Thursday, May 15, 2014

The Faerie Guardian by Rachel Morgan Book Review





Rachel Morgan is one of my favourite self-published authors. Actually, she is probably my number one favourite – or ties with Tammara Webber. I just finished re-reading The Faerie Guardian (referred to as ‘Guardian’ from now on) so that the story was fresh in my mind before reading The Faerie Prince, and I think I dug Guardian even more the second time around. Violet has got to be one of the most awesome female protagonists currently gracing the pages of young-adult fiction. She’s as kick-ass as Katniss (from The Hunger Games) but much funnier. Her inability to deal with complex emotions is portrayed really well through humour.

I tilt my head back and let out a groan. Counseling. That thing where I have to discuss my feelings about killing someone. Great. The list of things I’m not good at is pretty short, but discussing feelings is probably at the top.

Whlie I’m on the topic of humour, my favourite element of Guardian would have to be the verbal sparring between Violet and her nemesis, Ryn. Their banter made me laugh so many times.

Ryn: “You’re not the kind of person to just randomly fall in love. You’re way too…”
My eyes shoot to his. “Too what?”
“Well, you know, emotionally closed off.”
“I will emotionally close off every orifice in your face if you don’t shut up about this right now.”
He laughs. “That doesn’t even make sense.”

I also enjoyed the creative descriptions of elements of the Fae realm, which are interspersed throughout the story. Here’s one of my favourites:

I stomp around the edge of a clearing where giant mushrooms are swelling as they soak up the silvery glow of the moon. “Do not stand on the mushrooms,” I tell him. “They don’t like it.” And the last thing I need is for him to show up at the Guild covered in poisonous goop.
An eerie howl vibrates through the air, rustling the leaves above us and causing a nest of tiny airhorses to take flight and disappear into the night.

I want to talk more about Nate and Ryn but I’m afraid of unintentional spoilers. Let’s just say they’re both fascinating, and as their characters develop throughout the story, I found myself feeling completely differently about both of them in different ways – there’s more to them than meets the eye.

The pace of Guardian never lets up, so if you’re like me, you’ll tear through the pages of this sizeable novel quite quickly. A word of warning – don’t expect a resolution at the end. No, all plot lines are left wide open. Thankfully, the next book, The Faerie Prince, has just been released so we can move on straight away and find out what happens next – I’m going to start it tonight!

The Faerie Prince

*NOTE: This review contains spoilers of Guardian.*

My rating: 4.5 stars

THE FAERIE PRINCE (Creepy Hollow 2) To borrow an expression from Violet… Oh. My. Freak.

I’ve always had a lot of respect for Rachel Morgan as a fellow self-published author, but after reading The Faerie Prince (referred to as ‘Prince’ from now on), I’ve officially become a crazy fan. I LOVED this book. When I finished Guardian, I thought I had a reasonable idea about where this series was heading, but I was so wrong. I literally gasped on a number of occasions while reading Prince, but all of the twists were totally believable. The characters and their relationships change a lot throughout the book, but the developments feel natural and organic, rather than forced.

And that ending. Wow. I’m stunned. It doesn’t leave you on a cliffhanger, it destroys the entire cliff! I’m desperate to know what happens next and will be hounding Rachel Morgan to hurry up and finish the next book. But then again, I don’t want her to finish it too quickly, because she needs to maintain the standard she’s set, and that standard is very, very high!

My favourite scene, hands down, was Violet and Ryn’s graduation. I had a huge smile on my face the whole way through it, and the smile returned to my face just now as I re-read the scene to refresh my memory of why I enjoyed it so much.

Despite revealing several vulnerabilities, Violet remains as awesome as ever. Here are a couple of my favourite Violet quotes from Prince:

It’s not as though I want him back. I mean, the guy handed me over to a prince of the Unseelie Court-I’m not exactly hoping for a happily ever after here. To be honest, I’m not quite sure what I’m hoping for. Maybe I want to look into his eyes and ask him why he did it. Or maybe I just want to kick his ass.

I look around and notice one of the male graduates watching me. Another one flashes a smile in my direction. I look away quickly, clasping my hands behind my back. Weirdos.

There were just a few things that stopped me from giving this novel a full five stars. Early on, there was a bit of obvious info dumping masked as conversation, which always irks me. And there were two separate occasions where characters’ behaviour or choices struck me as inconsistent or false. (I’ve left out the details because they’re too spoilery, but you can read them in my Goodreads review, if you’re interested).

Apart from those few points, I absolutely adored The Faerie Prince. I can’t wait to read the next book to see what happens after that show-stopper of an ending. And Rachel, if you’re reading this, I promise I’ll try not to go all fan girl on you!

No comments:

Post a Comment