Betwixt

by Tara Bray Smith

For three teenagers, dark mystery has always lurked at the corner of the eyes and the edge of sleep. Beautiful Morgan D'Amici wakes in her trailerpark home with dirt and blood under her fingernails. Paintings come alive under Ondine Mason's violet-eyed gaze. Haunted runaway Nix Saint-Michael sees halos of light around people about to die. At a secret summer rave, the three teenagers learn of their true, changeling nature and their uncertain, intertwined destinies. Riveting, unflinching, beautiful, BETWIXT shows a magic as complex and challenging as any ordinary truth.

• ISBN10: 031606033X
• ISBN13: 9780316060332
• Publish Date: 1 October 2007
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 11 January 2011
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: Little, Brown & Company
• Imprint: Little, Brown Young Readers
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 488
• Language: English

Reviews

[Angie]

Betwixt sounded like it was going to be this dangerous, dark tale of the fae, but for me, it was mostly boring and confusing. Ondine's parents have just moved to Chicago, but she wants to stay in Portland for her senior year. Of course, her friend Morgan convinces her to throw a party to start the summer off right. It's at this party that everything changes, thanks to a partycrasher named Moth. Everyone thinks Moth is just a drug dealer who likes hitting on teenage girls, but really, he's a fairy and the one who will guide these girls and a loner named Nik toward their true natures.

I struggled with Betwixt from the start. The writing is very formal and stiff, which made me feel like I was being held at arm's length from what was happening. It was also just annoying, since everyone was always referred to by name, sometimes both first and last name. Even when it could have simply said "her parents," it used their full names which made everything awkward. When I think about my parents, I just think "my parents." Not their first names, and certainly not their full names. Locations were also always mentioned. I get it, this is set in Portland. I don't need to be reminded. I also don't care what street Odine lives on, or that Nix is from Sitka, Alaska. WE KNOW!

As for the plot, I have to admit that I didn't always follow what was going on. I loved this idea of changelings being gathered to learn of their true nature, and being guided before their transformations. I also liked that Ondine didn't just immediately believe what she was being told. She believed this was some kind of cult, especially since a drug known as "dust" was involved. Of course, Ondine has to be the most special of the special, much to Morgan's displeasure. And there's an evil fae who wants to lead these teens into evil, and he must be stopped. There's also something about them entering Novala (fairyland), but not being able to, or needing something or something. I don't know. I got really confused about halfway in. I also didn't get why Morgan hated Neve so much, who wound up being an important character, so maybe she was jealous? I don't know. I hated Morgan though.

Betwixt was just strange. Partially in a good way, since I liked some of the ideas here. But mostly it was too strange in a confusing and frustrating way. I wanted to love it, since that description is super awesome, but it just kind of fell flat.

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.