Elissa Sussman is a writer, a reader and a pumpkin pie eater.
Stray by Elissa Sussman
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars
Stray by Elissa Sussman was a quick and interesting read. It was different than anything I’ve read lately and I enjoyed that about this book. There were times where I felt the story moved a bit slowly but overall I thought it was done well.
Aislynn is a princess in a world where women are definitely not in charge of what they do and where they go. Being at the mercy of their parents and ultimately their advisors, girls are considered wicked and must do everything they can to protect themselves from the dangers of that wickedness. On top of that, as a royal, Aislynn is watched very closely for any signs of magical episodes which if they do happen, mean she is failing to comply with The Path.
Aislynn struggles with her magic and because of an episode, the night of her Introduction Ball ends up with the wrong outcome. Instead of a proposal of marriage, Aislynn finds herself being redirected as a Fairy Godmother. This means she will say goodbye to all family and friends and be sent away to take care of another girl going through the same things she had recently been going through.
I absolutely felt badly for Aislynn. She had no control over her future and no choice in what she would be doing. When she is sent away to begin her new life as a Fairy Godmother, she immediately meets Thacker, Brigid, and Ford. All of whom make an impact on her. As Aislynn learns more about herself and her new role, she also begins to see that something not quite right is going on. Girls are disappearing across the land and while people are assuming they are going “stray” (running away) she begins to believe otherwise.
As the story moves forward, we learn more about who Thacker, Brigid, and Ford are and they are the ones who end up helping Aislynn when she most needs it. Brigid was a wonderful friend for Aislynn and she helped her when she needed it most. Thacker was an interesting character and although their friendship started out rocky, they both quickly learned to trust each other. Eventually the story comes to a head and we find out the major players in what is going on with the missing people but we don’t find out everything. I would have liked to better understand, outside of the power, what was really motivating these characters.
Overall I found this to be an enjoyable read. It moved quickly and I was always interested to see what was going to happen next for them. I am interested to see where Sussman takes the story in the next book and will definitely check it out when it is released.
Thank you to Edelweiss and Greenwillow Books for the review copy.
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