I read this book nearly two or three years ago and it has been
evading capture by my mind for a review. And that's funny because it's one of
the bigger books in my room that sits on my desk and not on my bookshelf. I
only remembered it because recently me and my friend were browsing through the
school library and she found this book on the school catalog. It wasn't in the
library, so I offered her that I'd give her the copy. That's how I remembered
to write a review on it. I've read it multiple times out of boredom and loved
it each time.
A picture of the cover-
Tanya thinks she's insane. The fairies only she can see torment
and torture her. But the worst part is that no one ever believes her. It's okay
to pretend until a certain age, but soon people think you're crazy. Her mother
decides that Tanya needs a little time away from home and with her grandmother
who lives in a secluded mansion in the middle of nowhere. At first, everything
seems to be going well until Tanya finds a newspaper article dated back fifty
years, explaining how a girl simply vanished off the face of the Earth. Neither
her body, nor anything on her person was ever recovered.
Tanya and her cousin Fabian begin to suspect that the answer to
this mystery lies inside the mansion somewhere. They begin by exploring the old
servant's floor where no one is allowed; for fear that it will collapse. But
could there be another reason no one is allowed on the second floor?
Tanya is given a bracelet by her grandmother who doesn't really
explain much about it. When Tanya puts it on, she learns that she can talk to
all kinds of interesting magical creatures, from trolls to the garden gnomes in
her backyard. After reading a book about fairies in her grandmother's library,
Tanya learns what the charms on her bracelet signify. Each charm represents one
of the thirteen treasures, thirteen sacred items that help with ruling the
fairy world.
One night, a stranger breaks into the house by way of secret
tunnels leading from the church to the mansion. When Tanya begins to investigate,
she finds an orphan girl who calls herself Red and claims to know a lot about
fairies and what is going on. So they make a deal. Tanya will make sure Red has
a place to stay (in secret of course) in the mansion and in exchange, Red will
provide Tanya with information about the fairy world.
While investigating the manor, Tanya and Fabian learn the secret
of the Elvesdens, the original owners of the mansion. Lady Elvesden could see
fairies and wrote down the knowledge that they gave her in diaries. Once her
husband found them, he destroyed them; so Lady Elvesden kept on writing more
diaries and hiding them all over the house. Then Master Elvesden placed his
wife in an asylum, so she would learn to embrace the real world and not her
so-called fantasies. But, a week after she was placed in the asylum, Lady
Elvesden died violently. People tried to find the cause of her death, but there
was nothing around her that could have caused her to die. Her body wasn't
poisoned and there was no evidence of suicide. It was as if her body had just
simply imploded
Wherever they go, danger seems to be looming over them and
specifically Tanya. It seems that she and her mother were used as bargaining
tools for Tanya's grandmother to escape the wrath of her former best friend.
Can Tanya put an end to this madness that has been engulfing her family? Or
will only she be left to pay the price her grandmother couldn't pay fifty years
ago?
My thoughts-
Incredibly well written. I have read a great many books that imply
that there is another world next to our own, but very few have escalated to the
level of this one. The twists and turns made perfect sense and despite how I
wrote the summary up there, the plot is actually simple.
It is a very thick book, but don't put it down because of that. I
swear that you will be hungrily turning the pages, wanting more.
Apart from the details and how they were written, I do have to say
that I didn't understand how Red traded herself for Tanya at the last minute.
Sure, she wanted to look for her brother in the fairy world, but it was a
little sudden. And, how did she even know what was going on? And you don't even
catch on to the mystery until the very end. Actually, you don't catch up until
the climax is over and you are left with the falling action. How did Fabian
even know that there was a lock of Morwenna's hair in his father's room? How
did he know to destroy it?
((If you enjoy this book, look for 13 Secrets and 13 Curses in that order))
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