Hunter's Moon; OR Melling

This is the first in the Chronicles of Faerie series, originally pubbed years ago & is now being reworked & repubbed. Orla Melling is the pseudonym of an Irish Canadian author- or could be a Canadian Irish author, depending on how you look at things. Favorite little tidbits: the author supplies a glossary with pronounciation & translations & the book is filled with Gaelic poetry & lyrics & there have been at least two or three new words I had to look up. New vocabulary words for Scrabble games! Yay! Yes, I am a nerd.

Anyhow, Hunter's Moon is aimed at young adults. Ms. Melling's work reminds me of Tamora Pierce in that the heroines of this tale are young women on the cusp of full adulthood. HM is set in the present though & full of references to current musicians & technology. Gwen & Findabhair, which is pronounced fin-a-veer the book says (God I hope I spell that properly, I don't have the book to check), are cousins on a road trip/adventure in Findabhair's native country of Ireland. Gwen is actually American but the girls nurtured a close relationship despite the distance.

Gwen is a follower, thus when Findabhair changes the agenda Gwen goes along despite misgivings & disiking deceiving her aunt & uncle. Unfortunately, Findabhair has been bespelled by a hunky goth-type fairy guy & she ditches Gwen while they're illicitly camping inside a mound at Tara, the ancient seat of Irish kings (& fairies too). So Gwen wakes up alone in the mound. Where did Findabhair go & how can Gwen get her back? Will she prevail against the ancient magics conspiring to steal her cousin away for good? Also- hunky fairy guy #2 in command vs. young Irish guy who claims to be the hereditary king of his little island?? Decisions, decisions.

After that follows a wonderful road adventure, quest type storyline. Leprechauns and ancient magics older than faerie take their turn onstage. As I said- this book could be a tour guide for those of us in love with ancient places where the veil of the world is thin. Full of lore & poetry. Plus? An ending that made me cry. What more could a girl wish for?!

This is a library book, but I want one of my own. Enjoy!