Available:*
Library | Call Number | Status |
|---|---|---|
Searching... McMinnville Public Library | Healey, K. | Searching... Unknown |
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Summary
Summary
"You're Ellie Spencer."
I opened my mouth, just as he added, "And your eyes are opening."
Seventeen-year-old Ellie Spencer is just like any other teenager at her boarding school. She hangs out with her best friend Kevin, she obsesses over Mark, a cute and mysterious bad boy, and her biggest worry is her paper deadline.
But then everything changes. The news headlines are all abuzz about a local string of serial killings that all share the same morbid trademark: the victims were discovered with their eyes missing. Then a beautiful yet eerie woman enters Ellie's circle of friends and develops an unhealthy fascination with Kevin, and a crazed old man grabs Ellie in a public square and shoves a tattered Bible into her hands, exclaiming, "You need it. It will save your soul." Soon, Ellie finds herself plunged into a haunting world of vengeful fairies, Maori mythology, romance, betrayal, and an epic battle for immortality.
Author Notes
Karen Healey is an author who made the New Zealand Children's Book Award 2015 shortlist with her title While We Run.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (5)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 9 Up-Ancient Maori myth and tradition meet contemporary teens and teen problems in this engaging debut novel (Little, Brown, 2010) by Karen Healey. As the story opens, 17-year-old Ellie is attending boarding school in New Zealand while her parents are on an extended vacation. She has made friends at school-Kevin is her best friend, and she's attracted to Mark, a mysterious, handsome loner who is somehow able to make her forget certain events. The author takes her time setting up this story steeped in the supernatural, and in so doing, gives it depth. Ellie, who is full of spunk and wit and has substantial martial arts skills, gradually becomes aware of her special powers. Alternating between exciting, frightening, horrific, and darkly humorous, this unique and engaging story involves battles between ancient enemies, supernatural beings, suspense, malevolence, horror, serial murder, romance, friendship, danger, and death. Saskia Maarleveld's youthful New Zealand accented delivery perfectly captures Ellie's vitality and sarcastic humor, as well as the dark intensity of the tale. She gives all the characters unique voices. A brief discussion of the history and myths that inspired the story is included at the end, as well as resources for further reading. The inclusion of Maori legends and a glimpse at another culture make this novel unique.-Mary Oluonye, Shaker Heights Public Library, OH (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
There's a lot of promise but too much ground covered and too delayed a reward in this boarding school drama turned eerie fantasy. Set in debut author Healey's native New Zealand, the narrative follows snarky 17-year-old Ellie Spencer as she works on a production of A Midsummer Night's Dream with her asexual best friend, while stalking Mark, an enigmatic crush, and worrying about a string of recent murders. What starts out as a simple whodunit soon morphs into a surprising blend of magical realism and ancient Maori mythology involving a magic mask, Mark's mind-controlling charm bracelet, and beings of "weird ageless beauty" who live in the mist, shaking up Ellie's view of the world. While Healey's prose is skilled and her characters well-formed (Ellie is an especially charismatic heroine), minor plot threads drop off-such as Ellie's mother's cancer-and the process through which the deeper story is revealed (a battle for survival between a small group of human warriors and the "fairy people," also called "patupaiarehe") feels frustratingly drawn out. By contrast, the thrilling last third of the novel, dedicated to the climactic battle, seems underdeveloped. Ages 12-up. (Apr.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
A spin on the recent spate of fiction about teenagers discovering their connection with the faerie world, Healey's fantasy engages the Maori mythology of her home as well as A Midsummer Night's Dream. Boarding school student Ellie Spence becomes involved with a couple of patupaiarehe-the fairies who inhabited New Zealand before humans settled there. Even as she's falling in love with one of them, Ellie is caught up in a communal effort to thwart neighboring patupaiarehe who are plotting the destruction of half of New Zealand. The vivid imagery of these mythological creatures of land and sea gives this story some compelling sequences, and its permutations and surprises of plot make it a quick, sometimes fascinating read-all this despite Healey's often melodramatic prose, which is not quite up to the originality of her imagination. From HORN BOOK, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
Ellie is in her final year at a New Zealand boarding school, living the typical teen's life: classes, friends, a black belt in tae kwon do and a crush on an adorable yet enigmatic boy named Mark. The big news locally revolves around the Eyeslasher murders, a series of killings in which the murderer removes his victims' eyes. After Ellie has a run-in with a woman who nearly turns Ellie into a tree, Mark reveals his true nature to Ellie. He is part patupaiarehe, the Maori equivalent of fairies, and some evil patupaiarehe are behind the Eyeslasher murders and on a quest for immortality. Though not a supernatural creature herself, Ellie has some inherited magical talent related to the patupaiarehe. Debut novelist Healey pulls readers in immediately with Ellie's funny, occasionally profane and often self-deprecating voice. The smart, strong protagonist is supported by a cast of equally intelligent peers. Fast-paced adventure and an unfamiliar, frightening enemy set a new scene for teen urban fantasy. (Urban fantasy. YA)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Seventeen-year-old Ellie is spending a year at a New Zealand school while her parents vacation. Making friends gets easier when she puts her tae kwon do training to use by choreographing the fight scenes in a local college production of A Midsummer Night's Dream. But there's something she doesn't like about the gorgeous actress Reka maybe it's the fact that her pupils disappear. On the other hand, there's something she does like about hunky Mark despite his tendency to hypnotize her. Both, it turns out, are locked in a mystical battle that is steeped in ancient Maori lore. Healey's prose is a notch above others writing in this genre, and her take on Ellie's human relationships, especially with frenemy Iris and buddy Kevin is finely drawn. The supernatural story, however, never quite clicks. Still, the Maori legends that provide the basis for the plot (and which are further explained in an afterword) are a breath of fresh air after all the vampires, demons, and fairies out there.--Kraus, Daniel Copyright 2010 Booklist