The Chronicles of Faerie: The Hunter’s Moon

O. R. Melling

Amulet Books

1904442714

Oct 2005

American Gwen and her Irish cousin Findabhair (pronounced ‘finn-ah-veer’) are sixteen, soul-mates, on the threshold of womanhood but still innocent enough to half-believe that they might achieve their childhood goal of finding a doorway into the Faraway Country. It is not the fairies at the bottom of the garden whom they seek, but an altogether wilder and more dangerous breed. Ostensibly on a bus tour of Ireland (parents have to be pacified in order to be put out of the picture) but in fact prepared to be more reckless in search of their goal, the two are quickly involved in a wild game of hide and seek where one of them inhabits a different realm from the other.
What awaits them is passion, fear, loyalty and friendship in unlooked-for places. In short, all the elements of a fantasy adventure but shaken up and given a new, female-friendly slant. I would have gobbled this up as a teenager (and have to confess that I gobbled it up as an adult). It is the first in a series, so watch out for more. Highly enjoyable, with a tinge of the uncanny and a large injection of teen-sized romance.