The May Queen Murders by Sarah Jude

I received an ARC of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This did not affect my opinion of the book or my review itself.

This book was absolutely nothing like what I expected. And that was pretty awesome.

Jude is an author who is clearly unafraid to take risks. I went into this expecting a young adult psychological suspense book, like so many I've read (and loved) recently. And while this is a book with psychological suspense, it is also a book with an urban legend at its core, set in a village surrounded on the outside by modern times but keeping to the old ways within.

It is a book about a young girl discovering herself, and finding love, but it is also about missing animals and missing girls.

There is graphic gore and there is tender love.

There are moments of sheer terror and moments of absolute heartbreaking humanity.

At it's heart, this is a book about what it means to grow up under the shadows of a terrible, haunting evil. Everyone in the village knows there is a man who lives in the woods, who is insane and terrible and once murdered their May Queen. When it seems he's come back, been drawn back somehow, the protagonist, Ivy, must come to terms with what it means to live in fear, all while she falls in love, and all while her best friend and cousin begins to pull away.

I really look forward to seeing what Jude comes out with next. She is a really original writer writing in a genre of her own making.