“Eerie and sly, White Fox is a trap waiting to be sprung. I was completely enthralled.”–Rory Power, New York Times-bestselling author of Wilder Girls “A ghost story that will spook even the most hardened grown-ups.” –Entertainment Weekly After their world-famous actor mother disappeared under mysterious circumstances, Manon and Thaïs left their remote Mediterranean island home–sent away by … and Thaïs left their remote Mediterranean island home–sent away by their pharma-tech tycoon father. Opposites in every way, the sisters drifted apart in their grief. Yet their mother’s unfinished story still haunts them both, and they can’t put to rest the possibility that she is still alive.
Lured home a decade later, Manon and Thaïs discover their mother’s legendary last work, long thought lost: White Fox, a screenplay filled with enigmatic metaphors. The clues in this dark fairytale draw them deep into the island’s surreal society, into the twisted secrets hidden by their glittering family, to reveal the truth about their mother–and themselves.
An Imprint Book
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The sister’s aunt has finally allowed them to return home after the death of their father. One of them believes their mother is still alive, and one of them has told herself stories to accept her disappearance ten years ago. Both of them have questions that need answering on their return, but they might not find the answers they seek when more questions arise. And this might not be the same place they left all those years ago.
“… because when people leave a house, it stops being a home.”
I liked how the story was told from each of the sister’s perspective. They were different young women, but they went through much of the same things, even if they didn’t want to see it. Faring has created the perfect atmosphere in White Fox. The ambiance is splendid, and it draws you in. It’s both chilling and endearing, and your feelings fluctuate between horror and empathy.
“Beauty isn’t that which is beautiful, it is that which pleases us.”
I loved how we’re given pieces of this play, which created questions that led the girls to the answers they needed. It allowed their mother’s story to unfold. The girls’ personalities, the anxiety, the years of sadness, it makes for an emotional read. White Fox is both heavy and hopeful, and as the book drew towards the finish, I slowed my pace. I wanted to allow the words to settle over me and around me, and I didn’t want it to end. Such a beautifully told story, fantastic! Thank you, Fierce Reads, and Imprint for sending this along.
”Beauty isn’t that which is beautiful, it is that which pleases us.”
White Fox is a beautifully layered YA psychological mystery about sisters, family, and secrets. I loved how this story is told from multiple POVs, but also how the author explores storytelling within the story, which adds a magical dark fairy tale aspect to the already mysterious island setting of Viloxin.
At its simplest this story is about two distant sisters, Manon and Thaïs, wanting to find the mother that abruptly disappeared from their lives 10 years ago. These sisters use her last work, “White Fox” to try to figure out what happened to her. They are piecing together clues, and learning hard truths about people and things they once saw through a mulberry tinted filter. It’s just a great mystery read that is equal parts spooky and magical.
White Fox is just a great read. The mystery is intriguing, and the girls take you on a journey that’s both unexpected and exciting. They turn over so many stones, but you really have no idea what’s valid and what isn’t. It’s an extremely well written mystery, and the setting and the visuals that the author creates with her words is pure magic. I truly loved how this story explores themes of sister relationships and mental illness, but in such a unique ways. I also loved that these sisters are both on their own journey, but also on one together and of learning and building their relationship. It’s like their grief tore them apart originally, but a new form of grief brings them together. A sort of loss of what they thought they knew and who they thought they were. For me it felt like that grief of becoming an adult and losing that wonder of childhood. Maybe we don’t recognize it immediately, but I think many of us think back like “wow things felt so simple and special then.”
It’s just an overall great read. I expected to enjoy it, but I didn’t expect to fall in love.
”She was a complex prism of a woman working her whole life to crush this paper doll vision people had of her. And she mostly failed.”
White Fox by Sara Faring is a young adult mystery, following two girls as they look for their missing mother ten years after her disappearance.
An exciting novel that is an unexpected thrill as it lures in the reader.
Slow & Steady
What Faring does very well with White Fox is the pacing. It is a steady journey for the reader, one that opens with the girls and builds up their personalities, reflecting on the loss of their mother. Their mother just vanished in the night without a word, and now the girls who have been living in America for years return home to their Mediterranean island, left with a clue that their mother may be alive.
There is much tension in the story not only surrounding the girls and how different they are, but also the idea of this mysterious script that went missing at the same time as their mother. However, what is more, is the fact that in his final days, their father claimed to have seen her standing in the woods that surround their home.
There is so much rising tension in the story to make it intriguing. Faring builds up the mysterious and chilling atmosphere not only by putting the characters on a volcanic island but also by her details and descriptions. White Fox is itself sounds mysterious, and the forest by their house, calling it the Delirium Forest, allows the eerie atmosphere to resonate off the pages.
Interludes
However, while Faring has a great atmosphere and steady pace, there are times when the story is less than engaging and times when it shines.
The interludes featuring pieces of the script are the most noteworthy aspects of the story. They paint a fantastical look at their mother’s life and the men in it. It is up to the girls to decipher the meaning of the text, and the reader is intrigued by it as well.
The script of White Fox is the most curious part of the storytelling because it gives the reader an idea of who their mother was and guided the girls on their journey to discover just who their mother was. They were too young to know her and now they are discovering they did not know her at all. Once again, this leads to a notable rise in tension and mystery, building up the eerie atmosphere.
Final Thoughts
There is no doubt that Faring has a way with language and storytelling, and it was ingenious of her to reference her previous novel The Tenth Girl, but her characterization is lacking. Manon and Thaïs are wholly unlikable, making the reader unable to connect to them genuinely. Yes, the reader can sympathize with them, but overall, their dynamic, the built-up resentment between the two characters, and how they belittle one another takes sibling discord to another level. It just prevents the reader from really investing in them.
Nevertheless, they do grow as characters which the reader can appreciate, and coupled with the mystery, White Fox is a compelling narrative.