Starred Review ALA Booklist (Tue Jan 03 00:00:00 CST 2023)

Starred Review In this loose reimagining of the Remus and Romulus myth, an emotionally scarred boy-king attempts to thwart a prophecy of his downfall by having his newborn siblings killed. These twins are left for dead in the wilderness; the girl, Rae, is taken in by a kindly shepherd couple while the boy, mystically reborn a wolf, is raised in a pack. In their tween years, the pair reconnect, even as the no-longer-a-boy boy-king learns of Rae's existence and orders a search for her. The bonded siblings must ally with Alba, the young oracle-apprentice who made the initial prophecy, to save themselves and overthrow the cruel young king. The novel alternates among third-person perspectives of Rae, Alba, the wolf, the boy-king, and occasionally others, smoothly spinning a grand, gritty tale in style. In this world conjured by Andrews, metaphor bleeds into stark reality, and those able to read with an open mind will be rewarded with a deeply evocative, lyrical blend of fairy-tale and historical fantasy tinged in horror d beauty. The book finds its emotional core in the touching depiction of Rae's life with her shepherd parents, as well as in the elegant and immaculately controlled prose, which keeps the pages turning even when the plot burns slow. Hand this to fans of Kelly Barnhill and those who appreciate a story as much as the manner of its telling.

Horn Book (Fri Jan 13 00:00:00 CST 2023)

A boy, born eleventh in line to the crown, finds himself to be first after a series of mysterious and unlikely accidents -- and then he becomes king. Alba, an oracle's apprentice, is stricken by the way her harsh predictions affect that gormless boy king. And Rae, a shepherd couple's foundling daughter, grows up happily in the high wilds of the mountains, wondering why she feels a strong connection to a nearby wolf. Focusing on these three characters, Andrews's narrator weaves a fable-like story of betrayal and love, revenge and destiny, in sure, poetic prose. "Mountain-found," "wind-cold," "empty-bellied," a hand as "soft as plum blossoms" -- every word draws us into a tactile, living world, one in which insects, worms, grubs, and beetles are as vital as a huge wolf, a royal advisor, and even the act of writing. With a magical Romulus-and-Remus theme and some fairy-tale features, this leisurely tale is richly atmospheric and nicely surprising. Chapter-opening framed decorations (akin to medieval illuminations) by Yuta Onoda make the book an attractive object in itself and suit Andrews's writing perfectly -- ­delicate and earthy at once, both realistic and magical. Deirdre F. Baker

Kirkus Reviews

A prophecy, a bad king, and a lost heir or two.Alba, the Oracle-Apprentice, hates the bad news she's always forced to deliver. Though she often lies to give her supplicants better prophecies than the foretelling demands, she isn't always stronger than the magic. The newly crowned boy king (cognitively disabled, interested only in cooked cream, and at the mercy of manipulative, power-hungry adults) is brought to Alba for an augury, and despite her kindest intent, the prophetic vapors speak a dread warning through her: "Murderous worm," she calls him, declaring that he'll be destroyed by his mother's unborn child. Thus does the king become selfish and wicked, and thus are his mother's twins vanished off into the wilderness, where they survive to bring about his inevitable downfall. One twin is a girl, Rae, raised by a kindly shepherd, while the other turns into a wolf and periodically growls "Rommm." This retelling of the Romulus and Remus legend isn't explicitly connected to the mythology despite some Roman trappings. In this slow moving, ellipsis-laden, dreamy morality story, the goodness of Rae and Alba overcomes the selfish cruelty of the nameless king. Characters are light-skinned.Overlong, with tranquilizing prose: a tough sell for a story about 12-year-olds. (Fantasy. 11-14)

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

In this historical fantasy by Andrews (Spindlefish and Stars), loosely inspired by the tale of Remus and Romulus and set “in a distant, more brutal age,” three tweens are brought together by fate to combat a capricious young king’s treacherous reign. Alba is the slow-aging Oracle-Apprentice, capable of interpreting visions of the future. When she predicts a dreadful fate for an unnamed, newly crowned king, his rage prompts him to leave his newborn twin siblings for dead in the forest. One of the infants is raised by kindly shepherds, who name her Rae, while the boy is mystically bound into a wolf’s body and roams the forest freely. When Rae turns 12, destiny brings the twins and Alba together as the king’s mounting paranoia turns destructive. The narrative’s ties to the original myth are thinly explored, and the vagueness of the setting, while occasionally lending a timeless quality that elevates the melancholic tone, often disorients. Intricate worldbuilding and a leisurely pace couple with poetic prose to render a protagonist whose careful dialogue emphasizes the way in which words—both spoken and written—can shape the world. Ages 8–12. Agent: Sara Crowe, Pippin Properties. (Nov.)