Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Bestseller Harris (Chocolat) delivers a sweetly upbeat urban fantasy in which--unbeknownst to humans or the supernatural Sightless Folk with whom they coexist--the Butterfly and Moth Kingdoms wage an ancient war. Tom Argent lives a quiet, solitary life in London, with a passion for photography and little else. This changes with two chance meetings, first with an unhoused man who calls himself Spider, then with a woman named Vanessa, whose beauty shines so brightly Tom can't help falling deeply, foolishly, in love with her. Tom's pursuit of Vanessa unexpectedly draws him into the conflict between the butterflies--vibrantly beautiful creatures of daytime--and the moths, somber and unassuming denizens of night. Tom is a cipher for much of the story, tossed between the two sides while his own goals are frustratingly limited to capturing stolen moments on film and declaring his love to Vanessa. The combination of epic story and fairy tale prose captivates, however, and Harris builds an enchanting world around Tom and his companions. Urban fantasy readers seeking a lighthearted treat will find plenty to enjoy. Agent: John Wood, RCW. (July)
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Review by Library Journal Review
With this novel, Harris (Broken Light) demonstrates her gift for weaving grief and pain into something beautiful. When a fae king and queen's stormy marriage shatters after their son vanishes, they both follow him to the world of the Sightless Folk. This world is a London that will be familiar to readers--except when viewed from Tom Argent's negatives. The hapless, obsessive photographer catches unprintable glimpses of the invisible war between the king's Moths and the queen's Butterflies. He's soon beguiled by a predatory Butterfly, Vanessa, who manipulates his obsession so she can consume his life force. Tom is rescued from Vanessa but desperately pursues her to prove that his love is true. His desires lead him to a fairy market and the mysterious, mutable Spider at the center of the conflict. He gains a reluctant Moth guide to teach him the ways of her people, but Tom's heart leads him into a war that promises him both true love and certain death. VERDICT This sometimes unsettling yet consistently delightful fairy tale feels like a marriage of the clever schemes of Trip Galey's A Market of Dreams and Destiny and the metaphors of Kelly Barnhill's The Crane Husband.--Matthew Galloway
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
A photographer discovers a magical land hiding in plain sight. Tom Argent always wanted to believe that there was something special about him as a child, but his adoptive parents constantly reminded him that fairy stories weren't real. Now in his late 20s, he lives above and works in a photography shop, spending his days wandering London with his camera. Everything changes one morning when he takes a picture by the Regent's Canal that shows a woman he hadn't seen on the negative. Later that day, a woman named Vanessa comes into the shop and, in just a moment, Tom has fallen desperately in love. Eager to meet her again, he rushes to a champagne bar she says she sometimes visits, and the night ends with a kiss, a fight, and a meeting with the girl from the photograph. There's a secret world of moths and butterflies in the shadows of London, and Tom is about to find out how he fits into it. Like the children's fantasy stories Tom was discouraged from reading when he was young, this book is off from one incident to the next, adventure to adventure. While it creates a fantastical world, the constant movement doesn't let anything get too deep, from set pieces to magic to characters. The reader is told Tom falls in love with Vanessa, that he has lost memories of a market and a girl, but none of these things are ever actually shown; there's a trilogy worth of mythos and characters crammed into one normal-length novel with no room for anything to breathe. While the book has great ideas and incredible lore, there's no connection formed between reader and characters. A glitzy tale with little substance. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
