The Wish Granter

Gr 9 Up—Redwine's second installment of the series, which began with The Shadow Queen, will delight fairy-tale fans with its page-turning suspense and rich character development. In this retelling of "Rumpelstiltskin," Thad has inherited the Sundraille throne after the members of the royal family die under suspicious circumstances. His twin sister, Ari, learns that Thad's real route to the throne came after selling his soul to a Wish Granter named Alistair Teague to ensure Ari's safety. In addition to stealing souls in exchange for wishes, Teague also collects debts from the kingdom's citizens to keep them under his control. Shrewd Ari plots to stop Teague's violent reign of terror by enlisting her friend Cleo and the palace's new weapons master, Sebastian, to help her find a weakness in Teague's fae magic. Along the way, Ari and Sebastian's friendship blooms into romance. Ari defies the mold of a "proper princess," favoring the company of servants over nobles, and she uses her wits to discover solutions to her problems. Sebastian grapples with his father's severe abuse and his mother's drug addiction. Raised on the rough side of town, he's always prepared for danger. Both Ari and Sebastian have lost beloved family members because of Teague's evildoing, and they are determined to stop him. Although the action overshadows the world-building, readers will enjoy the plot twists and Ari and Sebastian's progressive relationship. They save the kingdom together as equals, in a welcome feminist revision of the classic fairy tale.