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The Forsaken and the Fated is the second, and final, book in The Hollow and the Haunted duology, and my God was it worth waiting for! Compelling, romantic, shot through with humour, heaving with yearning, and suffuse with heartfelt emotion, Camilla Raines has mastered the complex YA paranormal mystery.

Gabriel Hawthorne is going to die, unless Miles Warren can save him. The sons of feuding families, their friendship was unexpected, and whatever has grown between them even more so. Aided by friends new and old, desperate to protect their families, and each other, the boys will go as far as it takes to save each other. Simultaneously navigating murderous ghosts, inexplicable monstrosities, and high school, Miles and Gabriel face off with creatures beyond their comprehension, and contend with their scariest, and most unpredictable of foes, or allies; their parents.

The Forsaken and the Fated is a multi-layered story, which does not shy away from emotional confrontations, hard subjects, or the reality of busy teenage lives. Paranormal investigation is squeezed in between extra credit assignments, being siblings, after-school jobs, spirit week. and soccer practice. Here life-or-death stakes must, nevertheless, occasionally take a back seat to family dinner or homework. Miles and Gabriel are realised characters, surrounded by other fully-fleshed supporting cast, and situated in a town that, whilst not minutely picked out, feels plausible and grounded.

This is the kind of world that, in more established author’s, you may see begin to emerge in their third or fourth novel, or second multi-book series, the kind of character work that I find missing from bigger-budget releases. Raines is more than a good writer, she is a future all-timer, and I think, an undersold gem. To have produced as you first and second published works, such exceptionally well-written, paced, characterised, and conceived novels is, frankly, unbelievable. I am awed by Camilla Raines’ talent and very much looking forward to whatever she writes next. 5 stars.