The Storyteller by Antonia Michaelis; young adult, thriller, drama; 416 pages
Anna is a privileged, sheltered girl in her final year of high school. She knows there's more to life than what she sees every day, but she doesn't appreciate that until she meets Abel, the school loner and drug dealer. But the more Anna gets to know Abel, the more she sees that things aren't always what they seem; Abel has a young sister to support--a sister he keeps sheltered from his world with fantastic fairy tales and make-believe games. Abel has to protect his sister because their mother has been missing for some time, and she's the only family he has left. As Anna and Abel start their own fairy tale romance, other forces start closing in around them, and terrible things--things worthy of the darkest of fairy tales--start happening to those that threaten their peace.
Wow. No, really. WOW. I read about this on one of the other book blogs I follow, and almost didn't pick it up, because I knew it was going to be a tear jerker. I'm really glad I bit the bullet and read this, though. It's totally worth it, for the beauty of Michaelis' writing alone, but also for the beautiful, tragic story that plays out. The story alternates between the cold world where Abel struggles to support his sister and keep social services from finding out that their mother is missing, and Abel's amazing fairy tale world, where sea lions guard princesses, and roses grow from people's skin. We see everything from Anna's point of view, so I found myself falling in love with Abel just as she was. It's a perfect image of First Love, by the way. And that was why I was reluctant to finish this book: because we're told in the first few pages that this fairy tale doesn't have a happy ending, and like Anna, I desperately wanted it to. I finished this, and just sat for a long time, letting the story soak in. Highly, highly recommended, but not for the faint of heart.
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