In Alexandra Bracken's bewitching YA contemporary fantasy, 17-year-old Tamsin Lark knows that if "all sorcery is half illusion," then "the other half, unfortunately, [is] blood-soaked terror."
Tamsin and her brother, Cabell, were abandoned as children by their reluctant Hollower guardian, Nash. Now Hollowers themselves, Tamsin and Cabell seek "legendary relic[s]" from the vaults of "long-dead" sorceresses, and Tamsin is determined to keep Cabell--and others--safe from the curse that turns him into a deadly hound. When Sorceress Madrigal challenges Tamsin to find the Servant's Prize (a ring capable of destroying any curse or enchantment) before rival Hollower and "Trust Fund" kid Emrys does, Tamsin believes this is "a chance--a real chance--to break Cabell's curse." Tamsin agrees to the challenge, even with the knowledge that the ring works only if claimed "by deadly force." Tamsin allies with Cabell, a sorceress named Neve, and, reluctantly, with competitor Emrys. The four race to otherworldly Avalon, where they find unspeakable horrors of dark magic gone wild.
While Bracken (The Dreadful Tale of Prosper Redding) based Silver in the Bone on the legend of King Arthur, she creatively makes the myth her own. Mesmerizing world-building and an action-packed quest set the stage for the wonderfully snarky Tamsin's hidden but ultimately heroic nature to shine through. Amid all the magic, the author weaves a spell of her own and ends with a whopper of a cliffhanger that will leave new readers and Bracken fans alike clamoring for book number two. --Lynn Becker, reviewer, blogger, and children's book author