Ten-year-old Emma doesn’t believe in faerie tales or monsters that secret children away in the night–until she meets one.
She lives in a quiet village at the edge of Widowswood with her parents, her Nan, and her little brother, Tam. Ready to abandon the whimsy of childhood, she finds the boredom of chores comforting and Nan’s fanciful bedtime stories silly.
One morning, a wan and weary older girl staggers out of the woods and sets the entire town aflutter with whispers of a child-stealing monster lurking in the forest. Nan tells her of the Banderwigh: a dark soul who feeds on sorrow and drains the life from children’s tears.
Darkness comes calling on Emma’s happy home, threatening the reality to which she desperately clings. The impossible becomes more and more real, forcing Emma to reach inside herself for the ability to believe. Her family depends on it.
Genres: children’s fiction, supernatural-paranormal
Pages: 150
Series: Single
Published by Curiosity Quills Press
Release date: October 12th, 2015
★★★☆☆
This was an easy, quick read and decidedly dark in content without being over the top for a youthful mind. While many may consider this a Young Adult, I would say that it is aimed more toward the Children’s section. That being said I’m thankful that it wasn’t as dark as it could have been.
We begin our story with Emma, a little girl who is stubborn in her mindset that fairytales aren’t real, that goblins and faeries do not exist, magick doesn’t exist either. Understandable, because practicality says otherwise! However, as the story progresses it seems that perhaps she was wrong after all.
As the book takes twists and turns we learn more about Emma, as well as her family, there is a strong eerie quality to it all and yes more darkness in it as well.
Some of the characters, for instance, Emma’s father, prove to be a little more than stubborn and a touch annoying when it comes to their disbelief even when the proof is staring them in the face. However, it was overall a quick, easy read and moved along quickly.
The eerie quality was intriguing to my adult mind and something I enjoyed. I just wish there was more depth to it, more background in general and more. Just MORE!
Book Savvy Reviews 