Doll Bones
by Holly Black (Margaret K. McElderry Books, 2013); audiobook read by Nick Podehl (Random House, 2013)
A magic-realism quest fantasy marking the reluctant coming-of-age of three YA protagonists still clinging to the storytelling adventures they shared in MG. A markedly downbeat tale, its speculative element minimal to match the floundering ineffectualness of imaginations pitted against the real world.