The wickerlight

Title:

The wickerlight

Personal Author:

Watson, Mary, 1975- author.

ISBN:

9781547601943

9781408884911

Publication Information:

New York : Bloomsbury, 2019.

Physical Description:

401 pages ; 22 cm

Summary:

Zara's family moved to Kilshamble for a new beginning, but everything changed the night her sister was found dead on the village green. Two months later Laila's death is a riddle that nobody wants solved. Where were her injuries? Why was she so obsessed with local folklore? And what does all this have to do with David, the boy who lives at the big house? As Zara becomes entangled in an ancient magical feud, she is soon treading the same dangerous path that led Laila to the village green.

Subject Term:

Magic -- Juvenile fiction.

Vendetta -- Juvenile fiction.

Geographic Term:

Ireland -- Juvenile fiction.

Genre:

Young adult fiction.

Fantasy fiction.

Available:*

Library	Material Type	Item Barcode	Call Number	Status
Searching... Jefferson Branch Library	Book	39009066291739	YA SF WATSON,M	Searching... Unknown

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Summary

In this lush, magical thriller for fans of the Raven Cycle and The Hazel Wood, one girl's murder investigation leads her into an ancient magical war.

It's been two months since Zara's sister Laila was found lifeless on the village green of the small Irish town Kilshamble, not a mark on her. Vicious rumors circle that she died of an overdose or committed suicide--but an autopsy finds no evidence.

Zara believes somebody must know what happened, and she throws herself headfirst into an investigation. But retracing her sister's footsteps takes her to David, a member of an ancient magical faction called the judges. The judges are in the midst of an ancient feud with another faction called the augurs, and Zara quickly finds herself embroiled in a dangerous, twisted game. And if she isn't careful on the path she's treading, she could end up with the same fate as Laila.

Riveting, atmospheric, and full of dangerous magic, this lyrical novel set in the world of The Wren Hunt is perfect for readers of Maggie Stiefvater and Melissa Albert.

Author Notes

Mary Watson grew up in Cape Town, South Africa, where she worked as an art museum guide, library assistant, actress in children's musicals, front-of-house duty manager, and university lecturer. After publishing a short story collection and novel for adults, she fell in love with the brave girls in YA books, which inspired her to write her debut novel for teens, The Wren Hunt . She now lives on the west coast of Ireland with her husband and three young children.

www.marywatsonbooks.com
@stonemadonna

Reviews (2)

Kirkus Review

An outsider encounters a secret magical war in this sequel to The Wren Hunt (2018).Zara's family is unraveling following the unexplained (perhaps inexplicable) death of her older sister, Laila, in their new home, the Irish village of Kilshamble. Zara has few friends and soon earns enemies as she haphazardly attempts to solve her sister's mysterious last days and death. Brown-skinned Zara's isolated, not set apart from the mostly white residents because of her parents' South African background but because of her mundanity and humanity. Wading through grief and guilt, Zara stumbles on the secret war between the manipulative magic-wielding augurs and militant judgesfeuding descendants of the semi-Druidic draoitheand repeatedly crosses paths with neighbor David. Spurred on by his father and a "black-and-white vision of the world," white 18-year-old David simultaneously competes to succeed his disgraced brother, Oisn, as the judges' War Scythe and searches for a missing, potentially apocalypse-triggering, item. Swerving between Zara's grieving process and the erratically escalating draoithe guerilla war, the unevenly paced plot gets bogged down by extraneous details and side plots. Watson exhaustively explores the protagonists' current angst and agony but offers minimal backstories for the characters and vague and contradictory mythology for the draoithe. Zara's family is cued as being of Indian Muslim heritage.A bleak and brooding contemporary fantasy that sells magic short. (glossary) (Fantasy. 14-18) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Booklist Review

Zara is obsessed with learning what her sister Laila was doing just before she was found dead on the village green in their small Irish village. David is determined to follow his clan's traditions, up to the point where innocents are harmed. As their lives collide, they must work together to stop a war between ancient enemies during the wickerlight, the time when the old magic is at its strongest. In her atmospheric follow-up to The Wren Hunt (2018), set in contemporary Ireland, Watson blends magical lore and rituals with mystery born of family secrets. Some readers may struggle with unfamiliar names, such as Oisin (oh-sheen), Mamó (mam-oh), and the Battle Crow known as Badb (bah-v), but Watson understands the power that names and local flavor wield when creating an immersive world for readers. Zara, who is of South African and Australian descent, and David share narration duties, which allows the author to control the pace of discovery and peril. Readers do not have to have read the first book to enjoy the second.--Cindy Welch Copyright 2019 Booklist