Nightspell

by Leah Cypess

Here be ghosts, the maps said, and that was all. In this haunted kingdom, ghosts linger-not just in the deepest forests or the darkest caverns, but alongside the living, as part of a twisted palace court that revels all night and sleeps through the daylight hours. Darri's sister was trapped in this place of fear and shadows as a child. And now Darri has a chance to save her sister ...if she agrees to a betrothal with the prince of the dead. But nothing is simple in this eerie kingdom-not her sister, who has changed beyond recognition; not her plan, which will be thrown off track almost at once; and not the undead prince, who seems more alive than anyone else. In a court seething with the desire for vengeance, Darri holds the key to the balance between life and death. Can her warrior heart withstand the most wrenching choice of all?

• ISBN10: 006195702X
• ISBN13: 9780061957024
• Publish Date: 10 June 2011 (first published 16 June 2010)
• Publish Status: Active
• Out of Print: 7 June 2021
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Greenwillow Books
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 336
• Language: English

Reviews

[ladygrey]

[b:Nightspell|6768413|Nightspell (Mistwood, #2)|Leah Cypess|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1289234772s/6768413.jpg|6967610] is a surprisingly well written, interesting tale. I liked that it's unlike so many books of this genre. The heroine and the heroes aren't typical, the story unfolds in a kind of tangled but interesting and unexpected way.

I feel like it can barely be classified as young adult because it doesn't fall into any of the tropes that are so pervasive in the average young adult book. And I really liked that about it. In general I would have liked more. I would have liked to get to know all of the characters better. I would have liked more depth and time in a land with such interesting and unconventional rules. But mostly I liked the writing style and enjoyed reading about this world.