Why You'll Love This
A thirteen-year-old girl can heal the dying with her hands — and that gift is quietly destroying her.
- Great if you want: quiet magical realism grounded in grief and small-town life
- The experience: gentle but heavy — emotionally slow-burn with a melancholy pull
- The writing: Mott writes with understated warmth, letting dread build beneath ordinary moments
- Skip if: you want plot-driven fantasy — this leans more toward emotional meditation
About This Book
What would happen if a child's private miracle became public property overnight? In Jason Mott's novel, thirteen-year-old Ava possesses the ability to heal others—a gift kept quietly within the borders of her small-town life until a single catastrophic accident exposes her to the world. What follows is less a story about miracles than about what people do when they believe one stands within reach. Desperate strangers, media frenzy, political maneuvering, and a father trying desperately to protect his daughter converge in ways that ask hard questions about faith, exploitation, and the cost of being needed by everyone except the people who love you most.
Mott writes with the unhurried confidence of a storyteller who trusts his characters over his plot mechanics. The prose is restrained and clear, which makes the emotional weight land harder than it otherwise might. He keeps the fantastical element grounded, using Ava's gift as a lens rather than a spectacle—so the novel consistently feels human-sized even as its circumstances grow overwhelming. Readers who appreciate quiet, character-driven fiction with a speculative edge will find this one stays with them.