13 year old Triss Crescent wakes feeling sick. Her parents, Piers and Celeste, tell her that she had gone out last night and come back sopping wet. They think she may have fallen into the nearby lake known as The Grimmer. Though her parents continue to press her, she can’t seem to remember how she fell in or got out. While she can remember bits and pieces from her childhood, these memories, her home, and her family still feel strangely alien. She also As strange things begin to happen to Triss, such as her intense hunger that she can never seem to satisfy, dolls coming to life, and a voice in her head that counts down the days she has left to live, she and her family become increasingly worried for both her physical health and sanity. For no
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She finds out that her older brother, Sebastian, who had been killed in WWI 5 years prior, has been sending the Crescents letters for months. Every morning Triss finds leaves and twigs in her bed and in her hairbrush, though she hasn’t been outside. Then, inexplicably, Triss starts eating small objects from her room, such as jewelry, a miniature doll, and a handkerchief. These are the only things that can sate her hunger. One day while their father is at work and their mother is napping, Triss sees Pen sneak out of the house and decides to follow her to see what she's up to. Pen unknowingly leads Triss to a small room with a silent film playing inside. Triss watched from a crack in the door as Pen talks to a man named simply “The Architect” about getting rid of Triss. Pen gets angry at the man because even though she had already given him Triss’s stuff that had gone missing, he hadn’t held up his end of the bargain. He tells her that Triss will be dead in three days. After Triss reveals herself to Pen and they run home. Pen tells Triss that she is not the real Triss, she is actually a “thorn doll” made by the Besiders, a race of magical creatures who take human children and replace them with living dolls made out of twigs, leaves, and thorns that look just like the real child, but act slightly different. She’s shocked to find out that she’s an imposter. Pen explains that she was there the night she fell in the Grimmer. Triss begins to
She finds out that her older brother, Sebastian, who had been killed in WWI 5 years prior, has been sending the Crescents letters for months. Every morning Triss finds leaves and twigs in her bed and in her hairbrush, though she hasn’t been outside. Then, inexplicably, Triss starts eating small objects from her room, such as jewelry, a miniature doll, and a handkerchief. These are the only things that can sate her hunger. One day while their father is at work and their mother is napping, Triss sees Pen sneak out of the house and decides to follow her to see what she's up to. Pen unknowingly leads Triss to a small room with a silent film playing inside. Triss watched from a crack in the door as Pen talks to a man named simply “The Architect” about getting rid of Triss. Pen gets angry at the man because even though she had already given him Triss’s stuff that had gone missing, he hadn’t held up his end of the bargain. He tells her that Triss will be dead in three days. After Triss reveals herself to Pen and they run home. Pen tells Triss that she is not the real Triss, she is actually a “thorn doll” made by the Besiders, a race of magical creatures who take human children and replace them with living dolls made out of twigs, leaves, and thorns that look just like the real child, but act slightly different. She’s shocked to find out that she’s an imposter. Pen explains that she was there the night she fell in the Grimmer. Triss begins to