Cuckoo Song by Frances Hardinge (Pan MacMillan, 2014)

★★★☆☆

In mid-1920s England, a young girl, Triss, wakes up from a near-drowning. She barely recognizes her mom and dad, she’s infernally hungry, and her little sister keeps screaming at their parents: “Can’t you see she’s a fake?”

Another “hard to believe this is a YA book,” because it’s awfully creepy, in a way that leaves even adult me wrecked. But the kernel of that is something glorious. As Triss discovers all the ways that things are wrong and she is not normal, her parents try to fix her problems with strained smiles and bed rest. It was easy to see how Triss’s situation might mirror that of any real-world child whose authentic character did not align with their parents’ expectations.

The story veers into many unexpected places, sometimes feeling like an excuse for Hardinge to play with the details of the historical era in which the book is set. Though I never minded those explorations, they also didn’t grab me. I did appreciate the complexity of the sisters’ relationship, and their moments of alternating tenderness and animosity, but on the whole, I didn’t enjoy this as much as Fly by Night.