Isola Wilde has six brothers made up of two ghosts, a fury, a mermaid, a faerie and a boy. Her reliance on them over the last six years has made her reclusive, but with the entry of a new boy in town and a dead girl in a bird cage, Isola's life takes a turn for the worse, the lines between reality and fantasy blurring beyond the norm.
I got this book as a birthday present from a really good friend, and was totally blown away by it. It's beautiful, emotive, sweet and horrifying, sometimes all at once. Near does an amazing job of capturing the tumultuousness of adolescence and pairing it with a deeper psychological horror. At it's heart, it's a mother-daughter story, and the dichotomy that plays out between Isola and her mother is a beautiful one, and one that reflects the best and worst of any relationship, particularly with someone mentally ill.
Her brother princes are also great - I'm particularly fond of Christobelle and Ruslana. The way they embody different relationships and characteristics with and of Isola is masterfully done, and bellies the friends, siblings and spiritual beings of most YA or even adult fiction. All in all, read this book.
4.5/5 brother princes
Thank you very much, Sophie! The brother-princes were indeed originally imagined as figures encompassing aspects of Isola's personality. Courtney Brims' portraits of Christobelle and Ruslana were so spot-on!
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