The Pale Queen

Aldridge, Ethan M. The Pale Queen
June 25, 2024 by Quill Tree

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Agatha is a young girl in a small village in approximately 1880. (The setting of the book reminds me of the television series Lark Rise to Candleford, with carriages and hearth fires, but also girls trying to have more opportunies, so that's my best guess). She is working as a tutor to young Peter Garcia, but would love to be able to study astronomy at the university, but her family is too poor. The Garcias treat her well, even if Peter is a bit squirrely, but she would love to leave the small town and see more of the world. Local boy Claude, whose family runs the prosperous town store, won't stop bothering her, which adds to her irritation. She has seen a wolf lingering around town, and when she steps on an odd nest and breaks it, she has an even creepier experience. The Lady of the Hills introduces herself, and has the same yellow eyes as the wolf. Not only that, but she fastens a bracelet around Agatha's wrist and tells her to meet her in the middle of the night. Agatha's parents tell her it is a hag stone, which could be valuable but also is attached to dark magic. Sure enough, in the middle of the night, the bracelet wakes Agatha up and forces her out into the woods. There, she meets the Lady, as well as Hyacinth, her minion, who attaches himself to Agatha. The two have to watch and guard a rare plant, which is almost damaged by strange bugs. Agatha doesn't really want to talk to the Lady, but is oddly in her thrall. When she mentions Claude to the Lady, he is quickly turned into a pig my the Lady's spells. While that wasn't exactly what Agatha had wanted, she doesn't argue too strenuously about it. A Garcia cousin, Heather, shows up. She is studying literature, and Agatha is entranced by her knowledge and kindness. The two spend lots of time together, but Agatha is also bound more and more to the Lady and her all night escapades, and Hyacinth is living in a small space in her house, keeping an eye on her. When the Lady sees that Agatha would rather spend time with Heather, she freezes all of the Garcias. It's not easy to extricate herself from the Lady's evil plans, but Agatha manages to do so. In the end, Ms. Garcia agrees to fund Agatha's studies at the Dulac Academy with Heather, and the two set off for the big city. But are they really leaving the Lady behind? 
Strengths: Aldridge's illustrations are always lovely, and this captures the Victorian era well. He also does a good creepy setting, so the Lady is quite disturbing, as are her minions and monsters. Another reviewer compared Hyacinth to the characters in Henson and Oz's 1982 The Dark Crystal, and while I've never seen the movie, the likeness is certainly there. Young readers who like LGBTQIA+ romances will find Agatha and Heather's new relationship to be very sweet, and the fact that they are able to go out into the larger world and study together very satisfying. There's plenty of dealing with the dark arts, although Agatha is eventually able to free herself. Readers who liked Aldridge's creepy novel Deephaven will be glad to be able to have a graphic novel where they can see pictures of all the characters. 
Weaknesses: It seemed a little surprising that Agatha didn't know right away that the Lady was nothing but evil, and allowed herself to get caught in her thrall. Claude wasn't nice, but he also wasn't horrible enough to have to spend the rest of his life as a pig; when Agatha and Heather head out of town in a carriage, he is shown in the background! 
What I really think: This is a good choice for readers who like Zhou's Atana and the Firebird or Ostertag's The Girl From the Sea. It reminded me a little bit of Jones' Need, with its evil fairies, except that Agatha didn't fight against the Lady quite soon enough!