Helen Dunwoodie

Rosa is in high school and has moved with her family from Edinburgh town centre out to the surrounding countryside. Her younger brother has asthma and when the traffic increased around their old house their parents decided that the move away was needed. Her brother is a little favoured over her, but as Rosa loves him she doesn’t let it upset her. She tries to put a brave face on things so as not to upset him and tries her best to settle in to the new house.

She explores the area and keeps seeing a strange boy about her age and a strange tumbled down old house that once would have been very grand. She is drawn to him but he seems to keep ignoring her. She also finds a pack of tarot cards when she is unpacking some of her parents boxed for them. Her mother doesn’t believe in fortune telling and goes white when she sees them which makes Rosa very curious indeed. It emerges that her mother has a secret past which Rosa is determined to uncover. Rose also has a gift for reading the cards which both interests and scares her.

This was a fun tale. I liked Rosa, her family and her friend Clara who is very bookish. On the downside the language changed quite a bit with seemingly random Scottish words thrown in a bit inconsistently. I read tarot myself and was a bit disappointed in the way there were portrayed with them ultimately causes upset and unease. Shame really as I really liked the premise of the story and the way it unfolded.… (mais)