Bone Crier's Moon

January 15, 2020
In a world where sirens must kill their soul mates for honor, one wants to do the exact opposite. Bone Criers--Ferriers among the Leurress--guide the dead to their afterlives in Elara's Night Heavens or Tyrus' Underworld, thus protecting mortals from their wrath. But to become a Ferrier, one must endure the rite of passage and sacrifice their amouré--one true love--to the gods. Ailesse, daughter of the Leurress' matriarch, plans to kill her amouré immediately and avoid falling in love altogether. On the night she plays the bone flute to summon him, she meets Bastien--a boy thirsting for vengeance after witnessing his father's death by a Bone Crier. After she is abducted by Bastien and his friends, her friend Sabine promises to rescue Ailesse, even if it means sacrificing animals and disobeying Leurress elders. Chapters alternate points of view, offering insight into the individual protagonists, but ultimately the characters are not well developed and are bound to the tropes Purdie (Frozen Reign, 2018, etc.) assigns them: Ailesse, an heiress who longs to please her obviously deceitful mother; Bastien, the predictable enemy-turned-love interest; and Sabine, the best friend who disappoints despite every opportunity to shine. The sudden appearance of a French dauphin during a messy climax sets readers up for another love triangle (the first involving Ailesse, Bastien, and his friend Jules). The cast is mostly white.A sparkling new fantasy dulled by an unconvincing romance. (map) (Fantasy. 12-17)

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December 15, 2019
Grades 8-11 Each new moon, Ferriers guide souls to their destiny; however, to earn this position the Leurress (Ferrier aspirants) must first entice and then kill their soul mate to affirm their dedication to the gods they serve. During Ailesse's rite of passage, she is kidnapped by her amour�, whose own father was killed at a Leurress' hands as he watched. Bastien's revenge would be sweet, but darker forces are in motion, and both Ailesse and Bastien are at their mercy. Purdie based her fantasy on medieval French "dames blanches" (women dressed in white) who lured passersby into a dance, mixing this myth with ill-fated lovers who are each other's death warrant. The story is a dance itself, an ebb and flow of hunt versus hunted, loyalty versus treachery, but animal enthusiasts may wince at the fact that the Ferriers' strength comes from sacrificing creatures. Shifting first-person narrative immerses readers in the danger and romance of the premise, and, despite a lagging pace, fans will revel in the cliff-hanger ending that sets up this duology's next volume.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)

Narrators Fiona Hardingham, Alex Wyndham, and Billie Fulford-Brown deliver masterful performances of doomed romance and sacrifice. Listeners are in for a treat as Hardingham hauntingly depicts Ailesse's rite of passage, which involves killing the boy she loves to become the matriarch of the Bone Criers. Multiple narrators enliven each character and ease the transitions from chapter to chapter. The story can be dark, but the narrators' hypnotic voices bring this chilling YA fantasy to life. Wyndham's delivery of the author's world-building makes the story's magical practices and customs fully believable. J.O. � AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine