Claire McFall

I absolutely loved this book. McFall adds a romantic twist to the Charon myth that will keep you on the edge of your seat. This beautifully written story follows Dylan across a wasteland that is influenced by her emotions on her way to the afterlife. Her Ferryman, Tristan, becomes her protector and guide as they journey through the perilous and hostile environment trying to keep ahead of the demon wraiths who are there to steal her soul.. I was intrigued from the beginning and could not put show more the book down. Thank you Candlewick Press for giving me the opportunity to read an advance copy through early reviewers. show less

Ferryman is a solid summer beach read that hits the requisite YA romance tropes while avoiding the worst in terms of the love interest. Teenage protagonist Dylan doesn't fit in at school and is in a rough place with her mom, who disagrees with Dylan's choice to rekindle a relationship with the biological father she hasn't seen since childhood. When the train Dylan's taking to see him crashes and she crawls from the wreckage to encounter the aloof-but-physically-attractive Tristan, who show more mysteriously insists she follow him across the Highlands, it takes a while before she realizes that she's dead and that Tristan is there to guide her to her final reward.

The two quickly fall in instalove based solely--as far as I can tell--on the color of each other's eyes, leaving the twin questions of whether Tristan can guide Dylan safely to the other side through a wasteland populated with soul-eating demons and wraiths, and what will become of them as a couple, to drive the plot. There's some really nice narrative description of said wasteland, which hits all the right creepy and ominous notes. The departed souls and their ferryman "orbs" are particularly well done, as are the transitions between Dylan's initial and unadulterated views of the wasteland. Spoilers from here.

McFall thankfully eschews the standard YA "he's an abusive dick to her face but secretly loves her deep inside" trope so common to the genre. Tristan is detached and exhausted from an eternity of ferrying souls across the wasteland, but he doesn't treat Dylan repulsively, which is nice departure from the usual.

Surprisingly, it's Dylan, not the love interest, who's not particularly likeable. Dylan, we're told, is unlike the other souls Tristan has ferried across, who are so tiresomely overcome with sadness, grief, and remorse once they realize they're dead. By contrast, Dylan "accepted the truth calmly, with no outbursts." Readers are told this is because of her unusually "pure" soul. Instead, Dylan's sole focus once she realizes she's dead is on how pretty Tristan is and how she'll give up everything to be with him...and all this after having spent less than a day in his presence. The mother she bickered with who will never see her daughter again? The from-childhood best friend she was confiding in at the moment of her death? The father she'll never have the chance to meet? As far as Dylan is concerned: Meh.

Not caring about the friends and family you've been unexpectedly and permanently parted from because there's a cute boy in front of you strikes me as uncaring and ugly, not pure, but this is YA romance, so let's roll with it. Ditto the gentle, lonely murder victim Tristan condemns to eternal damnation in order to reunite with Dylan. And there are other missteps, such as Tristan starting the novel with the ability to know every soul "inside and out, past, likes, dislikes, hopes, feelings, and dreams," which enables him to endearingly embarrass Dylan by teasing her about her attraction to him early in the novel; unsurprisingly, his mind reading ability suddenly vanishes when McFall needs him to not know what Dylan's thinking to build "but does she love me?!?" narrative tension in the novel's second half. End spoilers.

Nuanced fantasy fiction this is not. But if you're looking for something light and go into the novel knowing what you're getting into, it hits the right genre notes. show less

After passing away in a train crash, fifteen-year-old Dylan must trek across a barren landscape, on her way to the afterlife. The wasteland is populated by wraiths eager to consume the souls of the newly dead, and Dylan makes this arduous and perilous journey under the protection of her guide, Tristan, the ferryman. A slow burn romance ensues. I sunk into the story straight away, wooed by the poetic and dreamlike nature of the prose. The author's Goodreads site says that her novels take show more straightforward romantic narratives and hurl them into unusual and extreme settings, and that's an apt description of this story. A fresh take on first love, and a myth reimagined, Ferryman makes for a mesmerising read. show less

Dancing into a bit of mythology, this tale weaves around death, adventure and a lovely romance.

Dylan is on her way to see her father for the first time in many years, but when the train enters a tunnel, everything blacks out. Climbing out of wreckage, Dylan makes her way out of the wreckage to discover a strange landscape and a guy, who calls himself the Ferryman. As they journey hours upon hours, she slowly realizes that she has died, and that he's leading her to where ever it is her soul show more should go. But the journey isn't easy as wraiths and demons try to consume her soul with only the Ferryman separating them from their goal.

The surmise on this one caught my attention, and I was excited to dive in. The tale is well done with wonderful world building, action, and adventure. From the very first moment, the reader is pulled in and follows Dylan through a well-done death and into an amazing world. It's not hard to figure out what's going on long before Dylan figures it out, but then, this is done in the POVs of both main characters. Still, the wraiths and demons add more than enough tension as do the shifting emotions of Dylan as she tries to figure everything out. I did enjoy reading this one from beginning to end, and am looking forward to see where book two continues.

There are quite a few secrets and unknows despite the double POV. Dylan comes across as a clever, very kind and alert girl, who is forced to go way past her comfort zone...which she does even when she wishes she didn't have to. Her personality does draw in and comes across pretty naturally. The Ferryman, on the other hand, stays a bit more at arm's length away. There are reasons for this, which make it very understandable, and yet, it would have been nice to get a bit more from him. For example, he claims he knows everything about Dylan's life, and yet, this amazing tidbit doesn't come into play much at all...as if he doesn't really know her, since he finds her so intriguing and surprising at times. Also, the questions behind some of the world's logic and rules are left unanswered, but there's still a book two and three, so I'm going to assume that will take care of a lot of this.

The romance is very well done. The two are slowly drawn to each other, letting this one build. I'm not sure how all of this works out, since there are huge differences between the two (and by no means easy ones), but I guess, that's some of the fun. The interactions pull back and forth but are always warm underneath. If there had been a bit more plot twisting and depth, I would have been over the moon for this read. Still, it's more than enjoyable, and I definitely recommend it and will be looking to grab the next book in the series because I'm not done with these characters yet. show less