It's Halloween in William's Grove, and usually for Owl's Flower that means nothing more strenuous than light decorating and rolling out the pumpkin spice lattes. But this year, Iris has bigger problems on her hands when her boyfriend Herne is terrorized out of his own forest... by two ghosts claiming he's a murderer.
Herne has no recollection of deaths in his forest, but the ghosts say differently. It's not long before Iris's wish for her boyfriend to move in with her is granted, albeit under duress. But the differences between the two become progressively more acute as he tries to protect her from the more dangerous parts of his work.
But Iris is having none of it. She knows the man she loves isn't a murderer — even an accidental one — and sets out to prove his innocence and clear his forest of its interlopers.
Ghost Fall is the second book of the series, preceded by Owl's Flower.
Bay-born and NASA-raised author of fiction, essays, and light novels. Journalist for Crunchyroll and Otaku USA, former book reviewer for Sci-Fi Magazine. Still reading and reviewing for my own good time, in search of a new periodical to review for.
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Whatever else I have to say about Ghost Fall, listen to this first: it's as wonderful as the first and deserves your time and attention. Go forth and buy it in full confidence that it's great, and Dennison and Hoesly have matched or exceeded their work from volume one.
The writing and art continue to be wonderful, the characters continue to deepen (while behaving sensibly), and the mythology continues to expand. All is well. It's about all I could hope for from a second volume.
Tiny owls in witch hats.
What more do you want?
Go and buy it. The series is still more than worth your time.
That said, and beware slight spoilers, there is one thing I didn't think worked.
I would've liked more to be made of the haunting. It's the core of the book that sets all of the events in motion, but we see very little of it. Once Hern figures out enough to take care of the haunting, it's resolved quickly. The resolution is, after all the build-up, only a few pages long. While I realize this is a gentle series, with no room for extended horror, I would've loved more of the promised Halloween spookiness, and a more involved climax that showed us more of the interaction of gods and ghosts.
Owl's Flower is paranormal romance for people who think they don't like paranormal romance. Both the leads are remarkably grounded and sensible for a book in this genre; in Ghost Fall, the relationship problem comes from outside the relationship and is a matter that can only be settled by the two leads working together. Remarkably satisfying!