Trudchen grew up hearing Odette’s stories of their monster-slaying mother and a magician’s curse. But now that Tru’s older, she’s starting to wonder if her older sister’s tales were just comforting lies, especially because there’s nothing fantastic about her own life—permanently disabled and in constant pain from childhood polio.
In 1909, after a two-year absence, Od reappears with a suitcase supposedly full of weapons and a promise to rescue Tru from the monsters on their way to attack her. But it’s Od who seems haunted by something. And when the sisters’ search for their mother leads them to a face-off with the Leeds Devil, a nightmarish beast that’s wreaking havoc in the Mid-Atlantic states, Tru discovers the peculiar possibility that she and her sister—despite their dark pasts and ordinary appearances—might, indeed, have magic after all.
I became oddly (*snort* ODDly!) enchanted by this story of two sisters, although it was less the magical storytelling that captured me, but rather the relationship between Od and Tru and the secrets that lay between them.
I went into Odd & True with somewhat false expectations, based on early synopses and the cover picture. I definitely expected something about monster hunters! Instead, Odd & True is more complicated and nuanced than I would have thought, and ultimately conveys some lovely sentiments about family and belonging.
Od and Tru, when we first meet them, live in a plain Oregon home with their straight-laced, strict Aunt Viktoria and her husband William. Od is five years older than Tru, and has been Tru’s protector since both their parents left them years earlier. Tru suffers terrible pain in her leg as a result of polio as a toddler, and to distract her from her suffering, Od tells Tru stories of their past. She tells her the story of the day of her birth, when she was born in a castle and her uncle the magician came to visit, stories about their mother setting out to battle monsters in the deep, dark woods, and stories of their artist father traveling the world to seek his fortune.
Tru believes it all, and grows up with no doubt that monsters exist in the world, and must be warded off by charms and amulets and spells, as well as by the special monster-hunting weapons in the family’s special traveling case.
In alternating chapters, we get the sisters’ views of their world… and once we start hearing from Odette, it becomes increasingly clear that the magical tales she spins for Tru are just a sugar-coated version of the darker truths of their childhood and their parents’ lives.
As the story progressed, I became more and more engrossed in Odette’s part of the story, and perhaps as a consequence, I found it harder to buy into Tru’s view of life and her fantastical belief in myths and legends. Still, I really appreciated the sisters’ devotion to one another, and the various threads do come together nicely by the end.
I had a hard time getting truly caught up in the story at first, but gradually it grabbed me, and I ended up liking it very much. I really admire the way the author weaves together the two viewpoints to create a picture of a family that’s mired it its own myths.
I’ve decided I’d rather be foolish than ordinary. I’d rather risk chasing monsters that might not exist, searching for [deleted spoiler] I’m not meant to find, than to believe we’re nothing more than mundane creatures, steeped in ordinary lives… Please trust me when I insist that it is too soon for you to turn your back on spellbinding wonders.
Odd & True is the story of two young women who refuse to let their lives be dictated by what they “should” be and do. It’s about taking risks and being brave, facing danger even when you feel weak, and not letting anyone put you into a box. It’s quite a lovely read, and I think fans of Cat Winters, as well as those new to her wonderful books, will enjoy Odd & True very much.
Interested in this author? Check out these additional reviews:
The Uninvited
The Cure for Dreaming
In the Shadow of Blackbirds
The Steep & Thorny Way
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The details:
Title: Odd & True
Author: Cat Winters
Publisher: Amulet Books
Publication date: September 12, 2017
Length: 358 pages
Genre: Young adult
Source: Purchased
Bookshelf Fantasies 
I also really loved the sister relationship in this one. I feel like I’m pitched so many books that are supposed to be heartwarmingly about sisters, but I never get that invested in them. This one I did.
I know what you mean. There are a lot that miss the mark — but I really loved Od and Tru’s devotion to one another.
I haven’t completely enjoyed the last couple I read from this author but this one still piqued my interest. Glad to see you loved it too, I may just have to give it a whirl. Lovely review. 🙂
I didn’t love it as much as The Cure for Dreaming or In the Shadow of Blackbirds, but I did think it was quite good — just a very different kind of book, and one that grew on me slowly instead of sucking me in from the first page.