COVENTRY CURSED

In Morton’s YA fantasy mystery, two teens find themselves caught up in the mythology of an otherworldly realm.

As the story opens, Elizabeth “Eli” Coventry has been kidnapped while walking to school and is working her way toward escaping from the basement she finds herself in, while in a separate plotline, studious high schooler Sarah Lakshmi-Matthews grieves for her recently deceased mother, but still feels close to her father and especially to her best friend, Maria, who makes her feel that someone is “on her team for keeps, win or lose.” Very suddenly, Eli and Sarah are thrust into a new and dangerous circumstance when they separately venture into some nearby woods and find themselves cut off from the world they once knew. In this new land, a prophecy says that one of the girls is destined to defeat an evil queen and save the world from destruction. As a result, one of them is worshiped and adored, as per the legend, while the other is held in a creepy, run-down shack by a curious old woman. Working with new friends they’ve met along the way, the pair eventually cross paths and work together to fight the evil that’s lurking behind castle walls—and find their way home. Morton’s prose is brisk and easy to digest, which makes the reading experience consistently engaging. Although the tale is firmly in the fantasy genre, complete with magical beings and portals, it ably brings in elements of thrillers and even cozy mysteries. Despite some darkness, this tale is often fun and lighthearted, but certain plot points seem to go nowhere, which may leave some readers feeling unfulfilled. There are also a great many characters to keep track of, making it feel overly crowded. The most riveting element of the story, though, is how the two main characters figure out their places in the land they find themselves in, and in its myths.

An energetic, adventurous, and warm genre-bending tale.