Tagged: faeries
City of Fae by Pippa DaCosta
(Cover picture courtesy of Goodreads.)
From the moment Alina touches London’s hottest fae superstar, breaking one of the laws founded to protect all of her kind, her fate – and the fae – close in.
Below ground, the fae High Queen plots to claim the city as her own and places her pawns, ready for the battle to come. A battle she cannot lose, but for one small problem – Alina. There are four ancient keepers powerful enough to keep the queen in her prison. Three are dead. One remains … And to fight back, Alina risks sacrificing everything she has come to love.
This New Adult urban fantasy is packed with action and suspense and will have you yearning for more forbidden fae romance.
[Full disclosure: I requested and received a free ebook copy through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.]
I’m not really sure what I was expecting when I picked up City of Fae but Pippa DaCosta blew any expectations that existed away.
First we meet Alina, a reporter who has just lost her job. She’s living in the present day but things are very, very different from what we would expect: the fae have come out to the world. In fact, they did this a couple of decades ago and they’re basically just a fact of life now. Everyone knows not to let a fae touch them because they can bespell you but there are always exceptions because some people live to be spelled. The rule is three touches and you’d better get to therapy to wean yourself off because you’re pretty much guaranteed to be under their control. So the fae are both dangerous and attractive? Well, you can guess what many of them do for a living: they go into show business.
And that’s how Alina, a rather ordinary reporter, comes into contact with Sovereign, London’s hottest fae superstar. Why on earth does she touch him? Working in the entertainment industry, you’d think she would know better. She does know better and she does it anyway because Alina is the sort of person that wants to help everyone, no matter how dangerous it might be. Alina doesn’t have a sort of annoying martyr syndrome but she is a good person and that leads her into an entirely new world of trouble. That’s in part why her character carries the story so well: she really is an average person in the beginning. She wants to get a new job, focus on moving on with her life but events don’t seem to let her. Throughout the story you can really feel her frustration with Sovereign for dragging her into this whole mess but also her undeniable attraction to the man. He’s handsome and infuriating and can be a jerk but he’s not really that typical YA/NA hot jerk. The main difference here is that Pippa DaCosta actually does give him depth and we do actually get to see why he’s sort of justified in being such a jerk. I don’t like many of the romances in NA because they come off as feeling slightly abusive (mentally or physically) but this is one sizzling attraction between two people that evolved into something a little more.
As I’ve hinted at in my opening summary, the world-building here is fantastic. It’s interesting to see how humans react to the fae since most of them are superstars. Therefore you have the normal idiotic celebrity worship combined with the really compelling attraction humans have to the fae; it’s not really a good combination for a lot of people. Pippa DaCosta’s fae are not cuddly, friendly nearly-humans. They’re vicious and will use humans unashamedly for their own ends. These are magical creatures hundreds of years old with very little in the way of consciences or morals and DaCosta really does this portrayal well. You get that odd feeling of awe around the fae but also that sense they’re dangerous throughout the novel. It’s hard to describe but as a reader you’ll be fairly attracted to them (particularly Sovereign) while at the same time pleading inwardly for Alina to get away from them. This dual nature of the fae is done incredibly well and my description here really doesn’t do it justice.
The plot was surprising and that’s definitely in a good way. There was a huge twist about Alina that I definitely did not see coming but does make sense when you consider the whole plot. Sovereign himself is not everything as he seems but the difference there is that he actively hides his secrets while Alina doesn’t necessarily do that as well. In addition to the character twists I really did love the antagonist in the story, the High Queen. She’s fascinating, at the same time gorgeous and hideous and she’s a woman on a mission. What that mission is, I’ll leave you to find out when you read the book but let’s just say it isn’t to solve world hunger or poverty or anything as nice as that.
Even if you’re not a person who’s really into the New Adult genre, I think if you’re into fairies or fae as they’re called here, you’ll enjoy City of Fae. It’s got a sizzling romance, some plot twists that will totally blindside you at first and some excellent world-building. Will there be a sequel? I’m not sure because DaCosta resolves the main conflict but leaves some other questions like what Alina will do next open. So there could be a sequel but the book doesn’t really need one to satisfy you. Go on and pre-order this book, though! It releases on May 7.
I give this book 5/5 stars.
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Darklight by Lesley Livingston
(Cover picture courtesy of Paranormally Romanced.)
Much has changed since autumn, when Kelley Winslow learned she was a Faerie princess, fell in love with changeling guard Sonny Flannery, and saved the mortal realm from the ravages of the Wild Hunt.
Now Kelley is stuck in New York City, rehearsing Romeo and Juliet and missing Sonny more with every stage kiss, while Sonny has been forced back to the Otherworld and into a deadly game of cat and mouse with the remaining Hunters and Queen Mabh herself.
When a terrifying encounter sends Kelley tumbling into the Otherworld, her reunion with Sonny is joyful but destined to be cut short. An ancient, hidden magick is stirring, and a dangerous new enemy is willing to risk everything to claim that power.
Caught in a web of Faerie deception and shifting allegiances, Kelley and Sonny must tread carefully, for each next step could topple a kingdom . . . or tear them apart.
With breathtakingly high stakes, the talented Lesley Livingston delivers soaring romance and vividly magical characters in Darklight, the second novel in the trilogy that began with Wondrous Strange.
I had reviewed the first book on The Streetlight Reader, giving it 3.5/5 stars. So why did I read it after giving the first book a ‘meh’ rating? Well I had read a chapter in the bookstore and it seemed like the writing had improved so I decided to give Lesley Livingston another chance. Was I right to do that? As it turns out, Darklight is a slight improvement over Wondrous Strange.
My main problem with the first book is that I could not connect on an emotional level with the characters. Sure, they were going through the motions of having emotions but I just couldn’t feel the emotions coming from the writing. In this second book this has improved a little bit. I actually felt Kelley’s distress at Sonny’s disappearance, her anger at her mother Mabh and her father Auberon, etc. Could I feel this passionate, sweeping romance between her and Sonny? Not really. But did I actually get emotionally involved in the story? Occasionally.
No, the lack of emotional quality in the writing is not the problem this time. This time the problem is that the plot makes absolutely no sense because very few conflicts are resolved throughout the book. Whereas Wondrous Strange was too fast-paced, this one was too slow in the beginning and desperately tried to make up for it in the last few chapters, culminating in one of the most random battle scenes I’ve ever read. Some of the plot twists (like who Sonny’s father is) were rather predictable and yet the explanations for these twists made no sense. I can’t say much more than that without giving the entire book away, but trust me when I say it comes both out of nowhere and it was predictable in a way.
I found that the world-building was still as good as ever in Darklight. I loved Lesley Livingston’s descriptions of Auberon’s palace, Titania and Mabh. They were absolutely spot-on and I never really felt bored with them because of that. Really, the writing is beautiful if you’re solely judging this book on imagery and descriptions but sometimes the situations the characters find themselves in are not adequately explained to the reader. Thus you end up amazed and confused, much like in the first book.
I may or may not read the third and final book in the Wondrous Strange trilogy but all I can say is that I really hope that if you try reading it you have a much better experience than I have.
I give this book 3/5 stars.
Exciting Book Deals for YA Lovers
[Full disclosure: I would love to thank Anthea Sharp for tipping me off about these deals. Although I was provided both deals for free from her, I was under no obligation to post about them and would have done it without getting the bundles for free.]
Okay: do you like YA books? Fantasy? Well written stories? Well, if you’re reading my blog you probably love at least two of the three. That means that now’s your time to snap up these awesome deals.
Deal #1: Faery Worlds (Six Complete Novels) for only $0.95 until the end of September!
The Faery Worlds bundle, of course, contains six ebook novels with faeries as the central theme. Although I haven’t yet started on it, I can tell you that Anthea Sharp’s Feyland: The Dark Realm is worth far more than $0.95 alone! I mean, if you love fantasy and/or YA this bundle is an awesome deal. Head on over to Amazon by clicking here. This deal is on only until the end of September, so snap it up while it lasts.
Deal #2: A StoryBundle collection of YA books for a pay what you want price!
Okay, so the minimum payment on StoryBundle is actually $3 and that’s an awesome deal considering how many books are in the bundle. I’ve downloaded this one as well and am really excited to get started on some of these books! Although the image I was sent shows eight books, the bundle on StoryBundle shows only 7 because Open Minds is not there. Still, 7 books for whatever price you want? You can’t get a better deal than that. You have to snap this one up quickly, however: it’s only live until September 17. Click here to see it.
Wondrous Strange by Lesley Livingston
Yes, I know, this is the second day in a row I’m away guest posting. That’s just how things worked out this week, though. If you like faeries, you might want to check out Wondrous Strange by Lesley Livingston. It’s not my favourite book, but maybe it will turn out better for you!
The Iron Queen by Julie Kagawa
(Cover picture courtesy of Julie Kagawa’s website.)
My name is Meghan Chase.
I thought it was over. That my time with the fey, the impossible choices I had to make, the sacrifices of those I loved, was behind me. But a storm is approaching, an army of Iron fey that will drag me back, kicking and screaming. Drag me away from the banished prince who’s sworn to stand by my side. Drag me into the core of conflict so powerful, I’m not sure anyone can survive it.
As most of you are aware, I am a shameless Julie Kagawa fan. I love the entire Iron Fey series, but The Iron Queen (the third book) is my absolute favourite. Here’s why:
Meghan Chase has finally acquired a backbone.
Unlike in The Iron Daughter, she has finally learned how and when to hide her emotions and lie. She’s also more sure of her love for Ash and has stopped doubting him so much. Overall, she’s just a better character and she’s far less helpless as she learns how to fight and use her glamour. By the climax, when she faces the new Iron King, she shows incredible bravery and makes an enormous sacrifice in order to save the Nevernever. It’s satisfying and extremely touching at the same time because readers could see hints of Meghan’s inner strength before, but now it finally shows through.
Since the stakes are even higher than before, there is hardly a dull moment. The plot speeds along at a tremendous pace as the battle for the fate of the Nevernever begins. This is the kind of book that will keep you reading into the early morning; you won’t want to put it down. And the ending will make you desperate to get your hands on the last book in the series, The Iron Knight.
I rarely read series in order, but Julie Kagawa’s Iron Fey series is an exception. I was amazed at the world-building in the first book, captivated by the admittedly cliché love triangle in the second book, but what I loved in this book was the quality of the writing. The wonderful thing about reading an author’s first series in order is that you get to see how much they improve in writing, characterization and world-building. Julie Kagawa has improved greatly since her debut novel and I think we can expect great things from her in the future.
I give this book 4.5/5 stars.