Review: Dark Faerie Fantasy in th D.C. Metro - watch your back!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 04 4, 2014
This is an intriguing YA novel; it opens as if a slightly offbeat detective novel, but quickly evolves into something much weirder. It’s part urban fantasy, part new faerie lit., but set largely in the tunnels of the Washington D.C. metro system amidst what seem to be homeless children and teenagers led by 17 year old Winter.  Of course, nothing is quite what it seems: Winter is a fairy in human form, and various other worlds open up onto this one, sometimes randomly, and Winter and various characters move from one to the others, on quests, as part of a larger mystery, and all to really interesting effect.The scenes with the motley young crew who we follow throughout have made a home for themselves in a disused part of the. D.C. metro. Their existence is part magical and part pathetic, and it’s easy to care for them – they interesting and, at times, sweet. Into their midst com folk from the other worlds, which is made even more intriguing by Sarah Remy’s enchanting prose. She is no fantasy hack; her characters worlds and perspectives are different from each other, and she defines them in part by the way they use language, and how that language shapes their views and actions. It’s beguiling and skillful, and a tiny bit magic.  It also becomes clear as we learn more about the worlds and the hazards faced, that it is unclear exactly who is good or bad, and I know there are more novels coming, so I’m hoping this will evolve as the story goes on.Overall a highly original, beautifully written piece of strangeness that’s attached just enough to the world we know to make it even more intriguing. (I think I used variations of the word intrigue three times in this review – I’m intrigued, can you tell?!)