publisher: Delacort
pgs: 304
source: ARC from ALA
First off, isn't the cover awesome? I love it. She looks banished, hiding behind her hair and looking over her shoulder.
Hailey lives with her mean and ill grandmother and 4-year-old foster brother (uncle?) in a part of Gypsum, Missouri affectionately (just kidding) called Trashtown. Except she doesn't really belong there. Trashtown kids like her about as much as Gypsum kids do--which is not at all. But then one day at school she is inexplicably compelled to help a Trashtown girl and ends up healing her. Then an aunt she never knew she had shows up on her doorstep. And that's just the beginning of the exciting adventure as Hailey finds out who she is and the power that she has inside of her.
I enjoyed the book a lot. I enjoyed the supernatural elements Ms. Littlefield created into this world of contemporary Missouri. As well as the history of Hailey's family, harking back to Ireland. I liked Hailey as a character. Her life sucks, but she doesn't let that turn her bitter or angry. She just makes plans for a better future and when those plans have to change, she changes with them.
My favorite was the ending. I was surprised at the twisted tastiness of it all. Ooooh...I will not say more because it was such a cool surprise that I don't want to ruin it for you.
This is definitely the first in a series, setting up the later books. I mean, she doesn't even meet a romantic lead till practically the end of the book...just a hint of what is to come later on in the series.
I did wonder at Chub (the foster brother (uncle?)). He didn't add much to the story and I'm thinking that in later books his real purpose will be shown. But in this first installment, all he did was sleep. Seriously, he should be checked out at the hospital because I'm thinking he suffers from narcolepsy. Every once in a while, after sleeping for 20 hours, he would say a few words. Which was a little something, but not much to add to his existence in the novel.
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