Once Upon A Time... We Gave You Knightmares

This is not a fairy tale... this is a horror story.

Every fairy tale has a grain of truth, you just have to look for it.

John Creed starts his mornings like many young boys, paper route at the local newsagents, off to school, tries to duck the school bully on his way home. But he isn’t like those other young boys. His nights are tortured by dreams of the white wolf and his days by a face badly scarred from an accident when he was a baby. What little money John and his grandfather have they scrape together and share. No unnecessary luxuries. At home John learns ancient folklore and language from his grandfather, never understanding why, just knowing that it is important to him that he learns it.

Fyre King stands out at school, not just for her name but because of her appearance. Her looks don’t enrage the bully in the same way though, he wants her back, and when Fyre befriends John it sets in motion a dangerous path for them both.

The writing is very atmospheric and the simplicity of some of the description is beautiful. When describing the snow covered view… “All the edges had been taken off the world.” The author adds some fantastic little touches that feel like they’re almost hidden and some large twists that make your jaw drop. The relationship between John and Fyre is a very sweet, and mutually beneficial one. Both scared of others finding out their secrets they are guarded until their lives entwine and they realise their destinies are closer than they realise.

I don’t think I’ve read a book that ended quite like this one. It left me greatly satisfied with the story and intrigued about some leading last words. This was a great find and I really had to force myself to put it down. When you read the blurb on a book you come to your own conclusions about what you’re going to find, the description of this book intrigues but I don’t think it the end result was what I expected, it was so much better. With a lot of fairy tale themed books coming out for adults and YA, this section has become saturated with so many to choose from you run the risk of missing some excellent pieces of writing… this one is a must read for any teens out there.