Two cousins are backpacking around Ireland until they make the mistake of sleeping inside a fairy mound. When Findabhair is kidnapped by the King of the Faeries, Gwen goes to great lengths to rescue her cousin - finding help and love along the way. But the ending is a great surprise.

I really enjoyed this YA novel, and I look forward to the sequels.

The Hunter's Moon by O. R. Melling is another one of those fusions of modern-day life with faery, with teen protagonists. However, this one is lifted out of the ordinary by several factors. First, it takes place in Ireland. Although this is NOT uncommon, the author is a resident of Ireland and has a BA in Celtic Studies and Philosophy and an M.A. in Medieval Irish History. Therefore, the geography and descriptions of countryside all over the island as well as the use of mythology is uncommonly accurate. This doesn't guarantee good writing, but in this case, the writing integrates it well into the story of two 16-year old cousins setting off for an adventure around Ireland. Another factor is the intelligence and assertive character that the main viewpoint character, Gwen, develops through her travails. The girls are not passive victims but active participants in their destiny. All in all, I find this a very readable and enjoyable YA novel. ( )

American teenager Gwen hoped to spend her summer with her Irish cousin Findabhair seeking out places famous for their faerie connection. She never expected to be on a wild hunt around Ireland hoping to rescue Finn from a Faerie king desperate to make her his bride. Caught between the human world and Faerie, Gwen has to use all of her wit and all of her willpower to resist the charms of Faerie - or lose her cousin forever.

I loved the depiction of faeries in Melling's The Hunter's Moon - they're beautiful, charming, and dangerous; whimsical and pitiless. They're the stuff of Irish folklore brought to life in a way that emphasizes their otherworldliness, their lack of humanity but while still making their attraction obvious. And that's a pretty tough thing to pull off. I was really impressed at the way Melling seemed to echo and amplify the story's Irish roots by contrasting it with modern-day Ireland.

I enjoyed the girls' story - and the twist near the end certainly took me by surprise. After all, a story involving faeries will certainly never be straight-forward. I was really drawn into this story, and I recommend it to those interested in Irish folklore.

More posted at my blog. ( )

I absolutely loved this book! It's rare that I find a fiction book I can recommend without reservation. The first of Melling's Chronicles of Faerie, this is the the story of two cousins who set out across Ireland searching for the fantastic worlds that they've always dreamed of, but run into trouble when they actually find what they're looking for. I loved the writing, which manages to be rich and evocative while at the same time clear and unpretentious. And I really appreciated the differences between this book and the sort of YA urban fairy stories that are popular lately; this story has a sense of innocence and wonder that I found lacking in some of the gritty real-world fairy stories I've recently read. There's no drug abuse, no dysfunctional families, not even any swearing. Instead, there are positive relationships set against a rich background of Irish lore. It was refreshing to be reminded of how magical YA fantasy can be. ( )

Gwen's cousin Findobhair is fairy-napped and it is up to Gwen to track down the traveling Fey Court and rescue her cousin before she is made the Sacrifice. In the course of her journey, Gwen learns about herself, her inner strength, the importance of friends and the power of confidence. The book starts off a bit slow, but by the end of the second chapter, the reader is caught up in the story. With a few surprising twists thrown in and interesting bits of Celtic lore sprinkled about, this novel is a refreshing "fairytale". ( )