![]() The premise is a diverting twist on beastly fairy tales, and though the descriptive prose and distracted pacing sometimes hinder the action, readers looking for sisterly bonds, big spooky houses, and girls with inner (and outer) beasts will find them here. Things gain some oomph at the end, though, as unsuspected dimensions of the curse come to light and enable Marie to expose the true instigator behind the murders. The mystery falls flat as Marie’s snooping doesn’t yield any useful answers most of her assumptions conveniently turn out to be correct, while neglected plot threads dangle for long stretches of time. ![]() ![]() Certain that the explanation and cure for Ama’s curse lies within the local manor house, where Ama went to work off their father’s debts and came back with a beastly form and appetite, Marie volunteers her knowledge of herbs to help the young lord’s sickly little brother and proceeds to snoop. ![]() Still, Ama’s bloodthirsty transformations endanger the townsfolk’s lives and her family’s reputation, and when a local child is killed, Marie fears that Ama is losing herself to the beast. Once a month, when her younger sister, Ama, turns into a literal beast, Marie scent-marks an inconspicuous victim for her sister to kill and eat: after all, nobody will pay much attention to a missing vagrant or drunkard in their eighteenth-century French town. lavenders strung from the wooden rafters Where beasts run in the forest and snow falls between evergreen branches Read Stalking Shadows by Cyla Panin. ![]()
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