Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

Luka wishes that he had listened to his sister and left an offering for the fairies, but he didn’t, and now they’re out for vengeance. These are fairies who take retribution in the form of kidnapping or ripping out hearts, so it’s a grim prospect. Luka doesn’t even have the traditional protection against fairies, since war has required most iron to be submitted for weapons. He’s got a few frenemies who become allies, and their motley crew manages to find a solution that both fairies and humans can tolerate without losing face (or, in Luka’s case, body parts). The not quite familiar British setting is impeccable—a clever mix of historical and futuristic that has room for cell phones, rapacious fey folk, and details that would be more familiar in the 1940s. The ragtag group of allies are refreshingly diverse, coming together from different backgrounds and drastically different lives to save Luka and his sister not only from the fairies but also from a twisted gang after Luka’s efforts to set one thing right lead to him messing up a bunch of other things. The lightning pace keeps things moving, sometimes to the detriment of character exploration, but absolutely in keeping with how a group of tweens (and one rogue fairy) might barrel through a series of emergencies rather than slowing to contemplate their own vulnerabilities or insecurities in this often cruel world. Stewart’s brilliant eye for sardonic humor smoothly woven into tragedy works just as well for this younger audience as in Riverkeep (BCCB 9/16) and The Sacrifice Box (BCCB 9/18). [End Page 356]