychics and a psychic's daughter who amplifies spiritual energy around her and has been told that when she kisses her true love, he will die.

it all adds up to a dark and suspenseful tale of the boys' obsession with finding the burial place of the king which is rumoured to be somewhere along a local ley line, and what that obsession does to them and those around them.

On the surface, the boys seem like they'd be easy to reduce to a stereotypes: The rich guy, the slacker, the kid from the wrong side of the tracks and the quiet one, but as written by Stiefvater they become so much more, each having multiple layers and surprising depths.

I would recommend this to anyone looking for a change of pace or something a bit darker than much of what I've read so far. And now I'm going to dive into the next part in the series!

READER CAUTION: The story deals in places with child abuse and there are a couple of scenes where abuse takes place.


Other books mentioned in review:
[bc:The Lost Sun|13021366|The Lost Sun (The United States of Asgard, #1)|Tessa Gratton|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1362068810s/13021366.jpg|18183974] [b:The Lost Sun|13021366|The Lost Sun (The United States of Asgard, #1)|Tessa Gratton|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1362068810s/13021366.jpg|18183974]
[bc:The Strange Maid|18301603|The Strange Maid (The United States of Asgard, #2)|Tessa Gratton|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1396739924s/18301603.jpg|25790139] [b:The Strange Maid|18301603|The Strange Maid (The United States of Asgard, #2)|Tessa Gratton|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1396739924s/18301603.jpg|25790139]