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Fantasy. Folklore. Young Adult Fiction. HTML: "Gripping, mystical and adventurous, young readers will be as hooked as Maddy was the minute she set foot inside that creepy as hell old castle," Irish World said of The Feral Child. Maddy, an orphan, is sick of her Irish town, and sick of her cousin Danny, one of the nastiest people you could meet. Mad as hell one evening, she crawls inside the grounds of the castle, the one place she has always been forbidden to go. Once inside, she is chased by a strange feral boy, who she suspects is one of the faerie: cruel, fantastical people who live among humans and exchange local children for their own. When the boy returns to steal her neighbor Stephen into his world, Maddy and her cousins set off on a terrifying journey into a magical wilderness, determined to bring him back home. To do so, they must face an evil as old as the earth itself. Che Golden has created a gripping adventure that interweaves Maddy's modern Irish experience with the vivid fantasy of the region's ancient folklore. Readers will enjoy the frank and bold heroine of Maddy, and will be dazzled by The Feral Child's evocative rendering of Irish folklore and richly imagined alternate worlds. From the Hardcover edition..… (more)
User reviews
Maddy is an orphan who is living with her grandparents in
Maddy is a preteen with a serious chip on her shoulder. You can tell she is still hurting from the death of her parents. She deals with this by being vicious, mean and confrontational with everyone. Even her grandparents, who obviously love her, are stuck dealing with her disobedience and sharp tongue. Part of the reason the fae boy she meets in the castle singles her out is because of the darkness and pain he sees inside of her.
The fae are portrayed as absolutely vicious, which I enjoyed...really it is more true to the fae from classic literature and mythology. Golden does not shy away from fae who harm, torture, and manipulate in the most cruel of ways. It never gets too gory or disturbing though so I think it should be fine for the middle grade age group.
The plot is fairly simple and straight-forward. It was a fast-paced and engaging read. The story wraps up at a good spot and the book is very readable and well written.
Overall I really enjoyed the book. This is a quick read, with a simple plot, but I enjoyed it all the same. It’s fast paced and I love reading books about the fae as based in mythology. The characters are engaging and there is a lot of room for Maddy to grow from a lonely and mean girl to something more. Recommended to those who like to read about fae (and I am not talking about the glittery and fluffy type of fae either).