This was a great story about finding the strength within oneself. Aine and Ned are children with troubled circumstances. Ned has suffered ever since the day his twin brother died, and Aine's father hasn't been the same since her mother passed away. These two children eventually come upon one another and must decide whether they can rely on each other to prevent a select few people with bad intentions from ending the world.The story was slow to get going, but the writing was great. Barnhill really made use of description and sentence fragments in this book, pausing when necessary to great effect. The ending petered out a little bit, but overall the story was excellent. Twin brothers Ned and Tam fall from their raft into a raging, bewitched river and Tam gets swallowed up and carried away. Ned, when he finally comes around finds he stutters, cannot make sense of words to read, and lives under the constant barrage of ridicule and scorn from fellow villagers, hearing non-stop that the wrong brother lived. Ned does not know that in order for him to live, his mother, a witch, had stitched his dying brother's soul to his chest. Ned lives in isolation with his mother and father and is convinced that he is weak, mentally challenged and his life will never get any better. Ainè, a resourceful and practical girl, lives with her Bandit King father. Her evil father goes to Ned's village one night with his motley crew and tries to steal away the magic that Ned's mother protects. Ned's mother is on a mission to the Queen and is absent from their home. Seeing the eminent danger that befalls not only his family but his entire village Ned steps forward and absorbs the sneaky and contriving magic and becomes a local hero by not only protecting his family but also his entire community. As fate would have it, Ainè and Ned work together against the Bandit King and with the help of a rogue wolf and seven giant stones make their way back through a large, enchanted forest to finally put the magic in its rightful place. By so doing they are able to stop a war that will surely rip both their worlds apart and set both Tam and the stone creatures free to move on.I truly loved this book. The writing is rich and detailed and I found myself creating windows of time where I could once again escape with the book to find out what happened next. The story line is creative and engaging and I know it would make a perfect movie that both young and old would love. I highly, highly recommend this book.
Do You like book Witch's Boy (2014)?
Fun read. I enjoyed it! Great for kids who like books with magic and adventure in it.
—jdcarson
It's really 1.5 stars. I didn't hate it, just not my cup of tea, really.
—jasminepolk223
What a great story!! LOVED the characters and loved the ending!
—tzuqi
Common sense media gives this 5 stars for age 10 and up.
—Gnome
