"Cothay has never known the feel of human flesh: born with the power to kill or resurrect at her slightest touch, she has spent her childhood sequestered in her family’s manor at the edge of a mysterious forest. Maisie’s father, an anthropologist who sees her as more experiment than daughter, has warned Maisie not to venture into the wood. Locals talk of men disappearing within, emerging with addled minds and strange stories. What he does not tell Maisie is that for over a millennium her female ancestors have also vanished into the wood, never to emerge—for she is descended from a long line of cursed women.
But one day Maisie’s father disappears, and Maisie must venture beyond the walls of her carefully constructed life to find him. Away from her home and the wood for the very first time, she encounters a strange world filled with wonder and deception. Yet the farther she strays, the more the wood calls her home. For only there can Maisie finally reckon with her power and come to understand the wildest parts of herself. "
I don't usually copy and paste the Goodreads summary, but I don't think I could write a better summary --- and I definitely don't think that a summary I wrote would make as much sense. This is an odd story, with a dark humor to it and while I enjoyed it, I found that my attention would sometimes wander. But then, if I picked up the book again, I would get caught up in the story. I felt the story rambled a bit, so maybe if it had been a little more tight with the plot? But I don't know how I would edit it, either. I think reading this book and getting engrossed in it really depended on my mood. If I had time to spend without distraction, it was easier. Definitely an interesting story with a main character who is intriguing, although sometimes a bit hard to read (which was perfectly fine with me).
