HERRICK'S END

A young man journeys through a new world to rescue a friend in need.

Nineteen-year-old Ollie Delgato floats through life untethered as an orphaned son from an abusive household, a fat young man who believes himself unlovable and who’s working a food-service job in Boston to make ends meet as he waits for community college to start. When his friend Nell goes missing, Ollie’s worry about her well-being leads him to the Neath, a magical, mysterious underworld originally created by witches to protect and hide survivors of abuse. Before long, Ollie makes friends and foes; among his allies is Tera, a budding painter, but his time is running out because visitors to the Neath only have a few days there before their lungs mutate and they are unable to leave. Something is rotten at the Neath’s core, and what began as Ollie’s earnest search for a friend turns into a quest for survival, justice, and acceptance. Blanchet’s debut is the first in a promising trilogy that examines the line between setting things right and exacting revenge in surprising ways. Set in a whimsical underworld full of dangers and wonders, this coming-of-age story develops Ollie’s sense of community and belonging while his internalized fatphobia, white-knight complex, and sense of self-worth are thoughtfully explored, questioned, and subverted. Ollie is cued as White; Tera has brown skin.

A thoughtful and empowering hero’s journey.