I am 100% hooked on this. The plot is so intriguing and hearkens back to the work of authors Daphne du Maurier, a style that is sadly not as common as it once was. I desperately want to know what is going to happen here and how it will affect the main character. Katie Alender has a mastery of plot progression and character development that makes her work totally engaging to read. In the span of a few short chapters, she imbues Margot with a likeable (if tragic) personality, and manages to convey exactly how seismic the loss of her family was without falling into the trap of heavy-handed exposition. I care about this girl and what happens to her. She feels real, not least because Alender has realistically and sympathetically portrayed the toll of such a massive tragedy on her young psyche. I don't feel that the trauma is being pushed aside and disregarded, but neither do I feel that the entire personality of the character has been built around the bad things that happened to her. I cannot wait to find out how her supposed good luck and the strange ailment affecting the girl to which she is to be a companion coincide and come together. I expect nothing less than epic and dramatic climax.