Huntress by Malinda Lo

Huntress is the story of two girls who are sent on a journey to the fairy kingdom.  They have been sent to meet with the fairy queen to try to save their world which has become an eternal winter.  The two girls face many dangers along the way and fall in love.



Huntress is set in a lush fantasy world and will be enjoyed by lovers of fantasy.  The book was slow at parts as it was a long journey but the characters were well developed and interesting.  The lesbian romance was sweet and matter of fact instead of controversial or clandestine.

Appropriateness:  The back of my ARC says that it is for 15 and up and I can't quite figure out why.  There was nothing in this book that I would find inappropriate for even the youngest middle school reader.  The two romances (one between the prince and his female guard and one between the two girls) are both very sweet and doesn't include more than a few kisses.  The few bits of fantasy violence include the emotional consequences behind the actions.  Malinda Lo's previous book Ash had a lexile of 1050 which puts it around an eighth grade level and I would assume that the reading level would be the same for this book (which is fantastic, it's hard to find young adult books that are difficult reads).

Review copy provided by publisher.