The Hawley Book of the Dead by Chrysler Szarlan #review

Title: The Hawley Book of the Dead
Author: Chrysler Szarlan
Publisher: Century, 2014

From the glitz, glitter, and make-believe of Las Vegas, to the mysterious forests of Massachusetts, The Hawley Book of the Dead plunges readers into a world where the lines between make believe and true magic are difficult to distinguish in the lives of Revelation Dyer and her family.

Reve has always had the knack to disappear at will; in fact, all the women in her family seem to be possessed of some sort of power. Yet when her magician husband Jeremy is killed during their Las Vegas show, she is powerless to stop this tragedy from occurring.

She’s soon convinced that Jeremy’s death was no accident, and when it’s suggested that she return to her family home of Hawley Five Corners in Massachusetts for her and her daughters’ safety, Reve packs up her life and embarks on a complete change of pace – and the hope that she can untangle a skein of mysteries related to her family’s past and a mysterious, magical journal that holds many secrets.

The Hawley Book of the Dead is a tactile story that engages the senses, from the ground up to the very characters who inhabit its pages. Author Chrysler Szarlan succeeds in evoking a world that blurs at the edges, and where past and present and other realms mingle in unexpected ways.

This is a story about a woman’s overcoming grief and coming into power, as she steps across the boundaries that separate her safe reality from a wilder, deeper magic that has always been her heritage. Reve must face an ancient enemy, who seeks to control her, and she doesn’t have the luxury of time in which she can learn to harness her legacy. Yet the Hawley Book of the Dead isn’t fast-paced; it grows slowly, organically, to give readers a vivid sense of people and place. It is the special sort of novel that refuses to fit snugly in any of the existing literary niches, which makes it all the more enchanting.

Arcadia's Gift by Jesi Lea Ryan #review #ya #contemporary #fantasy

Title: Arcadia’s Gift (Arcadia Trilogy #1)
Author: Jesi Lea Ryan, 2012

Arcadia (Cady) and Avalon Day are twin sisters, and their family – although under strain with their parents’ separation – is a typical American family. The girls face all the usual trials and tribulations one can expect for their age – school, friends, boys. Everything seems on track until Cady’s sister dies in a tragic accident, irrevocably throwing the surviving twin’s life out of kilter.

Not only must Cady deal with the grief, but she finds herself being the strong one in her family when her mother falls into the bleakest of depressions. Added to that is Cady’s discovery that she is an empath, which brings with it other, less pleasant developments when she discovers that she is at the mercy of everyone else’s emotions in addition to her own.

A new boy at school, Bryan, offers a glimmer of hope – as do Cady’s friends – and Cady is not along as she tries to come to terms with how her circumstances have changed. Despite all the difficulties, she comes across as a generally happy and spirited teen, and she’s willing to face her challenges despite the hurt.

Arcadia’s Gift by Jesi Lea Ryan is the first book in what looks like a series. It’s slow paced but thorough, and Ryan has used this to good purpose in order to build a solid setting populated by characters who feel authentic, and who have to deal with real issues.

What I especially enjoyed about the story was Ryan’s understanding of death, and the way the grieving process can cast a pall over a person’s life. Also, she approached the supernatural elements in the story in a manner that felt plausible. Actions have consequences, and though I could see where Ryan was headed with certain premises, the execution was nonetheless satisfying, even though it wasn’t overly dramatic as in “we’re going to save the world from itself” epic. Which is also fine. Sometimes heroes don’t need to move mountains, but work quiet miracles among the people they love.

While Arcadia’s Gift does take a while to get off the ground – and this clearly the author laying groundwork – I nonetheless enjoyed the story. Ryan has a light yet engaging tone, and she writes with a great love for her characters and subject matter, and I can imagine that this story will appeal to those who enjoyed all the obvious bestsellers in the YA paranormal/urban fantasy genres.