New Book: StarCrossed by Elizabeth C. Bunce

Looking for a book to get for the weekend--or to order for a Kindle and have immediately which is how I often do my reading these days? The one on my list for this weekend is StarCrossed by Elizabeth C. Bunce which was released earlier this month when I was in the throes of my horrible illness.  No, this is not a fairy tale release, but I imagine it will be of interest to readers here because it is fantasy and Bunce is a fairy tale enthusiast herself.  After all, her first novel was A Curse Dark As Gold, which borrowed from Rumpelstiltskin in creative ways.

The reviews for StarCrossed are great--really great--from standard review sources and many regular readers' blogs.  (Biggest criticism is for the cover so far. I imagine it'll be different in paperback although I don't mind it at all.)  It has also been nominated as An ALA Best Fiction for Young Adults. (So are Funke's Reckless and Jackson's Sisters Red and Shulman's The Grimm Legacy and Tomlinson's Toads and Diamonds which are fairy tale related. Congrats to them all!) Some are comparing StarCrossed to Megan Whalen Turner which is high praise indeed considering I reread her every 12-18 months myself.

Here's the publisher's description for StarCrossed:

In a glamorous castle full of Llyvraneth's elite, Celyn Contrare serves as a lady-in-waiting to shy young Merista Nemair. Her days are spent dressing in velvet, attending Lady Merista, navigating court gossip, and charming noblemen over lavish feasts.

And at night, she picks locks, steals jewels, forges documents, and collects secrets. Because Celyn isn't really a lady-in-waiting; she's not even really Celyn Contrare. She's Digger, a sneak-thief on the run from the king's Inquisition, desperate to escape its cruel instruments and hatred of magic. If she's discovered, it will mean her certain death.

But life as a lady-in-waiting isn't safe either. The devious Lord Daul knows her secret, and he's blackmailing her to serve as his personal spy in the castle. What she discovers-about Daul, about the Nemair, even about her own Lady Merista -- could signal civil war in Llyvraneth. And for a thief trained never to get involved, taking sides could be the most dangerous job yet.

Doesn't that sound like a great read?