Review SECONDHAND CHARM by Julie Berry

SECONDHAND CHARM
by Julie Berry
To Be Published October 12th 2010 by Bloomsbury USA Children's Books
Hardcover, 352 pages

Source: ARC provided by Author

Placement in the Pile: Top Picks

Summary:
In a secluded village, magic sparkles on the edges of the forest. There, a young girl named Evie possesses unusually strong powers as a healer. A gypsy's charms—no more than trinkets when worn by others—are remarkably potent when Evie ties them around her neck. Her talents, and charms, have not escaped the notice of the shy stonemason's apprentice. But Evie wants more than a quiet village and the boy next-door. When the young king's carriage arrives one day, and his footman has fallen ill, Evie might just get her chance after all . . .

Review:
Many of you know I am a big fan of Julie Berry's first book THE AMARANTH ENCHANTMENT. So I was thrilled when she told me she was coming out with another fairy tale story for the YA market!

SECONDHAND CHARM certainly lives up to the magic of Julie's first novel. From the first page I was engrossed in this world and character's story. I honestly felt a bit like I was reading a Shannon Hale novel, and for me there could be no greater compliment in the fairy tale world.

Almost perfectly layerd, this story introduces each character at the perfect point in the story, each tid bit of information intricately woven in to lead to the climax. With a sweet romantic element, mystery, fantasy and a great cast Julie certainly has created a great new fairy tale.

Unlike with THE AMARANTH ENCHANTMENT, I am not sure where this story stemmed from, which gave it even more of an element of surprise. I look forward to asking Julie about that and letting you know.

Put this one on your list folks! It is a great one for all you fairy tale lovers! Julie will be going on tour for this book's release as well, so check her website HERE to see if she will be in your area!

And please remember you can win my signed ARC of this book along with a bunch of other princess and fairy tale retellings and loot through tonight in our Blogiversary Giveaway HERE!