Black Woods Blue Sky by Eowyn Ivey

 

What this book is about:  Birdie, a young single mother, and her six-year-old daughter, Emaleen, who live in Alaska. Birdie yearns for freedom and flight and wild places. And Arthur Nielsen, a quiet, scarred recluse who lives in an isolated cabin in the mountains beyond Wolverine River. He and Birdie fall in love and for awhile the three of them are happy living together far away from everyone else, exploring the wilderness, picking berries, catching salmon. But Arthur has a secret--a side of himself that isn't so tame. And it threatens their fairy tale ending.

My thoughts:  I loved Ivey's fairy tale-inspired novel, The Snow Child. She has a way of evoking a sense of wonder with her lyrical prose while at the same time creating a setting so real you can practically smell the wildflowers. And she's done it again with this novel. I loved the richly drawn Alaskan wilderness setting, and I loved Arthur and Emaleen and their cute interactions, too. But like many a Grimm fairy tale, I sensed early on I might not get my hoped for happy ending in this one. Because this book is sad. Which didn't make me like it any less, though it did break my heart just a little. I wanted more for Arthur, Birdie and Emaleen. But I still love the way Ivey writes.

My rating:  ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Happy Reading!

In the Hour of Crows by Dana Elmendorf

 "Papaw gave me his death-talking gift when I was only nine. He  told me what he could do, then he told me how to use the secret Bible verses to do it. The gift jumped out of him and into me."

"There are only a few rules for death-talking. If you tell someone the secret scriptures, your gift is gone. You can only pass it to someone of the opposite sex. If you die with your gift, it disappears forever. And you can't talk the death out of someone twice."

"What Papaw didn't tell me is how you shoulder a lifetime of guilt for all the souls you can't save. That I'll spend the rest of my life trying to make up for it."

 

 My thoughts: I liked the combination of mystery and magical realism in this book. And I always love that small town Appalachia setting with its deep-rooted families (and all their secrets), their strange superstitions, and their herbal folk magic. And I really liked Weatherly Wilder with her eerie gift of saving lives with her death-talking, and her vulnerability, especially as she tries to prove who murdered her cousin, Adaire. There's also a mysterious Soul Walker named Rook, who is sometimes a boy, more often a crow; I loved his connection to Weatherly. There's great Southern atmosphere, a compelling voice, and several good twists. Poignant, gritty, and beautifully written, In the Hour of Crows is a captivating novel.  ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Happy Reading!