Hazel and her brother, Ben, live in the odd town of Fairfold where the adjoining woods are filled with fae.  Hazel has grown up acting the part of knight, fighting the evil in the forest.  In the heart of the woods, a beautiful horned boy is on display, encased in a glass coffin seemingly asleep.  For generations, the town youth have been drawn to the mysterious horned boy, whispering secrets or openly dancing on the glass during wild parties late at night.  Living in a town this close to the fae, can’t be good.  Blessings are intertwined with curses.  The dark prince of the fae held his subjects in check only harming the tourists to Fairfold but something has changed when attacks on townspeople grow more intense and deadly.  And now the horned boy has broken out of his glass coffin.

Holly Black wrote a brilliant vampire novel, perhaps the definitive teen vampire novel, The Coldest Girl in Cold Town.  Now she has written a delicious story on the evils of the faery folk.  There is really nothing good about the fae.  Even blessings come with curses.  And bargaining with the fae rarely turns out to be a good thing for the foolish human who dares to deal with the devious fae that have very few morals.  But the fae do seem to honor their bargains, it’s just that it is near impossible to come out the victor in a bargain with the fae.  The characters are cleverly written and engaging, especially changeling Jack.  Ahhh Jack, I would enjoy reading how his story ends.  Hazel, Ben and Jack are equal stars in the story, each adding another element and storyline.  With just a dripping of blood, gore and gruesomeness, author restraint was used and because of that, this book could be suitable for middle school but older teens will gobble this up as well.  Highly recommend.

eGalley review                         Publication date 1.13.15