My theory is that Shelley Wilson made a bet that she could use every single YA dystopian fantasy trope and produce a do-not-interrupt-until-I’m-done epic. She nailed it.
Consider the facts.
* Looks: From her “long, fiery red hair” and “eyes as green as the meadow”, Marianne looks the part of a mage. She knows, however, that she’s actually a completely ordinary sixteen-year-old introvert. “I sew, hunt, and make up healing tinctures; I don’t face an evil lord, his psycho sorcerer and an undead army…”
* Everybody’s an Orphan: Marianne’s parents have been sent to opposite ends of the land, although nobody seems to know why. Although a teenager, she’s left to care for her young brother. Together, they live in their tiny, primitive hut at the edge of the wilderness outside the locked gates of Obanac, and to eke out a living by working as a healer and hunting with her bow.
* Blessing and Target. After travelling to the city for a luxurious Blessing ceremony that excluded the other teens from her village, Marianne is stunned when her young brother Newt is falsely accused and imprisoned. An impassioned plea to Crawford, the city’s young ruler, only results in a demand that she offer herself in exchange.
* But Do You LIKE Me Like Me? Marianne assembles a posse of outlaw teens to rescue her brother and defeat Lord Crawford, his evil sorcerer, and a demonic army—taking time out only to acquire new magic powers in the nick of time. And to daydream about the boys she’s met and that all-important Love’s First Kiss.
So yes. The Phantom’s Curse channels every YA dystopian trope going back to the original with the King’s heir spirited away to be raised in secret, aided by magic to pass a magical test (sword pulled from a stone anyone?) before defeating enemies to assume their rightful position. And that’s the thing about the best tropes. When wielded by a talented writer and infused with energy and humor, they just work.
In this case, author Shelley Wilson gives us a feisty heroine who is willing to face almost certain death to help those she loves, and to fight evil. She’s got plenty of self-doubt, is (it must be said) not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but steps up to get the job done.
The world-building is cohesive, the action nonstop, and the plot satisfactorily builds up from a slow start to a full gallop. In fact, although I almost never say this, my only real criticism is that it goes too quickly. I would have liked to get more glimpses of this world, know more about Marianne’s friends, and find out more about how Crawford turned down his own dark path. Also, I would have jettisoned the prologue. It was an entire epic in its own right, requiring too much tell in too short a time. Either make that a separate book, or better still, reveal it during the narrative in tantalizing glimpses.
But overall, The Phantom’s Curse is an entertaining, exciting read. I recommend it for lovers of young adult fantasy.
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