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Book Summary

Reviewed by Matt Berman

Homeschooled Laurel enters a public high school and feels a bit different. But she feels even more so when a large blossom starts growing out of her back. Soon she discovers that she is a fairy changeling, placed with a human family to keep one of the gateways to the fairy world of Avalon safe. Torn between a human boy and a fairy, she also discovers that trolls are after her land, and that her human parents are in danger.

Is It Any Good?

4

This is clearly aimed at the Twilight crowd: a bit of chaste romance, a bit of violence, and a supernatural gloss on the real world. Instead of vampires and werewolves we get fairies and trolls, and the heroine this time is one of the supernatural creatures and one of the two boys she likes is human. It's a bit milder than Twilight: the romance is a bit less passionate, as befits the slightly younger age of the heroine and target audience.

But unlike that earlier blockbuster, this series launch has something to offer those who aren't into mooning over hunky vampires, or even hunky fairies. There's a story here, with an intriguing variation on traditional fairy lore -- fairies, for instance, are actually plants, and what humans thought were wings are actually their blossoms. With the romance not so much in the reader's face, this should appeal to a wider audience than Twilight, though perhaps not as passionately.

From the Book:
She didn't even have to turn to see the new development. Long, bluish-white forms rose over both shoulders. For a moment Laurel was mesmerized, staring at the pale things with wide eyes. They were terrifyingly beautiful -- almost too beautiful for words.

She turned slowly so she could see them better. Petal-like strips sprouted from where the bump had been, making a gently curved four-pointed star on her back. The longest petals -- fanning out over each shoulder and peeking around her waist -- were more than a foot long and as wide as her hand. Smaller petals -- about eight or nine inches long -- spiraled around the center, filling in the leftover space. There were even a few small green leaves where the enormous flower connected to her skin.

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