This was lovely and unexpected in several ways.

 

Hazel and Ben were a rather charming pair of siblings, and I really felt for both of them. Their problems stemmed from a lack of proper communication in a lot of ways, and that often bothers me quite a bit, but in this it felt appropriate and normal. There seemed to be real reasons why they were not always communicating in a way that would make things easier, and not just "because there would be no plot."

 

I loved that they cared so much for each other. Maybe it is all the horror I was reading before I picked this up, but it feels refreshing to see a pair of siblings that don't either understand each other instinctively or hate and torture each other. Hazel and Ben had a good relationship that was strained by a few things but in general brought them both joy and gave them a sense of family they could fall back on, and I liked that.

 

This is a totally minor thing that comes up a grand total of once, but I also love that they both have names that are blatently stated to have been inspired by famous literary rabbits. Especially when I realized where Hazel's name must have come from. :)

 

I was not sure how I would feel about a faerie story when I picked this up. I'm often not a fan of the idea, and I feel as though, like the YA vampire market, it is oversaturated with a lot of crap. I also kind of require my faerie stories to be dark in order to really enjoy them properly. This was appropriately dark, I feel, without being a complete downer.

 

The idea of a town that handles its own weirdness very quietly as part and parcel of living there felt very much like Sarah Rees Brennan's The Lynburn Legacy, which is a huge compliment given how much I love that book. Don't get me wrong--it is, in practice, not at all the same thing, but the acceptance of living in a strange place feels the same and sets a very distinct tone that I really enjoyed.

 

The romances played out quite well, I think, and the way I was hoping they would. Both are unusual, certainly, but they were what I was rooting for by the time they came to culmination, and I always enjoy that. They were also sweet; although unusual, they were healthy romances, it felt like. That's also a huge good point in a YA novel--so many of them feature super creepy romances that kind of make me squirm on some level, so having this one have characters that didn't treat each other badly was comforting.

 

I saw some of the twists and turns and was genuinely surprised by others. I liked the way the story ended up going, but I was not expecting it to take that route as late as halfway through, so I enjoyed going along for the ride. Holly Black is definitely someone to watch, I think, and I'll be picking up more of her books in the future.