Sixteen-year-old Green, who in "Green Angel" lost her family in a violent attack that leveled a nearby city, lives a lonely life with her plants in the village of her birth. She longs for the love of Diamond, the mute stranger she nursed back to health while she was recovering from her personal tragedy.
When Finder, who used to be thirteen-year-old Troy Jones, brother to another of Green's foundlings (Heather who vanished mysteriously) asks Green to find his sister by talking to the Enchanted (those the villagers fear might be magical or monstrous,) Green and Finder set off to find Heather...and maybe Diamond.
They encounter a number of "witches" who have suffered losses like everyone else and each gives Green a gift as well a little wisdom.
There's a slam-bang finish which isn't hinted at through the rest of the slow, lyrical story & I don't want to ruin it further. Hoffman mixes her usual magical realism with fantasy (which is a mix that boarders on redundant) and there is some repetition in the narration that galls...but this really is a beautiful book and a fitting sequel to "Green Angel." There are echoes of the tale of Baba Yaga (only this time the "witches" are good) and a lot of contemplation of love and loss.
Perfect for literary-leaning teens and people who read like them. You can read this without reading "Green Angel" first, but why? Both are quite short & now available in one volume! Read both, you won't be sorry.