Not good for maidens

In Bovalino's tantalizing horror novel, a retelling of Christina Rossetti's "Goblin Market" told in alternating past and present perspectives, 17-year-old asexual, white-cued Louisa Wickett-Stevens uncovers sinister family secrets about their terrifying history. Bostonite Lou is tired of her mother's secrecy regarding their family's past. In a last-ditch effort to learn more about their ancestry, Lou proposes visiting her best friend Neela--younger half sister to her aunt May and her mother Laura--in their York, England hometown, but Laura refuses. After Lou receives a distressed message from Neela ("I'm out of time... I'm at the market"), she's plagued by mysterious voices luring her to York and begs Laura to let her help search for Neela. Though Laura insists she stay behind, Lou persuades May to follow after her departure. Diving headlong into a deadly world populated by witches, fairies, and goblins, Lou unravels the real reason May and Laura fled to America. Bovalino doesn't shy away from the market's gory horrors but never lingers, successfully balancing grisly depictions of butchered bodies with Lou's poignant contemplation on her role in the world and her family in this swift-moving and enticing work of horror. Ages 14--up. Agent: Uwe Stender and Amelia Appel, Triada US. (June)

A magical coming-of-age tale. A beautifully imagined examination of the bonds that tie sisters, friends, families, and lovers, Bovalino's sophomore novel is bursting with empowered women who are eager to prove themselves against the otherworldly, often deadly challenges they meet at a mystical, dangerous goblin market and the strange Inbetween. Returning from Boston to York in the north of England, Louisa Wickett-Stevens, the 17-year-old asexual protagonist, enters a hidden world of goblins and witches. When her best friend, Neela, who is also Lou's mother's much-younger half sister, goes missing, Lou learns a great deal about herself and what she's willing to risk. She also discovers the secrets her mother and aunt May have tried to protect her from all her life. Starting off slowly, the story builds as backstories and timelines are established. While the shifting narrative structure that moves between past and present feels somewhat more burdensome than revelatory, once the pieces fall into position, the stakes are high, and readers discover full characters that are richly developed. Plot-oriented readers may find the unfolding trajectory of events mildly predictable, but fans of horror-adjacent fantasy will revel in the lavish worldbuilding. Distinctly contemplative while action-oriented, the book spills blood on the pages that is neither wasted nor exploited in this fierce fantasy tinted with horror themes. Diversity is cued through names and skin tones as well as descriptions of multiple characters' diverse sexual orientations; Lou reads as White. A violent and voluptuous adventure. (Paranormal fantasy. 14-18) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.