THE PROPHECY OF THE STONES

Weak writing ruins a potentially interesting relationship between main plot and mysterious frame story. On their 14th birthdays, three unacquainted girls—a duke’s daughter, a commoner, and a peasant—are each given a magic stone and sent from their homes with barely any explanation. Following a prophecy without knowing what it is, Jade, Opal, and Amber make their way to a land called Fairytale. Unlike the Outside, where “people are deprived of their liberty . . . dreams . . . ambition,” Fairytale is considered “free.” But there’s really no indication of material or moral difference between the lands and both are left frustratingly blank. Bujor tells of emotion, identity, and character growth without showing them, leaving characters generic even as their feelings ricochet implausibly. Meanwhile, possibly in another time, a hospitalized girl struggles for life—but even this cryptic frame fails to satisfy in the end. Without substance. (Fantasy. 10-13)