The Graces

"The Graces" demands to be read twice: The first time for the suspense; the second for the subtleties you missed initially. Eve's rich story is about the kind of magic that comes from spells and the kind that comes from those moments when the present feels right and the future full of possibility. "As we spoke in low voices, life seemed to expand before us," the narrator, River Page, says about a conversation with her crush, Fenrin Grace. "The endless universe, filled with questions and dark mystery." Like everyone in her small English town, the newcomer River is fascinated by the Grace family: 17-year-old Fenrin and his twin, Thalia; dark and funny Summer, 15; the aloof matriarch, Esther; and the brooding father, Gwydion. According to local lore, the Graces are witches. How else could they be so captivating, so unknowable? When River's plan to befriend the three siblings works, she is as surprised as anyone. Eve's short, choppy chapters create a page-turning pace and lend urgency to the story's mysteries. Why did River and her mother have to leave their old town? Is the "Grace Curse" real? Can Fenrin, Thalia and Summer really never be in love with a "nonwitch"? Though River's angst is often one dramatic exhale away from toppling into hyperbole, Eve's lovely language makes it work. By the end of "The Graces" it's clear that River's theories about Summer, Thalia and Fenrin reveal as much about her as they do about them.