#125 and my final book of 2015! This was a fun romp through magical realism. It took me a bit to warm up to it, but before long I was fully engaged in the story. If you like concrete conclusions, this probably isn't the book for you, but I like a bit of vagary-- which this has in abundance.

post faerie kidnapping aftermath. Good read

An intriguing fantasy novel starting off in the modern world where Sonny is a bullied high school senior scared that his peers will discover that he is a hermaphrodite. But then the mystery deepens as Sonny (Sy) wakes up in a fantasy world of castles and magic where he is regarded as some kind of god. I did get a little annoyed by Sonny's inability to accept his situation but I am, nevertheless, dying to get my hands on the next installment.

"You're in a frightening new world. You want to go home. You're not going to get home by hiding in the broken house that landed in OZ, are you? You're going to have to risk what might be outside of your reason."

A realistic and beautifully written exploration of what might happen if the tale of Rip Van Winkle (or any of the older stories of people being taken 'Under the Hill') happened in modern-day England.

Twenty years ago, 16-yr-old Tara disappeared after a fight with her boyfriend. Although the boyfriend was a suspect, nothing was ever proven, and her family was left to mourn and to come to terms with Tara's presumed death.

Now, Tara has shown up on her parents' doorstep. At first, she gives a sketchy story about having traveled the world for the last 20 years, but soon she tells her brother, Peter, a story of having gone with a handsome man on a white horse, to a Fairyland that resembled a free-love commune, with magic.

Naturally, Peter convinces her to see a shrink.

While the book is well done, I personally felt that there was too much psychological analysis and not enough action. I wanted to feel more magic and less mundane, domestic detail. I understand why Joyce made the decisions he did here, I just didn't end up loving the result - although I did like the book.

The end was well done, with a sense of the inevitable that fits both the spirit of the folklore and the situation set up in the novel.

This story made the impossible seem possible; a little fairy tale a little real life! I became immediately interested in all the characters, the story, and where the author would lead me. It reminded me of The Stolen Child and I will certainly be watching for this author in the future.