Isola Wilde sees ghosts, is obsessed with fairytales and has no less than six brother-princes to protect her. She lives so much in the world of the unseen that she seems not quite of this world to those around her, including her friend James, whom she’s known forever, and the new boy next door, Edgar. When Isola spies a dead girl in a birdcage in the woods, the ghost of the girl starts haunting her and terrible things begin to happen. Her tenuous relations with her real friends start to fail and her brother-princes disappear one by one.

This fascinating story is interspersed with beautiful illustrations, quotes from Edgar Allen Poe and metaphorical fairytales. It’s beautifully written and utterly unique. Allyse Near lives near Melbourne and is only 23. She’s already quite a talent and definitely one to watch.

Angela Crocombe