A charming story is hinted at from the very first pages of this book when we are introduced to a small family who lives off of their own land and the goods that their neighbors grow, a secluded village that sees very few unknown faces, a father who keeps bees, and a mother who makes heavenly cakes with the precious honey that is set aside from bottling and selling. What’s not to love about Ellerie Downing and the life she lives in Amity Falls? At first, everything seems picture perfect, but slowly a little bit of darkness begins to seep in around the edges, and that’s when the story really begins.

Amity Falls is a close-knit community that supports each other through the good times and the bad. It seems as though the town has had a stretch of good luck lately, and life is good for the townsfolk. Every so often, a group of people get together and go on a supply run to the nearest city to purchase food and medicine that they can’t grow or make themselves. The journey can be treacherous, even in good weather, and the most recent group to make the trip never returned, leading people to believe something must have apprehended them on their trip there or back. Then rumors surface of gigantic wolves living in the surrounding forest, striking fear into even the bravest of the local men.

Tragedy begins to strike from all sides when a fire destroys several buildings on the Downing farm and other strange and devastating happenings occur. Suddenly, Ellerie finds herself left at home with her older brother and younger sisters while their parents travel to the nearby city to seek urgent medical care. With supplies running low and the responsibility of taking care of beekeeping duties and much of the housework on her shoulders, Ellerie begins to doubt her ability to keep her family safe and fed until their parents return home. Of course, this is the perfect time for a mysterious (and handsome) young trapper to emerge from the woods and help Ellerie in her time of need.

I can’t believe that I almost missed out on this book because the cover just didn’t catch my eye. Now that I’ve seen it and looked at the cover more closely, I’m not sure how missing it was possible, as the cover art is quite intricate and beautiful. The story inside is just as good as the cover, if not better. It appeased my love for fantasy/magical realism and had a little bit of romance thrown in for good measure. I can definitely see myself re-reading this book in the future and enjoying it just as much.

Review of a Digital Advance Reading Copy

This book was sent to Compass Book Ratings for review by Random House Children’s Books

Content Analysis:

Profanity/Language: 2 religious exclamations; 10 mild obscenities; 6 derogatory names. 

Violence/Gore:  A brief scene occurs where a girl is stung by bees and a stinger is described to be sunk in her finger; a brief scene occurs where cries and shouts are heard and an animal is found injured with mention of blood; a brief scene where the animal’s body is mentioned to be covered with a tarp once it is deceased is depicted; the animal is mentioned to have been attacked by wolves or some other vicious animal; people recall hearing wolves in the night; a big animal with silver eyes is mentioned to be lurking in the woods; a girl recalls a time when an animal was found trapped in a bag and rescued; a girl thinks she sees a beast following her; a brief scene occurs where a splint is put on an injured ankle; a report is made of a group coming upon the remains of men in a camp and blood is mentioned to have been everywhere; big animals are reported to have been seen by travelers; a bad storm is mentioned to have occurred years before a report is made of men being attacked and killed while they were sleeping; a brief description is given of animals being seen that are disfigured; a brief scene occurs where a boy is slapped by a girl; a fight occurs where shoving ensues; a report of bandits and robberies is made; a character threatens to shoot a man; a man grabs a girl by the arm in a brief scene and later bruises appear; a fight occurs and a man has his head slammed to the ground, punches are  thrown and a gun is used to threaten the men to break up the fight; a woman threatens a man with a gun; a man is briefly mentioned to have a broken nose from a fight; a field is described to be on fire and destroying buildings; a woman is rescued from a burning building and her injuries of peeling, burnt skin are mentioned to be seen briefly; a man is threatened with hanging on gallows for a crime and attempted manslaughter and he is later reported to be hanged publicly; a verbal threat is made to tear someone limb from limb; a fight breaks out in a brief scene and punches are thrown; a story is told about a man who was angry at a neighbor and snuck into his house in the night and cut off his hands, when the wife woke she was covered in her husband’s blood; a man is reported to have attempted to kill someone; a brief scene occurs where a girl is milking a cow and is sure the milk in the pail has turned into blood; a brief scene occurs where a boy pricks a girl’s finger for a blood promise; a girl hallucinates or vividly imagines that someone is in a pile of hay and when she stabs the hay she feels as though she is hitting flesh and then sees blood in a brief scene; a story is told of a man who came home to find his wife at a table with a pickaxe in her skull and animals slaughtered; a report is made of a man being scooped into the air by a bear and as the bear killed him, blood showered down; a report is made that a bunch of chickens had been slaughtered by an intruder; a brief scene occurs where a girl is angry and has the urge to hurt her brother, envisions hitting him; a report is made of an event that was thought to be a deadly attack by animals might have been murder and looked like it had been carried out by humans; a girl recalls a nightmare with a brief mention of seeing her brother spattered in blood; a report is made of wagons being ransacked and oxen killed by either animals or men; a report is made of a man having killed himself with no detail given; a girl has a nightmare where she thinks she sees a man who was hanged and knows it is him by the bruises on his neck; a report of a schoolhouse being on fire and burning down is made; a character is briefly described to have had a dream where a baby is born horribly disfigured; girls are working on cleaning their beehives and find that lots have died; a man is seen with blood on his hands and he claims it is from a cow in a brief scene;  an owl in a tree has a dead animal in its talons; a man reports that someone left a goat head on a spike outside his door; a group of people get into a fight and hit each other while making verbal accusations in a brief scene; a man threatens to beat a confession out of a girl and a man is hit on the head with a walking stick, some blood is mentioned to flow from a headwound; stories are told of creatures that bring death and destruction with them wherever they go; a report of a great sickness passing through a town and causing many casualties is made; an explosion is mentioned to shake an entire town and start fires is reported; a girl comes home to find her house empty and assumes her family has been harmed; a brief scene occurs where a girl sees her town has been hit with lots of destruction and that people are injured, then she sees a giant creature using a scythe to kill people left and right; a girl observes a window breaking and sees a person being shoved out and onto the street; a scene occurs where a girl observes stores that have been blown to pieces and it is reported that kegs of gunpowder were ignited and blew up most of a town, burning down buildings and killing people and animals; a brief scene occurs where men defend themselves with guns and shoot at each other; a fire starts in a building; a brief scene occurs where a girl hears a woman crying out and realizes the woman is in labor; a man is reported to hit his son with a walking stick and beating him and this begins a brawl among a group of men; a young man is reported to have been killed by a rival with a hatchet. 

Sex/Nudity:  A boy is mentioned to sneak off a lot, perhaps to see a girl; a girl is mentioned to see two minors kissing briefly; an unwed minor is reported to be pregnant but unsure who the father of the child is; a minor anticipates a kiss in a brief scene; a minor is reportedly told that an unwed pregnant girl is certain he is the father; a girl is teased and asked if her beau holds her hand; a girl imagines what it would be like to be embraced by a boy she likes; fooling around is referred to; a boy prepares to jump into a pool of water and jokes about undressing in front of a girl; a boy draws a girl close to him and touches his cheek to hers; gives her a quick peck on her lips; a girl recalls a brief scene that occurred where a boy was swimming in a river with no clothes on; a girl thinks that a boy might like to kiss her when she thinks about how he nudged his forehead close to hers and brushed his knuckles across her cheek; a brief scene occurs where two young adults embrace and touch each other on the back and sides; a boy kisses a girl in one brief scene; a girl and boy briefly kiss goodbye.

Mature Subject Matter:

Missing persons; betrayal; lies; murder.

Alcohol / Drug Use:

An adult spits out chewing tobacco; a minor is given a shot of whiskey to help them fall asleep; a man is mentioned to like wine; a man is mentioned to be in an intoxicated state; a man is mentioned to have a moonshine still and sell moonshine and to be a drunk; a brief scene is described where a crazed woman smashes bottles of liquor and calls it the devils brew.