Available:*
Library | Call Number | Status |
|---|---|---|
Searching... Monmouth Public Library | YA Fic Hahn, R. 2015 | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Salem Main Library | TEEN FICTION Hahn, R. | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Salem Main Library | TEEN FICTION Hahn, R. | Searching... Unknown |
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Summary
Summary
A girl's dark destiny could cause the unraveling of the world in this "shattering and transcendent" ( Kirkus Reviews , starred review) novel from the author of A Creature of Moonlight .
Heed this warning, mortal: stay far away from the three sister Fates. For if they come to love you, they might bring about the end of the world...
Chloe is the youngest. Hers are the fingers that choose the wool, that shape the thread, that begin it. The sun smiles upon her. Men love her without knowing who she is. She has lived forever and will live forever more. She and her sisters have been on their isolated Greek island for longer than any mortal can remember. They spin, measure, and slice the countless golden threads of human life. They are the three Fates, and they have stayed separate for good reason: it is dangerous for them to become involved with the humans whose lives they shape.
So when a beautiful girl named Aglaia shows up on their doorstep, Chloe tries to make sure her sisters don't become attached. But in seeking to protect them, Chloe discovers the dark power of Aglaia's destiny. As her path unwinds, the three Fates find themselves pulled inextricably along--toward mortal pain, and mortal love, and a fate that could unravel the world.
Author Notes
Rebecca Hahn grew up in Iowa, attended college in Minnesota, and soon afterward moved to New York City, where she worked in book publishing and wrote her first novel, A Creature of Moonlight , on the side. Her fate has since led her to Minneapolis; she misses the ocean but watches stars shine bright. Visit her at RebeccaHahnBooks.com.
Reviews (5)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 7 Up-Chloe is the youngest of the three sisters who spin the world. Her fingers choose the wool, spin the thread, and begin each life. Motherly Serena guides the thread and marks the end. Xinot, the oldest, slices each thread with a snap of her shears. When a girl appears at their door asking to understand her disastrous fate, the sisters have nothing to say. Serena casts a spell meant to ease the girl's pain before sending her away. Instead, the spell begins a series of events that will bring about the end of the world. This sophomore novel from Hahn takes readers on a strange and wondrous course through questions of fate and free will as the narrator and her sisters embark on a journey with the potential to change the very foundation of existence. Written in second person as Chloe tells her story to us mere mortals, this evocative and descriptive novel is timeless beyond the assumed ancient Greek setting. A unique voice and mythology-tinged writing give this quiet book some punch and offer a few surprising revelations for the three sisters. Hahn expertly tackles the power of belief and choice in this thoughtful and introspective work. Strong characters and intricate prose help to mitigate a plot that is often slow and narrowly focused with insights about the human condition that may seem obvious to older readers. VERDICT This unique and often literary yarn will appeal to those interested in mythology, fate, and philosophy.-Emma Carbone, Brooklyn Public Library © Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
In this delicately crafted tragedy, the three Fates reencounter love, vulnerability, and mortality when Aglaia, the desperate survivor of a raid that destroyed her village, arrives on the island where they have retreated from the too-painful human world. Hahn (A Creature of Moonlight) captures the dueling beauties of human life and inhuman fate in poetic prose; Aglaia's hair "rivaled the white stone walls for blinding glory," while the sisters "must love the beauty of [their] threads, shiver at the mystery that lies at either end." If they stray from their duty of crafting human destinies, the world will end. Chloe, the youngest and, she believes, strongest of the Fates, plans to drown Aglaia rather than risk her sisters becoming entangled with a mortal. But Chloe is not as immune to Aglaia's lure as she thinks, and soon all three are caught up in her efforts to avenge the raid and secure a future for her infant child, the product of rape. While the story is initially slow to get underway, it builds to a conclusion that is satisfying and true. Ages 12-up. (Sept.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Horn Book Review
Chloe, the youngest of the three Fates, finds it harder to remain detached from the world when a young woman named Aglaia arrives on their doorstep after surviving a raid on her village. This lyrical meditation on life, death, grief, and love--set in a world reminiscent of but never specifically described as ancient Greece--will resonate with sophisticated readers. (c) Copyright 2016. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
From the author of the radiant A Creature of Moonlight (2014), a heartbreaking fantasy tackles life's big questions. Why do terrible things happen? How is one supposed to keep on going afterward? And what is there left to live for? After her life is brutally destroyed, the devastated Aglaia seeks out the three Fates of Greek myth and demands answers. Motherly Serena and even dour Xinot take pity on the innocent girl, but from the very beginning, youngest sister Chloe, who spins the threads of destiny for the other two to measure and cut, senses that Aglaiawith her stunning beauty, clear vision, and fierce determinationthreatens the very foundations of their reality. For as the sisters are drawn inexorably into Aglaia's suffering and plans for vengeance, they become increasingly immersed in the human lives, filled with all their hopes and joys and tragedies and griefs, from which the Fates need isolation. Chloe's narrative voice is piercing and poetic, encompassing both youthful heedlessness and eternal power, rich in minute observations, delicate metaphors, restrained accountings of atrocities, and reluctant wisdom. Alongside her sisters, she comes to sing mortals "a tune of cataclysms, of breaking points, of beautiful horrors"but the final aching chord of helpless love becomes the unexpected triumphant resolution to every impossible question. Shattering and transcendent. (Fantasy. 14 up) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
When the beautiful Aglaia appears at the doorway of the three Fates, Chloe, the youngest of the sisters, understands the danger. The trio shapes the world, with Chloe spinning each mortal's thread, Serena determining its length, and Xinot cutting it with her shears, and they must not get involved. Yet none can resist the lovely Aglaia and her poignant demand to know what there is to live for since her family, village, and all she loves has been destroyed by raiders. Thus begins the dreadful entanglement that almost ends the world, as the three sisters find themselves caring about this mortal and daring to alter her thread. Hahn's latest is a beautifully written, if not always straightforward, recounting of the mythological explanation of human destiny: why bad things happen to good people. Hahn's lovingly crafted characters and the brief, unexpected pops of violence in an otherwise peaceful narrative enhance yet another explication of the tragedy of humankind, making this an obvious choice for mythology fans (plenty of those around) and teen philosophers alike.--Bradburn, Frances Copyright 2015 Booklist