Changes

I really engaged with the characters in the first half of ''Betwixt''. All three protagonists are three-dimensional, rounded characters with talents and flaws. Morgan carries a chip on her should and is fiercely competitive, but her love for her younger brother redeems her. Ondine is loved and spoiled by her doting parents, but she has an innate sense of justice and fair play that makes you warm to her. You want to reach out and give the sensitive, damaged Nix a great big cuddle. As the kitchen sink dramas of teenage life are gradually edged out by the encroaching fantasy elements, Bray Smith develops a real, palpable tension. I really wanted to know what was going to happen to them, and who they really were.

It's very nicely written, with a good blend of idiom and sharp sentence construction. Reading in Britain, I didn't feel the book was so American as to be inaccessible. Teenage argot doesn't deflect from the thrust of the dialogue, but the voice is, nevertheless authentic. There's an amount of kissing and teenage groping that might make this hard going for even sophisticated younger readers - plus scenes of drinking and drug-taking - and so ''Betwixt'' is probably best kept firmly within its intended teen audience, especially teens who enjoy such visual fantasies as Lost Boys, or Buffy, or Heroes.

My thanks to the nice people at Headline for sending the book.

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