Title: Fiendish
Author: Brenna Yovanoff
Publisher: Razorbill (Penguin)
Release Date: August 14, 2014
Acquired Via: First to Read
Clementine DeVore spent ten years trapped in a cellar, pinned down by willow roots, silenced and forgotten.
Now she’s out and determined to uncover who put her in that cellar and why.
When Clementine was a child, dangerous and inexplicable things started happening in New South Bend. The townsfolk blamed the fiendish people out in the Willows and burned their homes to the ground. But magic kept Clementine alive, walled up in the cellar for ten years, until a boy named Fisher sets her free. Back in the world, Clementine sets out to discover what happened all those years ago. But the truth gets muddled in her dangerous attraction to Fisher, the politics of New South Bend, and the Hollow, a fickle and terrifying place that seems increasingly temperamental ever since Clementine reemerged.
My Review
When I first saw that wonderfully creepy cover, I just knew that I had to read
Fiendish. The author combines a lot of elements with magical realism and the result is a beautifully written, creepy take on small town life. There's a little bit of tarot cards mixed with witches but with a little bit hillbilly thrown in as well. Add in some young star-crossed lovers and small-town prejudices. Speaking of tarot cards, this is one of several books I've read this year concerning the mystical cards, and I'm really liking all the different translations and uses of the cards. But all this adds up to a great take on magical realism that is just a little bit shy of horror. I loved the mix of bold and subtle changes of normal mysticism and magic from witches to "craft" and the elements to Dirt, Creek, Heat, Light and Breath, among others.
