Helpful Score: 3
Young adult fantasy. Corinna is a folk keeper, someone who lives in the cellar and keeps evil spirits from escaping from below and entering the castle and world above. Disguised as a boy named Corin, she learns her craft and becomes very good and soothing the Folk, but one day she is offered a new job at Cliffsend by a dying man and dark secrets start to come to light..
Despite how dark Corrinna's job seems, this story is much more lyrical fantasy than horror. I found this story satisfying.
Despite how dark Corrinna's job seems, this story is much more lyrical fantasy than horror. I found this story satisfying.
Helpful Score: 2
This is a neat children's book, and very different than I was expecting. It's a little bit dark with great atmosphere, and the heroine is no complacent Sally Sunshine. She's tough, self-reliant, angry, untrusting.... This book isn't very long, but it packs a lot into the space it uses. There aren't any slow spots, and there are some great twists in the plot! Good story!
I saw a review for this book on another blog and it sounded fantastic so I ordered a copy through paperbackswap(dot)com. I am so happy I did it, was an absolutely fantastic read. I wonderful story with a fairy tale feel to it that had some neat twists at the end and a feel good ending.
Fifteen year old Corinna Stonewall is masquerading as a boy and as a Folk Keeper in order to avoid a life as a servant. Then a lord and lady come to disrupt her life by telling her she is the son of a nobleman and needs to claim her place. She agrees but only if she can be their Folk Keeper. Her new home of Cliffsend has Folk more viscous than those she has ever seen before and there are secrets here that run deep that Corinna must find the answers too.
This book is short, but has a very fantastic story in that short space. The story has a traditional dark fairy tale feel to it. Corinna has a very vengeful attitude early on in the book and is not a character that is easy to like. As her story unfolds though so does she. She learns about parts of herself she's been cut off from and grows into a character to be admired and enjoyed.
The writing style is descriptive and does a good job of making the environments come alive; the characters are engaging and likable. This is a pretty dark story overall, but it ends in a way that makes the reader feel happy and uplifted. The plot has some large twists towards the end that took me by surprise, but in hindsight made perfect sense. It takes a skillful author to weave these subtle hints throughout the plot and still have the story be surprising.
I will say that in the beginning of the book there were some turns of phrase that were a bit confusing and the story was a bit slow. This was quickly remedied as the book continued and by the end I was absolutely blown away by the skillfully told story.
Overall an excellent read and I am so glad that I read it. Fans of stories with a fairy tale feel to them or stories about the fey folk cast in a darker light should really enjoy this story. It is appropriate for middle grade and up reading levels. I will definitely be checking out more stories by Billingsley. Right now she has a new YA novel out called Chime, so if you enjoyed this book you may want to check that one out...I know I am going to!
Fifteen year old Corinna Stonewall is masquerading as a boy and as a Folk Keeper in order to avoid a life as a servant. Then a lord and lady come to disrupt her life by telling her she is the son of a nobleman and needs to claim her place. She agrees but only if she can be their Folk Keeper. Her new home of Cliffsend has Folk more viscous than those she has ever seen before and there are secrets here that run deep that Corinna must find the answers too.
This book is short, but has a very fantastic story in that short space. The story has a traditional dark fairy tale feel to it. Corinna has a very vengeful attitude early on in the book and is not a character that is easy to like. As her story unfolds though so does she. She learns about parts of herself she's been cut off from and grows into a character to be admired and enjoyed.
The writing style is descriptive and does a good job of making the environments come alive; the characters are engaging and likable. This is a pretty dark story overall, but it ends in a way that makes the reader feel happy and uplifted. The plot has some large twists towards the end that took me by surprise, but in hindsight made perfect sense. It takes a skillful author to weave these subtle hints throughout the plot and still have the story be surprising.
I will say that in the beginning of the book there were some turns of phrase that were a bit confusing and the story was a bit slow. This was quickly remedied as the book continued and by the end I was absolutely blown away by the skillfully told story.
Overall an excellent read and I am so glad that I read it. Fans of stories with a fairy tale feel to them or stories about the fey folk cast in a darker light should really enjoy this story. It is appropriate for middle grade and up reading levels. I will definitely be checking out more stories by Billingsley. Right now she has a new YA novel out called Chime, so if you enjoyed this book you may want to check that one out...I know I am going to!
This is a juvenile book, but it would make a great adult type fantasy. I wanted to read much more detail.
I saw a review for this book on another blog and it sounded fantastic so I ordered a copy through paperbackswap(dot)com. I am so happy I did it, was an absolutely fantastic read. I wonderful story with a fairy tale feel to it that had some neat twists at the end and a feel good ending.
Fifteen year old Corinna Stonewall is masquerading as a boy and as a Folk Keeper in order to avoid a life as a servant. Then a lord and lady come to disrupt her life by telling her she is the son of a nobleman and needs to claim her place. She agrees but only if she can be their Folk Keeper. Her new home of Cliffsend has Folk more viscous than those she has ever seen before and there are secrets here that run deep that Corinna must find the answers too.
This book is short, but has a very fantastic story in that short space. The story has a traditional dark fairy tale feel to it. Corinna has a very vengeful attitude early on in the book and is not a character that is easy to like. As her story unfolds though so does she. She learns about parts of herself she's been cut off from and grows into a character to be admired and enjoyed.
The writing style is descriptive and does a good job of making the environments come alive; the characters are engaging and likable. This is a pretty dark story overall, but it ends in a way that makes the reader feel happy and uplifted. The plot has some large twists towards the end that took me by surprise, but in hindsight made perfect sense. It takes a skillful author to weave these subtle hints throughout the plot and still have the story be surprising.
I will say that in the beginning of the book there were some turns of phrase that were a bit confusing and the story was a bit slow. This was quickly remedied as the book continued and by the end I was absolutely blown away by the skillfully told story.
Overall an excellent read and I am so glad that I read it. Fans of stories with a fairy tale feel to them or stories about the fey folk cast in a darker light should really enjoy this story. It is appropriate for middle grade and up reading levels. I will definitely be checking out more stories by Billingsley. Right now she has a new YA novel out called Chime, so if you enjoyed this book you may want to check that one out...I know I am going to!
Fifteen year old Corinna Stonewall is masquerading as a boy and as a Folk Keeper in order to avoid a life as a servant. Then a lord and lady come to disrupt her life by telling her she is the son of a nobleman and needs to claim her place. She agrees but only if she can be their Folk Keeper. Her new home of Cliffsend has Folk more viscous than those she has ever seen before and there are secrets here that run deep that Corinna must find the answers too.
This book is short, but has a very fantastic story in that short space. The story has a traditional dark fairy tale feel to it. Corinna has a very vengeful attitude early on in the book and is not a character that is easy to like. As her story unfolds though so does she. She learns about parts of herself she's been cut off from and grows into a character to be admired and enjoyed.
The writing style is descriptive and does a good job of making the environments come alive; the characters are engaging and likable. This is a pretty dark story overall, but it ends in a way that makes the reader feel happy and uplifted. The plot has some large twists towards the end that took me by surprise, but in hindsight made perfect sense. It takes a skillful author to weave these subtle hints throughout the plot and still have the story be surprising.
I will say that in the beginning of the book there were some turns of phrase that were a bit confusing and the story was a bit slow. This was quickly remedied as the book continued and by the end I was absolutely blown away by the skillfully told story.
Overall an excellent read and I am so glad that I read it. Fans of stories with a fairy tale feel to them or stories about the fey folk cast in a darker light should really enjoy this story. It is appropriate for middle grade and up reading levels. I will definitely be checking out more stories by Billingsley. Right now she has a new YA novel out called Chime, so if you enjoyed this book you may want to check that one out...I know I am going to!
