2023-10-27
In Flanagan’s YA series starter, a young teen enters a fantastical realm and discovers the mystery behind her own existence.
All 14-year-old AnnaGrey England wants is to get through a school day without being bullied for being different. It isn’t because of her red hair and “pale-as-dawn” skin—it’s her glow-in-the-dark green eyes with black pupils shaped like half-moons. Her mother’s explanation that it’s a genetic condition rings false, and her father, who lives elsewhere, tells AnnaGrey what seem like fairy tales. (At least her parents’ unusually long canine teeth skipped a generation, she thinks.) In this thoroughly enjoyable, well-crafted, first-person fantasy, AnnaGrey’s journey toward self-discovery and self-acceptance begins after her nemesis, a boy named Cross Silverstone, dubs her “Freakenstein.” After she retreats into the forbidden Wildwood, she discovers Iris—a gentle, horselike creature with a rainbow mane, golden hooves, impressive antlers, and eyes like stars—and a secret gate to a realm of beings called aeobanachs who can shift between human and animal form. AnnaGrey soon finds herself in the company of a furred, feathered, and antlered rebel faction seeking to unseat the usurper on the realm’s Constellation throne. Can this have anything to do with her own strange eyes, her secretive parents, and the “constellation” of freckles on her arms? Just when it seems obvious where the narrative is going, the author defies expectations by taking readers in a different direction. Flanagan enriches the mix with additional colorful characters and a plot that explains the significance of antlers, feathers, and fairy tales and features betrayals, lost loves, and noble sacrifices. (The selfless actions of two characters are genuinely moving, as is a surprising act of faith taken by AnnaGrey’s only school friend.) AnnaGrey’s internal struggle with new truths feels authentic, as does her difficulty in finding confidence when “I can’t even stand up to my own parents or the mean boy at school.” The welcome open ending sends a clear signal that AnnaGrey’s saga will continue.
A tale with deft plot turns, a relatable young protagonist, and well-drawn secondary fantasy characters.
