Starred Review for Kirkus Reviews

On a small island called By-the-Sea, two young women discover their magical powers and resilience.Seventeen-year-old white girl Georgina Fernweh and her twin sister, Mary, have one more summer at home helping their widowed mother, Penelope, at their family's inn before they leave for college. Every year, bird enthusiasts flock to By-the-Sea for the arrival of Annabella's Woodpecker, dubbed the world's rarest bird and discovered and named by a distant Fernweh foremother about 300 years ago. Panic ensues when Annabella never appears, and the birders find her corpse in a barn, surrounded by her torn-up nest. The islanders superstitiously blame Mary, suspecting her of wielding magic, and Georgina promises Annabella that she will track down the murderer, even if it really is her sister. A tender, gentle romance between Georgina and Prue, visiting the island with her ornithologist brother (both are assumed white), accompanies the suspenseful murder mystery and is captured in lyrical prose. There is a clear distinction throughout between healthy relationships built on consent and harmful, uninvited attention. Along with romantic love, fierce bonds between family and friends play an important role in the story; Georgina's aromantic, asexual best friend, Vira, stands by her side to the end, and Georgina's mother supports her children by giving them the freedom to find their own ways into their magical gifts.Equal parts fantasy, romance, and mystery, this book shimmers with an irresistible energy. (Fiction. 14-18)

ALA Booklist (Sun Apr 01 00:00:00 CDT 2018)

Twins Mary and Georgina have lived on By-the-Sea Island for all their nearly 18 years, helping their mother run their inn during the annual summer festival marking the arrival of a rare bird. It seems like a scientific oddity, but Georgina knows the truth: her family is magic, and the bird is really her ancestor Annabella, who's been returning to the island for 300 years. Georgina's worried about leaving for college, but that quickly moves to the back burner when Annabella is found murdered. As island-wide anxiety sets in, Georgina and her friends try to figure out who killed Annabella, while Mary mysteriously starts to crumble. Leno cultivates a dynamic atmosphere on the isolated island populated by quirky people. The setting is in compelling contrast to the increasingly dark plot, which eventually folds in topics such as sexual assault and rape culture. Georgina's struggle to find her own magic talents adds emotional depth, and her homosexuality is treated with refreshing frankness. Hand to fans of substantial magic realism who don't mind a healthy dose of twee whimsy.

Horn Book (Mon Apr 01 00:00:00 CDT 2019)

On twins Georgina and Mary's small island home of By-the-Sea, "you could always smell two things: salt and magic." During the girls' last summer working together in their family's inn, which caters to bird-watchers, they prepare for a future without each other and discover how their magical lineage manifests itself. A gentle family story merges with a mystery involving a rare bird in this evocative, lyrical magical-realism novel.

Kirkus Reviews (Fri Oct 04 00:00:00 CDT 2024)

On a small island called By-the-Sea, two young women discover their magical powers and resilience.Seventeen-year-old white girl Georgina Fernweh and her twin sister, Mary, have one more summer at home helping their widowed mother, Penelope, at their family's inn before they leave for college. Every year, bird enthusiasts flock to By-the-Sea for the arrival of Annabella's Woodpecker, dubbed the world's rarest bird and discovered and named by a distant Fernweh foremother about 300 years ago. Panic ensues when Annabella never appears, and the birders find her corpse in a barn, surrounded by her torn-up nest. The islanders superstitiously blame Mary, suspecting her of wielding magic, and Georgina promises Annabella that she will track down the murderer, even if it really is her sister. A tender, gentle romance between Georgina and Prue, visiting the island with her ornithologist brother (both are assumed white), accompanies the suspenseful murder mystery and is captured in lyrical prose. There is a clear distinction throughout between healthy relationships built on consent and harmful, uninvited attention. Along with romantic love, fierce bonds between family and friends play an important role in the story; Georgina's aromantic, asexual best friend, Vira, stands by her side to the end, and Georgina's mother supports her children by giving them the freedom to find their own ways into their magical gifts.Equal parts fantasy, romance, and mystery, this book shimmers with an irresistible energy. (Fiction. 14-18)