Tori Bovalino

I absolutely loved the setting and the premise. The world building was top tier - unfortunately for me, I didn't care about the main plot. I loved the idea of a market, an inbetween place full of goblins and horrors. It was truly intriguing and it reminded me of a darker labyrinth. I wanted Jareth to pop out so bad! Instead a girl, living thousands of miles away finds out about it when her aunt is taken there. Her mother rushes back to York to try and rescue her and Lou finally finds out what her mother and aunt had been hiding from her all her life. When her mom and aunt were her age they too entered the market and ended up killing a goblin and getting banned from their coven of witches (oh yeah - she also finds out she comes from a coven). A lot of plot holes but I truly loved the setting. So dark and creepy!… (altro)

I'll catch flack for saying this, but there are plenty of rural spots, particularly in the south, where a book like this might be classed as nonfiction. While it begins with an eerie premise, it soon moves to more of a blend of magical realism and slowly unfolding backstory. Leah and the Lord of the Woods are both appealing characters, as is her best friend Jess. Most everyone on the Winston side of the river is either rotten to the core, or beyond oblivious. This morphs into a mix of romance and guilt shedding, both of which are extremely well done.… (altro)

Tess Matheson only wants three things: time to practice her cello, for her sister to be happy, and for everyone else to leave her alone.

Instead, Tess finds herself working all summer at her boarding school library, shelving books and dealing with the intolerable patrons. The worst of them is Eliot Birch: snide, privileged, and constantly requesting forbidden grimoires. After a bargain with Eliot leads to the discovery of an ancient book in the library's grimoire collection, the pair accidentally unleash a book-bound demon.

The demon will stop at nothing to stay free, manipulating ink to threaten those Tess loves and dismantling Eliot’s strange magic. Tess is plagued by terrible dreams of the devil and haunting memories of a boy who wears Eliot's face. All she knows is to stay free, the demon needs her... and he'll have her, dead or alive.… (altro)