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Library | Call Number | Status |
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Searching... Salem Main Library | TEEN Gratton, T. | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Sheridan Public Library | YA Gratton, T. | Searching... Unknown |
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Summary
Summary
"Gloriously dark and romantic." --Roshani Chokshi, New York Times bestselling author of The Star-Touched Queen
"An alluring and seductive fairy tale." --Justina Ireland, New York Times bestselling author of Dread Nation
"Horrifying, heartbreaking, and heartwarming, a lush fairy tale rooted in a moral quandary." -- Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"An eerie, consuming tale of sacrifice and faith. Haunting and unique." -- Booklist
"Evocative." -- BCCB
Once, a witch made a pact with a devil. The legend says they loved each other, but can the story be trusted at all? Find out in this lush, atmospheric fantasy novel that entwines love, lies, and sacrifice.
Long ago, a village made a bargain with the devil: to ensure their prosperity, when the Slaughter Moon rises, the village must sacrifice a young man into the depths of the Devil's Forest.
Only this year, the Slaughter Moon has risen early.
Bound by duty, secrets, and the love they share for one another, Mairwen, a spirited witch; Rhun, the expected saint; and Arthur, a restless outcast, will each have a role to play as the devil demands a body to fill the bargain. But the devil these friends find is not the one they expect, and the lies they uncover will turn their town--and their hearts--inside out.
Author Notes
Tessa Gratton is genderfluid and hangry. She is the author of The Queens of Innis Lear and Lady Hotspur , as well as several YA series and short stories which have been translated into twenty-two languages. Her most recent YA novels are Strange Grace , Night Shine , and Moon Dark Smile . Though she has traveled all over the world, she currently lives alongside the Kansas prairie with her wife. Visit her at TessaGratton.com.
Reviews (4)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 9 Up-Two hundred years ago, the townspeople of Three Graces made a bargain with the devil to sacrifice their best young man every seven years during the Slaughter Moon in exchange for a peaceful, disease-free existence. When a woman goes into labor prematurely and a farmer discovers blighted crops, everyone knows that the bargain has been compromised. Now Rhun, the next chosen saint, must sacrifice himself to the Devil's Forest four years early. His best friends Mair, the new Grace Witch, and Arthur, a gender-nonconforming outsider, follow Rhun into the forest to save him. This dark fantasy reads like a gothic fairy tale full of creepy rituals. Written in present tense, the narrative maintains a spooky intensity as it switches among the main characters' points of view. Although the three protagonists have well-developed story arcs, Rhun's saintly perfection makes his journey less compelling than Mair's mysterious connection to the forest and Arthur's refusal to conform to the town's strict gender roles. A complicated love triangle develops as they attempt to save their community from a deal with the devil that is rooted in secrets and lies. Gruesome descriptions of bloody charms, wicked forest creatures, and shape-shifting devils will attract horror enthusiasts. Hand this to fans of Anna-Marie McLemore and Kendare Blake. VERDICT Purchase where dark fantasy is in demand.-Amy Duffy, -Chicago Public Library © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Horn Book Review
When they are small, Mairwen, Rhun, and Arthur watch Rhun's cousin sacrifice himself to the Devil's Forest as a part of their village's tradition. Ten years later, things are going wrong in Three Graces, and it is Rhun's turn to be sacrificed. With a racially diverse cast and a polyamorous relationship at its core, this folkloric fantasy of forest devilry is gripping, despite a crowded plot. (c) Copyright 2019. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
When the needs of the many require the deaths of a few, three friends defy tradition.Idyllic, isolated Three Graces has enjoyed good health and harvests...in exchange for sending their "best boy" into the Devil's Forest every 7 years. Few survive to return; all are venerated as saints. Now the sacrifice is coming due too early, and bighearted 17-year-old Rhun Sayer is favored as the saint while 17-year-old Arthur Couch (initially raised by his mother as a girl in an effort to protect him from being chosen) insists on proving his masculinity. But 16-year-old witch's daughter Mairwin Grace is determined to keep her friends alive. Rather than a tortured love triangle, Gratton (The Queens of Innis Lear, 2018, etc.) treats their evolving, polyamorous relationship sincerely and sensitively. The fantastical elements are described in gorgeous and grotesque detail, their vividness overcoming the generic settinga vaguely medieval northern European enclave peopled primarily by white citizens (such as blond Arthur and brunette Mairwin), with some who are brown-skinned with curling black hair (Rhun and his mother, a refugee). Told in present tense with the hypnotic cadence of fairy tales and Norse sagas, muddled by amnesia, and illuminated by flashbacks, the elaborately nonlinear narrative obscures a relatively thin plot. Although action-packed, violent, and macabre, this is ultimately a love story.Horrifying, heartbreaking, and heartwarming, a lush fairy tale rooted in a moral quandary. (Fantasy. 14-adult) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
In the town of Three Graces, death is a knowable thing. The crops do not fail, childbirth happens free of incident, and injuries heal quickly and without infection. And every seven years when the Slaughter Moon rises, a boy runs into Devil's Forest as a sacrifice. Local folklore says that this is part of a bargain, forged when the Devil fell in love with a witch. But the Slaughter Moon has risen four years early, and the bargain may be weakening. Rhun has always known he would be the anointed saint; he just thought he had more time. Mairwen, a witch, feels the pull of the forest as well, as does Arthur, a boy whose mother raised him as a girl so he would never be a saint. The three go into the forest, and neither they nor it will be the same. Gratton neatly sidesteps a love triangle by putting her trio on equal footing: this is a polyamorous love story as much as it is an eerie, consuming tale of sacrifice and faith. Haunting and unique.--Maggie Reagan Copyright 2018 Booklist