One of our Books of the Year 2016 | July 2016 Debut of the Month|
In a Nutshell: Witchcraft | Vengeance | Dream Boy |
Melding ancient witchery with modern-day dilemmas of the heart, this deliciously dark tale is a feast that will be devoured by fans of both fairy-tale fantasy and contemporary romance.
552 AD. A witch binds her descendants to avenge Gwydion, wizard of the Black Lake, who seeks to create an army of human servants “to destroy all love in the world”. Skip forward to our times and teenager Merry is experiencing horrific nightmares, an ache in her fingertips, and there’s a vicious knife attacker on the loose in their quiet town.
Merry knows she’s a witch and, while her mum has rejected their heritage, her gran is a member of the local coven. When a boy from Merry’s nightmares appears in her house brandishing a knife, and she discovers an ancient box containing a fragment of paper, braid of human hair and hilt of a sword, Merry’s gran knows that Gwydion has awoken and, as the last of their bloodline, only Merry can extinguish him. The boy who appears to her is Jack, King of Hearts, in some ways a victim of Gwydion, but also a monster who cuts out the hearts of those in love. Soon enough, Merry discovers that there are two sides to Jack. When he’s not possessed by his evil King of Hearts persona, he’s a “hot” young man, and Merry falls madly in love with him. How can she possibly destroy the boy of her dreams? But what terrors will come to pass if she doesn’t?
Alongside the danger and drama, this rip-roaring novel is peppered with touches of humour and whimsy, such as when Merry checks Twitter while waiting for the King of Hearts to show up, and her matter-of-fact protest that she “should get to choose whether I want to face some evil wizard or not”. It’s a spellbinding story, and readers will surely feel hungry for the sequel. ~ Joanne Owen
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