This story is about Connor O’Neill, whose life gets turned upside down when an inexperienced young banshee named Ashling shows up in his bedroom. The arrival of a banshee means only one thing: Someone in his family is going to die. Not only will Ashling not tell him who it is, but she’s also so fascinated by the world above that she insists on going to middle school with him.

If Connor wants to keep his family safe, he must visit the underworld and bargain to prevent the death of a family member.

This book was not what I expected. There’s a lot more information about the origins of banshees than I thought, and it was fascinating. I want to find more books about lesser-talked-about mythical creatures like banshees. Zombies, vampires, and ghosts are too played out these days.

This book’s version of the underworld is different from other books I’ve read (more books about the underworld in future posts). It seems like every country, every religion, beliefs in death are all true in the book. There is no one thing. They’re all mushed together, which I think is a pretty cool way to do it.