Suzy Button’s life has been upended. Her mum is dead, her dad closed down, and her home now far away. In a new town with a new school and a new life in front of her, she wishes for more. For better. The moon must have been listening, because Rhiannon arrived soon after.

Blond, lithe and confident, the new girl arrives in Suzy’s class, sitting next to her. Suzy had planned to hunker down in her senior year of high school and be invisible while she works through her grief. But Rhiannon changes all of that. With her quirky way of talking, strange habits and vague answers about where she actually lived.

Suzy finds herself accepted by the most popular girl at school, and is in wonder at the change in her school status. Before long she has her own new friends, with Rhiannon always in the mix. Her father is suddenly snapped out of his dark funk at the loss of his wife too – but only after Suzy finds a body.

With Rhiannon by her side, Suzy begins to find her true self, her connection to her mum through photography and the thrill of bending a few rules. But Rhiannon still won’t tell her where she lives, and why is she always playing with, and tying and untying the strings around her wrist?

Suzy looks deeper into the mystery that is Rhiannon, and is left in awe, shock and wonder….

With so much fantasy and murder mysteries on the young adult shelves, it was a treat to read a ‘real-life’ story albeit with a spectral twist. Suzy is a normal teen dealing with friendship, boys, and relationship angst, but also suffering the loss of her mother. Photography allows Suzy to reconnect with her mum who was a professional photographer, and also gives her a direction in her life after high school.

Rhiannon is an intriguing, calm but powerful character weaving her mysticism throughout Suzy’s story. Suzy talks to herself, and to the reader as she struggles with decisions and worries about her new friend and daily life. Her confidence builds slowly throughout the novel as she pushes her normal boundaries, likes a boy, and makes new bonds.

Is Rhiannon a mystery to solve or a gift from Nature itself? She leaves Suzy with a gift no-one will ever believe, until they experience it for themselves.

Author – Marie-Louise Fitzpatrick

Age – 12+

(2024, Faber, Family, Mystery, Grief, Magic, Friendship, Growing up, School, Secret, Moon, Night, Dark, Photography, Black & White Photo Project)