Ivory Apples

July 15, 2019
At the heart of this expansive but uneven fairy tale from Goldstein (Weighing Shadows) is a reclusive author with a magical secret that many would kill to know. To sisters Ivy, Beatriz, Amaranth, and Semiramis, the famous Adela Madden is just Great-Aunt Maeve. They’ve been taught to keep her identity a secret, which they never question, until Kate Burden, a strange, mercurial woman, ingratiates herself into their family and starts asking questions. Ivy, the oldest, is the first to question Ms. Burden’s intentions, egged on by Piper, a trickster creature she met in the woods who has taken up residency somewhere deep inside her. A year later, the girls’ father dies and leaves them in the care of Ms. Burden, whom 12-year-old Ivy, channeling Piper’s nastiness into her note-perfect tween moral certitude, calls a “malicious, mendacious, overweening smudge” and a “cut-rate Bonnie and Clyde.” Ivy runs away from home to protect what she knows of the family secrets and to discover the truth about their aunt, her stories, and the source of inspiration itself. Though the mystery of Ms. Burden’s obsession is sure to keep readers turning pages, she never evolves beyond a cartoonish villain, and the lengthy section of Ivy learning more about magic makes it difficult to keep a firm grasp on the other characters. Though overstuffed and underdeveloped, this fantasy is nonetheless suspenseful.

August 1, 2019
An absorbing fantasy about the power of art, family secrets--and obsession. Ivy and her sisters have a secret. Their Great-Aunt Maeve is actually the reclusive author Adela Madden, who wrote Ivory Apples, a book that still, many years after publication, inspires a steady stream of fan mail. And some of those fans can be obsessive. That secret only becomes more urgent for Ivy when, wandering in the woods at Maeve's house, she stumbles upon a secret grove full of sprites, one of whom steps into her. So when a woman named Kate Burden strikes up a friendship with the girls and starts insinuating herself into their lives--and talking about how much she loves Ivory Apples--Ivy is immediately suspicious. But Kate's intentions are far more sinister than even Ivy suspects, and Piper, the sprite living inside her, is too much an agent of chaos to help. Soon Ivy and her sisters are plunged into a nightmare, and the cost of keeping Maeve's secret proves to be greater than they could have imagined. Goldstein (Weighing Shadows, 2015, etc.) has crafted a dark, suspenseful tale in which the power of the faery world is appealingly disruptive and dangerous. The dreamlike quality of portions of the book sometimes works to undercut the impact of genuinely traumatic events, but overall the story is gripping and unusual enough to keep the reader invested. This dark, eerie tale about the lengths people will go for a taste of magic will keep readers guessing until the end.

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October 1, 2019

Goldstein's first novel in a few years (Weighing Shadows) is a contemporary fairy tale of magic, muses, and shadowy figures. Ivy and her three sisters have been told, since they were old enough to understand, that they must never talk about their Great-Aunt Maeve. Though they visit her once a month with their widowed father, they can never talk about those trips or reveal that Maeve is the author of a classic fantasy novel, Ivory Apples, because of its cultish following of rabid fans. That instilled wariness is enough to make Ivy suspicious of Kate Burden, a woman who makes friends with her younger sisters and insinuates herself into the household. When tragedy befalls the family, Kate has a firm grip on all of their lives and Ivy has to do battle to protect Maeve and her sisters. VERDICT The cheery red cover belies the dark, sometimes bleak story contained within. While the writing is beautiful, the story is uneven and told in fits and starts. For true fans of the author.--Jane Jorgenson, Madison P.L., WI

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