Play Book Tag discussion

The Hum and the Shiver - Alex Bledsoe

4 stars

Bronwyn Hyatt has returned to her small town in the mountains of Tennessee a hero. She was the only survivor of an ambush that killed most of her fellow soldiers. She killed many of the enemy soldiers before being rescued on live TV and becoming a celebrity. But Bronwyn's small town is different than others. She is a full blooded Tufa. The Tufa are a people that are their own ethnicity. Legend says that the Tufa were living in the mountains of Tennessee before any other people came there. Bronwyn must now adjust to life back in the small town with the obligations of being a first daughter of her people, an obligation that she went to war to escape.

I really enjoyed this book. It is a bit of urban fantasy (without the urban part) and a bit of magical realism. The Tufa may have their special magic, but they come across as real people with small town problems rather than magical beings. It is really about a young woman chafing from the responsibilities of her family and her small town life being forced to return and face the constraints that drove her to leave in the first place. It is a human story with a bit of magic and fantasy. I look forward to reading more books about the Tufa.