by Carrie Anne Noble
publisher’s synopsis
All sixteen-year-old Tommin wants is to make beautiful shoes and care for his beloved grandmother, but his insatiable need to steal threatens to destroy everything. Driven by a curse that demands more and more gold, he’s sure to get caught eventually.
When mysterious Lorcan Reilly arrives in town with his “niece,” Eve, Tommin believes the fellow wants to help him. Instead, Lorcan whisks him off to the underground realm of the Leprechauns, where, alongside Eve, he’s forced to prepare to become one of them.
As Lorcan’s plans for his “gold-children” are slowly revealed, Tommin and Eve plan their escape. But with Tommin’s humanity slipping away, the fate-crossed pair has everything to lose unless they can find a way to outsmart a magical curse centuries in the making.
I enjoy Noble’s writing style. Her writing has a sort of fairy-tale feel to it that’s charming. It adds an almost timeless sort of feel to her books. Because it’s different from so many YA novels out there, it’s refreshing to read.
I struggled a little with Tommin as a character. While I understood his inner war with his leprechaun instincts, he kind of annoyed me at times when he was super leprechuany (though Noble did a great job of writing when his thoughts were muddled). Eve was a pretty interesting character. Copper was my favorite. 🙂
I did not see the midpoint plot twist coming–but in a good way. I’d been trying to figure out what Noble was going to do as I neared that point of the book, and my guesses were completely wrong. But it took the story in a fun and unique direction.
Loughgillian and the villagers were a charming settling to start the story in. I enjoy Irish mythology, so it was fun to see Noble’s take on it and explore the Neathlands. I do wish that a little more of the faerie world has been explored though.
While The Gold-Son is about Tommin having to break his leprechaun curse, it is also the love story between him and Eve. If you like fairy tales, fated romance, and faeries, consider putting The Gold-Son on your TBR.
Cautions: five kisses; moderate romance; brief moderate violence *
*There are several expressions of “oh my gold” and the like throughout the novel that might throw you off at first. However, Noble is a Christian and there are no actual blasphemies.
Hailey Huntington 
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