Changeling (review)

Italy in 1453 is rife with superstition, and seventeen-year-old Luca Vero has been charged by the Church with the task of investigating reports of supernatural phenomena in an effort to stop the spread of heresy and darkness across Europe. His first assignment is a nunnery just north of Rome, where the residents are experiencing strange visions along with mysterious wounds. Isolde (also seventeen) is the convent's recently appointed abbess, and her arrival marked the beginnings of the strange occurrences, leading most of the nuns to believe that Isolde is a witch responsible for the current crisis. Luca is not so sure, however, particularly after meeting and bonding with the beautiful Lady Abbess, and he and his traveling companions set out to clear her name. This first YA title by adult author Gregory is largely unshaped, haphazardly bringing two plot lines together in a predictable and wholly unoriginal outing. The dialogue is often at odds with both the historical setting and various characters' motivations, with Isolde and her female servant Ishraq particularly contradictory as they go on long lectures about the equality of the sexes all while waiting for the nearest guy to save them. Isolde and Luca purport to be the heroes here but are disappointingly bland; fortunately, Ishraq and Luca's companion Freize offer a bit of levity and comedic relief in what is overall a misfire by the well-known author. Point readers looking for a well-developed, slightly supernatural take on historical fiction to Robin LaFever's recent Grave Mercy (BCCB 4/12) instead.