Reviewed by Allison Fraclose for TeensReadToo.com
The ghost of a young boy guards a pile of stones on the top of a mountain in the Irish countryside, and the only person who has spoken with him in the last three thousand years is Jenny. The daughter of J.J. Liddy, who traveled to the timeless world of T'ir na n'Og when he was a young man, Jenny feels dreadfully out of place in the human world, preferring to roam the rocky fields of the Burren barefoot and converse with the Púka than go to school. The Púka, a spirit disguised as a white goat, understands, and teaches her many things that she would never learn in school, such as how to read the winds of change.
The Liddys have long accepted that this is what Jenny was like, but only J.J. and his wife, Aisling, know why that is. J.J. has been waiting for years for a deal he made in T'ir na n'Og to come to fruition, and his patience is wearing thin. Once he decides to put his plan into action, he finds that there are many factors that he did not consider, or even understand. The ghost, the Púka, and even Jenny have a major part to play in what could very well be the unmaking of the human world. As Jenny learns of her own significance, she must work out a plan of her own to save the people that she has grown to love.
Although I did not read the prequel to this book, THE NEW POLICEMAN, I found this story very easy to follow, with only a minimal feeling of perhaps having enjoyed it more had I read the first book. That factor grew very unimportant as the story drew me in with its mystery and mythology.
The ghost of a young boy guards a pile of stones on the top of a mountain in the Irish countryside, and the only person who has spoken with him in the last three thousand years is Jenny. The daughter of J.J. Liddy, who traveled to the timeless world of T'ir na n'Og when he was a young man, Jenny feels dreadfully out of place in the human world, preferring to roam the rocky fields of the Burren barefoot and converse with the Púka than go to school. The Púka, a spirit disguised as a white goat, understands, and teaches her many things that she would never learn in school, such as how to read the winds of change.
The Liddys have long accepted that this is what Jenny was like, but only J.J. and his wife, Aisling, know why that is. J.J. has been waiting for years for a deal he made in T'ir na n'Og to come to fruition, and his patience is wearing thin. Once he decides to put his plan into action, he finds that there are many factors that he did not consider, or even understand. The ghost, the Púka, and even Jenny have a major part to play in what could very well be the unmaking of the human world. As Jenny learns of her own significance, she must work out a plan of her own to save the people that she has grown to love.
Although I did not read the prequel to this book, THE NEW POLICEMAN, I found this story very easy to follow, with only a minimal feeling of perhaps having enjoyed it more had I read the first book. That factor grew very unimportant as the story drew me in with its mystery and mythology.
