Book Review: The Aurora Antidote

Reviewed by Audrey Davis

A journey of truth and belonging

 Dylan Dubois is struggling. Overwhelmed after a recent house fire, her sister’s coma, and odd dreams she cannot seem to shake, she turns to her mother’s mysterious past to search for answers for the future. 

Hastily partnering with dubious strangers who are definitely more than what they seem (to the dismay of her best friend), she aims to shed light on family secrets left unexplained for a chance to save her sister from a terrible fate.

Ela Hugh’s debut, The Aurora Antidote, book one of a series to come, swallows readers into the abyss of the unknown. Dylan is an intelligent young protagonist with a lot of new discoveries to make about herself and a world she never got to know properly. 

The author does a great job of veiling a coming-of-age story beneath the supernatural. In searching for her family’s past, Dylan not only strives for validation and acceptance but familiarity and connection as well; drive and desire for the truth mix with naivety and innocence.

“‘What could be so bad,’ she thought, ‘to be better left unsaid?’”

Aptly-paced and full of peculiar turns, this story has a propensity to leave the reader hanging on to unanswered questions until just the right moment. The story frequently makes wonderful use of vivid descriptions and subtle foreshadowing, yet readers officially learn new information about Dylan’s journey and the plot as she discovers it herself, adding to the suspense. Readers are left hungry in the tension from the antagonist and the mysteries left unsolved for book two. 

“A plan materialized in Maggie’s mind, and she smiled to herself slyly. ‘Of course, Kit won’t be happy with me,’ she thought, ‘but he’ll forgive me in time. What’s a little meddling in the long run, anyway?’”

Hugh gives us a new, unusual plotline with charming characters that we immediately want to know more about. Alaeder and Mama Maggie’s characters beg so many questions, yet one almost does not want them answered; I feel they are both best shrouded in a little bit of enchanting anonymity. I personally might have liked to have heard a little about how Mama Maggie and Kit came to meet each other. I have a feeling it will be discussed in later installments, but I felt it could have added a bit more to their characters and story to have known it here.

With an imaginative cast and an engaging story, fans of magical realism will enjoy this story’s headfirst rush into the action. This book will be a good match for those looking for something unique yet down-to-Earth.

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