Bones of Faerie by Janni Lee Simner

I read the first chapter of this book when it arrived in the library but didn’t have time to read more. That ending refused to leave me alone. 

'Before' was a time of peace between the leaders of Faerie and the leaders of Human. Then came a deadly war that left both groups devastated.

Lisa was born after the war into a town that lives by the rules. “Don’t touch any stone that glows with faerie light, or that light will burn you fiercer than any fire. Don’t venture out alone into the dark, or the darkness will swallow you whole. And cast out the magic born among you, before it can turn on its parents.”

When her baby sister was born with “faerie-pale hair clear as glass from Before,” her father, a sensible man, took the newborn to a nearby hill, left her for the faeries and “never looked back.” But Lisa “crept out before dawn to see whether the faeries had really come. They hadn’t, but some wild creature had.”

Shortly afterwards, her mother left.  

Lisa slowly realized that she too had magic. After an altercation with her father she fled the village hoping to escape him and save her community from herself. Her friend, Matthew, a young man with his own secrets, followed her. They discovered that while the world outside their compound is indeed terrifying, there is also a world very different from their own. In a short time they were on a journey in search of Lisa's mother that took them into the very heart of the land of faerie. 

There is some beautiful writing in this book. The plot has some interesting twists and turns. The apocalyptic world Simner has created is dark and terrifyingly realistic with trees that reach out branches and roots in search of blood, spirits of the dead that extend their arms out of the earth hoping to be brought back to life, and plants that fight being harvested. There are some very scary moments. I came to care about and want these characters to survive. The ending is satisfying even without a sequel or two to come. 

I wish I had enjoyed it more. Still, there will be many readers in our school who I know will devour this series. I on the other hand will stop at this one.