Raising the Horseman by Serena Valentino Published by Disney-Hyperion on August 1, 2023
Pages: 304
Format: ARC, eBook
Source: Booksweet, Netgalley
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From the New York Times best-selling author of Disney's Villains series comes a ghostly new stand-alone novel that reimagines The Legend of Sleepy Hollow through the eyes of a modern teen.
The two-hundredth anniversary of the Headless Horseman's legendary haunting of Sleepy Hollow is approaching, but Kat van Tassel wants nothing to do with the town's superstitious celebrations. As a descendant of the original Katrina van Tassel, Kat knows she's expected to fulfill her ancestor's legacy by someday marrying her longtime boyfriend and running the prestigious family estate. But Kat dreams of a life outside Sleepy Hollow.
Then Kat meets Isadora, a new girl in town who challenges Kat to reexamine those expectations, opens her eyes to the possibility that ghosts are real, and makes her question who she truly wants to be . . . and be with.
When Kat is given the original Katrina's diary, a new legend begins to take shape, one that weaves together the past and the present in eerie ways. Can Kat uncover a two-hundred-year-old secret, and trace its shocking reverberations in her own life, in time to protect what she truly loves?
Fans of Serena Valentino will delight in this supernatural coming-of-age tale that finally gives the women of Sleepy Hollow a chance to tell their side of the story.
This Sleepy Hollow retelling or sequel or something features two girls solving the mystery within the fog. Set in the modern era, I found the modern times excellent but the “past” sections difficult to get through and eventually just skipped them. If you have a middle-grader very into the Sleepy Hollow television series, or the legend of Sleepy Hollow, I might recommend it; otherwise, I’d give it a pass. (Also there’s a cute f/f pairing which is cute to see in a middle-grade novel!)
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