In the Serpent's Coils: Hallowmere #1 -- Tiffany Trent
Washington, 1865. Corrine wakes up from fevered dreams to learn that her mother has died of ague. He father disappeared at the Battle of Petersburg, about a year ago. Though she still holds out hope for his return, everyone else considers her an orphan. Her uncle takes her in, but he doesn't like children and it isn't long before he sends her away to school in Virginia:
When at last they topped the rise, iron gates swung open. An iron-spiked fence at least ten feet tall ran out at angles toward the rain-soaked trees. The gate clanged shut as the carriage wheels shirred across the wet ground. The school loomed like an impregnable Gothic fortress, gargoyles and curious beasts leering down from the third-story eaves.
This is not a school, Corrine thought. This is a prison.
At Falston Manor, mysteries abound: What happened to Jeanette, and why won't anyone talk about it? What do Corrine's dreams about the Fey mean, and how are they connected to the centuries-old letters she's discovering around the Manor? Who is the bloody-handed man called the Captain, and what does he want? What are the witches trying to accomplish? Why do some people seem to fear her?
Add to that the general difficulties of fitting in at a new school, dealing with the loss of her parents, a crush on the handyman and being a Yankee in the South, and she's got a pretty full plate.
Okay, here's a thought:
If there's a big mystery throughout a book and the tension kind of rides on the reader being unsure of which way the plot will turn, you might want to avoid giving it away in the copy on the back cover. I mean, really.
I may have enjoyed In the Serpent's Coils more if The Big Twist hadn't been revealed on the back cover. Since I Knew All, I spent most of the book being irritated with Corrine for not figuring it all out sooner -- unfair, maybe, but that's what happened. Then again, if I'd developed any sort of affection for the characters, knowing what The Big Twist was probably wouldn't have been such a big deal -- but I just... didn't. I found the adults more interesting than the students, frankly.
Meh.