by Isobelle Carmody
256 pages
Middle School+
In a world where being different is dangerous, Elspeth Gordie has to hide who she truly is. She is different than everyone else because she can read your mind. Even her brother, who loves her, is a little freaked out by this. A cat is the only one that really excepts her for who she is. And he isn't even around all the time.
Finally she slips and someone turns her in to the officials. Aberrations like her are sent to mysterious Obernewtyn, a place none return from and that horrible rumors abound. Slightly scared, and slightly relieved to finally be able to reveal her abilities, Elspeth travels there to be held for the rest of her days.
But when she gets there, Obernewtyn is not nearly as terrible as she heard. She has to work hard in the kitchens and in the fields, plus there is no escaping the remote mountain location, but life could be a lot worse. But when her friend is taken in for "doctor treatments," Elspeth starts noticing changes in her. Something strange is going on, and Elspeth must figure out what before she too becomes a victim.
I felt like this was an okay book, has lots of potential for later books, but took me a little while to get through. Lots happens, there is adventure and intrigue, but it felt a little shallow to me. None of the characters really change that much, or grow tons. Elspeth has the same issues at the end as she did at the beginning, and the rest of the characters stay the same- not tons of depth to them. The world is interesting and Obernewtyn does set up lots of possibilities for later novels in the series, but this one just felt a little flat.
Overall, I probably wills till recommend this for mostly girls that are looking for another fantasy series. Good book, just fell flat. I hope that the rest of the series develops the characters more and presents new and different challenges to Elspeth. Interesting premise, and maybe when I read the next it will be better.
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