Plain Kate

I loved this book! Older children and young teens would definitely like this, but it's smart enough for adults too. Fantastic.

“My name is Linay and I grant wishes.” And so Plain Kate, against her better judgement, gives her shadow to this pale, sinister stranger — trades it to him for her heart’s wish. With rumours of witchcraft running rampant through her village, she flees the ugly suspicions of her neighbours. Unfortunately, with sickness and starvation and the constant need to find a scapegoat, Kate seems destined to be continually accused of being a witch, even after she thinks she has found a new home with the gypsy-like Roamers. When they too fall victim to their fears, she nearly dies as a result.

The one who ultimately saves her is Linay himself. He has secrets and deadly schemes and needs her to bring his plans to fruition. When Kate realizes what exactly Linay has planned and how she has unwittingly helped him, she knows that she must find a way to stop him. If he commits the terrible act of sacrifice and vengeance that he has set his sights upon, the city of Lov and all who are in it will be destroyed… by the ghost and the shadow.

Beautiful and haunting, tragic and lovely, this is a book that is as exquisite as it is disquieting. Author Erin Bow spins a pleasing tale of magic and heartbreak in this historical fantasy in which one girl learns a lifetime’s worth of lessons about home and family, loss and love, and forgiveness and letting go. In simple but evocative prose, she creates a fully realized world in which her story delicately unfolds with a fairytale quality that will linger with readers.