Spring Song by Forrest Reid

A deceptive tale, The Spring Song seems at first glance to be standard Edwardian adventure. Grif - A boy on holiday with his siblings - must set out through the English countryside to rescue their beloved dog. Slowly, however, a subtle and not always benign magic slips into the tale, imbuing it with a dark haunting that is hard to put one's finger on. A genius friend takes on the role of boy detective to figure out why Grif has become so melancholy, but in an inversion of the trope its not clear if uncovering secrets makes things better or worse. What starts off concrete and simple become ambiguous and ethereal, and the ending is not an easy one. From the author of The Garden God. - Summary by Moon Lylith