Review by Booklist Review
When Wyatt returns to her childhood home, Willow Heath, upon the death of her estranged father, she expects to find sagging boards and overgrown gardens, not her childhood friend Peter shackled in the basement. For generations, Wyatt's family has held Willow Heath and its gardens as a ward against the dark things that lurk in the nearby forest. But every summer growing up, Wyatt returned home to spend several months running around the farm with her two best friends: clever and suave James and quiet, mysterious Peter. Now with the last greenskeeper, Wyatt's father, gone, the wards have begun to fall, and the monsters creep closer. With the help of James and Peter, Wyatt must face the torments, betrayals, and horrors that have been done at Willow Heath in the name of keeping their world safe. But not all is as it appears, and the three childhood friends have their own secrets to keep from one another. Tense and chilling, twin themes of love and sacrifice lie at the heart of this romantic fantasy novel.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Wyatt Westlock spent every summer growing up at Willow Heath, her father's rural estate, with her friends James and Peter. When her mother leaves her father--and takes Wyatt with her--she never hears from either boy again. Now 18, Wyatt inherits Willow Heath following her father's death. She's determined to burn it all down, until she finds Peter chained in the basement of her former home. She learns that her father had been the steward of an organization that prevents an encroaching evil from seeping into the world, a task accomplished by sinister magic--and by continuously murdering and harvesting Peter's immortal body. Forced to take her father's place, Wyatt struggles with her burden; Peter, meanwhile, plots her murder to be free of his own curse. All the while, both teens fight their growing attraction for each other and contend with the monsters in the dark, which are closer than they appear. Andrew (The Whispering Dark) tackles the protagonists' predicaments with maturity and complexity, and employs lush and exquisite writing to distinguish this gothic tale. Characters cue as white. Ages 13--up. Agent: Josh Adams, Adams Literary. (Apr.)
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
Redheaded Wyatt Westlock returns to her family's farmhouse following her father's death; she's there to burn it to the ground. But she finds Peter, her childhood friend, chained in her basement. Wyatt releases him, unaware of his secret: He's immortal and has been ritually sacrificed by generations of members of Wyatt's family in order to keep hellish monsters from invading our world. His only escape from the cycle of death and rebirth is to kill Wyatt, the last Westlock. Although each of them can only survive if the other dies, their unspoken love for each other keeps them locked in an uneasy truce. Without Peter's bones, the darkness in the forest creeps closer, bringing with it terrible creatures and eldritch horrors. The couple must explore Wyatt's own wild magic if they hope to save their doomed romance. Andrew delivers an emotionally intense story of star-crossed lovers whose story unfolds against the backdrop of an isolated farm that's visited by terrifying birds, menacing hooded figures, and a creature that uses powers of mimicry to hunt. The farm is so vibrantly described that it thoroughly connects the characters to the setting both physically and emotionally, reflecting the bleakness of the choices Peter and Wyatt face. The rot, mold, and mildew that creep over the farm are almost tangible; so too is the longing Peter and Wyatt feel for each other. All characters read white. A tragic and grotesque romance that will enchant fans of dark fantasy and horror. (Dark fantasy. 14-adult) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
