The Scholar and the Last Faerie Door

This is a fantastically written character driven heartbreaking story. Beginning with a brother cursed during the war by a faerie on a rampage, Clover delves into a little known magic school (only known to those belonging to the Families who have magic in their blood) called Camford. Lucky for her, she gets to an invitation to join the group of Alden, Hero, and Eddie which paves the way for her first year of fun, investigations into banned faerie magic, looking for a cure for Matthew and ultimately a parting of ways after the disaster in the summer. Because it is character driven and you get to know the group well, and get to like them the way Clover does, you can feel the heartbreak she goes through when their group falls apart, secrets divulged and rifts made. And that is only the first half of the novel! I think the second half is even more emotional as the reader will find out there are even darker secrets and bargains made and stolen as Clover rushes to put the pieces together to help her friend before it is too late and also save her school where she has taught for the past eight years as the faerie that had cursed Matthew goes on a rampage, breaking the locks on faerie doors while the Families continue to keep their secrets and try to kill any loose ends. It made me feel for Clover but also the faerie when the truth is revealed and I was not sure who I wanted to root for (definitely not the Families though for their secrets and desire to hold power no matter what it costs or hurts!) There is betrayal, redemption, heartache, sacrifices, and ultimately hope for a future that may be different than the old ways, but will be better because the right thing was done, and not just the easy way. A very well written book that I absolutely loved, even with the sadness because there is always a grain of hope and Clover shows that you can survive and thrive and make a good future for everyone and not just the Families.