bones of faerie by janni lee simner

Towns had died for not understanding that much. My father was a sensible man.
But the memory of my sister’s bones, cracked and bloody in the moonlight, haunts me still.
It’s been several years since the War ended, but the aftereffects of the battles are still evident in Liza’s world. Children are born with glass clear hair. Trees reach for people with evil intents. Hawks that used to prey on small rodents now aim for larger food, and to leave your village after dark is a death wish. Liza, a fifteen year-old girl, knows the rules. How could she not, with her father being the one who keeps them alive? With a sister eaten by wild animals because of her hair? With the terrible fear that some day her own hair will turn glass clear, and her father will kill her? No, Liza knows the rules, and she keeps them. It’s better to be paranoid than dead.
But one night Liza’s mother disappears, and when Liza leaves to find her, she discovers by accident that she, Liza, has the power to see… To see the future, to see the past. While on her quest to find her mother, Liza will have to discover whether magic really is bad… or if it’s simply a tool that must be used with care.
A shadow darkened the rocks ahead. I looked up even as the hawk screeched and dove for us. Allie froze, gaze turned upward, too startled to run. I threw myself over her, saw Matthew hit the dirt as well. Around us, the stones exploded in a snow-bright blaze.
This is a book I’ve been meaning to read for a while. I got it from the library, but couldn’t get around to reading it until it was due. (How typical.) But now that I have read it, I’m glad I did. It was an interesting book… it was a fast read, and that combined with just a thinnish book, made for only several hours reading. But it was totally worth it.
Liza was a good main character… I found myself completely identified with her, and I think most teenagers (At least girls), can identify especially with the conflict with her dad, Ian. Not that I’m saying most of our dad’s are abusive… simply that it can seem that way (yeah, teenage overreaction. 😉 ) But besides that, the other characters were interesting as well, and I can say that the only character that I didn’t think was particularly deep was Matthew… he basically seemed like “the boy”, even though there was no “romance” to the book. 🙂
I’d give this book four stars.