Pureheart (Cassandra Golds, Penguin)

Deirdre has spent her entire life living in the shadow of her overbearing grandmother, captive to the strange, deserted apartment block in which they live and to her grandmother’s terrible past. Home-schooled and kept apart from her only friend Gal, who has mysteries of his own, Deirdre lives a lonely and sheltered existence. But when Gal returns to take her away, Deidre has to find the strength to confront the past—and the truth—in order to free them both from her grandmother. Influenced by Arthurian mythology and containing elements of gothic romance, Pureheart is a captivating psychological ghost story. Cassandra Golds perfectly describes Deirdre’s claustrophobic life, trapped in the eerie setting of a dilapidated apartment building. The villain keeping her there—her grandmother—is well developed and manages to be both terrifying and pitiable. Unfortunately, few other characters feel as nuanced, and the key plot twists are disappointingly predictable. This is a unique YA read that will appeal to fans of modern ghost stories and fairytale retellings.

Meg Whelan is the children’s book buyer at the Hill of Content Bookshop in Melbourne

Books+Publishing pre-publication reviews are supported by the Copyright Agency Cultural Fund.

Category: Reviews