Kirkus Reviews QR Code
WARPED by Maurissa Guibord

WARPED

by Maurissa Guibord

Pub Date: Jan. 11th, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-385-73891-0
Publisher: Delacorte

Every mythical creature stars in a love story these days. This story’s conceit—a unicorn who is actually a hot Cornish noble from 1511 is made human again and popped into contemporary Portland, Maine, when his life thread is pulled from a tapestry—creates a situation in which unicorn romance actually makes sense. When spunky-but-ordinary high-school senior Tessa rescues Will from his tapestry prison, they must face down Gray Lily, the 500-year-old witch who used Will for her immortality, and deal with the Norn, or Fates, who are annoyed at all these meddling humans. The dialogue is clunky, though, and narrative imperative overrides plausibility (peasant-turned-witch Gray Lily wrote a diary in the 1500s, helpfully detailing all her wickedness and magical prowess, and then lost it?). But it doesn’t matter because the point is that Tessa and Will belong together, and nothing (Fates, evil, 500-year age difference) can withstand their love. Despite the older age of the characters, this is really for the starry-eyed younger teen who stands, riveted, at the Cloisters or the Cluny longing for a unicorn of her own. (Romantic fantasy. 12-16)