Juliet Marillier walks a fine line between thrilling and boring and somehow manages to just make it good enough to keep reading.

Her wild spirit and determination to save her brothers no matter what, would have been quite enough. She loves her brothers dearly and has a special bond with the Fair Folk, as well as the ability to hear their voices and communicate with the Lady of the Forest and the Bright One.Some peasants recognize them and inform them that their father is not well, and they hasten to the palace, where Donal, Lord Colum's former general, informs them that their step-mother has recently disappeared. Still, I found the last third of the book captured my attention without me even realising, and before I knew it I had become invested in Sorcha’s story, more than I anticipated. It's also refreshing that Sorcha is an incredibly strong female character, who faces some amazingly difficult obstacles, and yet never once does Marillier need to spell this out. Sorcha never rails against the lot of women, she just gets on with things, follows her purpose and her faith, and deals with the path ahead with the skills she has.

Marillier spends most of the first half creating distinct characters for each of the six brothers the heroine Sorcha must save. Finally (you’ll be glad to hear … I’ve rambled on and on) I appreciated how Marillier made Simon a traumatised character. He loves battle and his dog, Linn, and Lady Ooangh uses his love for the dog against him by making him hit her. At the end of the novel, he is the brother who has one swan wing remaining, and it is implied that he mated while he was still a swan, and that because swans mate for life, he can never be fully human.

In both versions the girl is married to a foreign king who protects her at first; but, unable to defend herself against accusations of sorcery and murder, she is eventually sentenced to burn.

And yes, like you Lynn, I’m struggling to keep in mind that Sorcha is only 12 years old at the beginning of the story. THE GOOD: Great beginning, great last third, some fantastic characters and a beautiful, very subtle romance.This is also a society where arranged marriages are simply the norm, and that while some work out well, others definitely do not.