The Twisted Tree by Rachel Burge

          I just checked the page count for this book (304) but it really felt much, much shorter than that.  I raced through this book in one sitting and didn't so much read it as inhale it.

It is a strange mixture of mythologies - you have the Three Fates from Greek/Roman myth contrasted with Odin, Hel and the fearsome Draugr from Nordic myth.  This led me to some minor mind wanderings whilst reading - having recently watched Thor:Ragnarok I couldn't help but see Cate Blanchett as Hel and Anthony Hopkins as Odin couple that with trying to remember the Greek Names for the fates (Clotho, Lachesis and Atropos) via Stephen King's book Insomnia I did have a lot of mental distraction.

Fortunately, the tale is swift moving and sucks you in to that claustrophobic cabin in Skejbne.  The setting is so evocative you can feel the darkness of winter and the swirl of the snow accompanied by the skirl of the wind and the bone chilling howl of the draugr.  The plot is excitingly supernatural and woven in such a way that it appears almost plausible, not once did I feel like there was a leap of faith taken that did not fit with the characters of Martha and Stig and their situation.  Yes, it could have been Cabin Fever but somehow I don't think any of it was a hallucination.

The characters are wonderfully written and have wonderfully complex layers to them.  Martha with her newly found talent for "reading" clothing and struggling to come to terms with her facial deformity that seems to have led to the ability forming.  Stig, running from an unhappy home life and battling with a burgeoning addiction to alcohol (judging from the amount of Brandy he seems to drink).  Both of them brought together by the shared grief of losing a family member - Martha's Mormor and Stig's father.

This is a Hot Key Books publication which means it is aimed at a Young Adult (I loathe that term SO much) audience.  However, do not be misled this a creepy and tense novel that will give an inordinate amount of pleasure to anyone who enjoys a good old-fashioned tale of the supernatural.  It has everything - ghosts, demons, ancient Gods and a promise made a millennia ago that cannot be broken - DELICIOUS!

I RECEIVED A FREE COPY OF THIS BOOK FROM READERS FIRST IN EXCHANGE FOR AN HONEST REVIEW.
       
This review is based on the E-Book version