Book Review: Bones of Faerie

Bones of Faerie
by Janni Lee Simner

The war with Faerie ended before Liza was born, but every day she lives with the consequences. As if living in a world where plants attack and kill, and crops resist being harvested, isn't reminder enough, her father never lets her forget for a minute that magic is evil and constant vigilance is required. When Liza's sister is born with clear hair, a sign of magic, her father leaves her on a hillside to die. But when Liza discovers that she also has magic, knowing that her father will kill her, she runs away before her father can find out.

Liza and Matthew, a boy from the village, find their way to another town, where they learn that not everyone lives the way they do, and that magic has the potential to help as well as harm. When Liza discovers that her mother is in danger, she and Matthew set off to find and rescue her. Along the way, they learn that the truth of the war is more complex than they were taught, and that war has consequences for both sides.

Bones of Faerie is a highly original and engrossing book. The world building is rich and creative. This very unusual post-apocalyptic world is brought to life by the beautiful writing, with just enough detail to make it vivid, but not too much detail to slow down the pace of the book. The characters are likewise well-developed and sympathetic. In a time when there's no shortage of books about Faeirie, Bones of Faerie is a real standout that should be at the top of your list.

Bones of Faeirie was a 2009 Cybils nominee.

Book borrowed from the library. The Amazon.com links above are Amazon Associate links, and I earn a very small percentage of any sales made through the links.

Book Review: The Book of Dreams

The Book of Dreams
The Chronicles of Faerie: Book 4
by O. R. Melling

Dana Faolan, half-mortal, half faerie teen, is unhappy. Recently moved to Canada from Ireland, she misses her home and blames her father for moving her away from her beloved Ireland. She hates Canada: it's a strange country, she doesn't have any friends, and worst of all, there's no magic like there is in Ireland. Her only consolation is the world of Faerie, where she can go and visit her mother, the Light-Bearer, any time. Faerie becomes an escape from reality, one that she perhaps relies on a bit too much.

Then, all the portals between the Earthworld and Faerie are severed by an unknown enemy, putting both realms in peril. If the gateways are not restored by Samhain, then the two realms will be divided forever. Only Dana can restore the gateways. Accompanied by her new friend (and possible romantic interest) Jean, a French Canadian with secrets of his own, and with help from Laurel and Gwen, two Friends of Faerie, Dana sets off on a quest to find the Book of Dreams. In the process, she just might find that there is magic everywhere, even in Canada.

The Book of Dreams is a big, beautifully written fantasy on a grand scale. In her travels, Dana encounters people of the many different cultures that make up Canada, and the story is rich with beliefs and folklore from around the world, including Irish, French-Canadian, Hindu, Christian, Chinese, and several native peoples, including Cree and Inuit.

Melling's writing is beautiful; even her many descriptions of food, from the vegetarian meals Dana's Indian stepmother cooks, to the variety of food she encounters on her journeys, make the book worth reading (and will make you hungry while reading it!)

The story is well-paced and sometimes has a mythic feel to it. The pace is a bit slower than some YA readers may be accustomed to; the battles and dangers are balanced with scenes of family and encounters with other cultures that are important to the development of the story, but which make this a more leisurely read. The pacing, combined with the length of the book, may intimidate some readers, but good readers who love richly woven stories will enjoy it, particularly those interested in folklore and other cultures.

Don't get me wrong: there is plenty of action, as well as interesting characters (I particularly liked Dana's aunts) and a hot romantic interest. There is courage, and sacrifice, and poignant moments. This is a Rocky Road ice cream kind of book, packed with lots of chewy and delicious treats.

O.R. Melling wrote the Chronicles of Faerie so that each book stands alone, and can be read independently, and yet all the books are linked. Each of the first three books in the series features a different story and a different protagonist, although characters from the other books sometimes make cameo appearances in each book. This book can also be read independently, but I think that it would be best appreciated by someone who has read the other books in the series, because it is kind of the culmination of the series, and all the characters from the other books play a part in this one.

Our 2006 interview with O.R. Melling

Read my reviews of the other Chronicles of Faerie books:
The Hunter's Moon
The Summer King
The Light-Bearer's Daughter

Review copy provided by the publisher at BEA.

Book Review: The Secret of Grim Hill

The Secret of Grim Hill
by Linda DeMeulemeester

The Secret of Grim Hill is a 2007 Cybils nominee.

It's Cat Peters' first day at Darkmont High, and everything is going wrong. Cat just moved to a new town, and she doesn't know anyone at her new school. By the end of her first day, she's accumulated several demerits, alienated all her teachers, lost points in several classes, and made no friends. The only student at the school who even acknowledges her existence is Jasper Chung, who skipped a grade and is younger than everyone else at the school. It doesn't look like thing are going to get any better at Darkmont, so when Cat learns that nearby private school Grimoire is holding a soccer match and offering scholarships to all the members of the winning team, Cat is determined to go for it.

Cat gets so caught up in the competition that she doesn't notice that something seems amiss. Jasper and Cat's sister Sookie try to warn her, but Cat's just happy that since she made the soccer team, everything seems to be going right. Perhaps a little too right...

The Secret of Grim Hill is just gently spooky enough to be fun without being overly scary. It's a straightforward, fast-paced story and an easy read that's perfect for tween reluctant readers.

Holly Black on readergirlz!

This month, the fabulous Holly Black is the featured author on the readergirlz web site! Holly Black is the author of a series of modern urban faerie tales, which includes Tithe, Valiant, and her newest book, ironside. This is a great series; fascinating and mesmerizing, but very dark and definitely not for kids! You can read my reviews by clicking on the book names above. Holly Black is also the author of The Spiderwick Chronicles, which is a series for children and which will be released as a movie in February, 2008.

Readergirlz is particularly highlighting Black's newest novel, ironside. As with all the readergirlz features, this one includes a "while-you-read" playlist, a community challenge that relates to the book, an interview with Black, discussion questions for your book group, a book celebration guide, and more. You can also chat with Holly Black on Thursday, August 23rd, 7 PM Pacific / 10 PM Eastern. Readergirlz really makes reading fun! Click here to go to readergirlz.

Book Review: Wildwood Dancing

Wildwood Dancing
by Juliet Marillier

Jena and her four sisters have a secret: every month at the full moon they travel to the Other Kingdom through a secret passage in their room. There, they spend the evening dancing and socializing with the various Folk of the Other Kingdom. It's a welcome release, but Jena knows that the Other Kingdom carries its own dangers, too. The girls keep themselves safe with a strict set of rules, and Jena is always on her guard.

Although the girls live in a world where women have little power, their father is unusual in his attitudes and treats the girls with respect and equality. Jena helps him keep the books for the business, and her sister Paula studies with the village priest. But when Father becomes ill, things are about to change for Jena and her sisters. Father must spend the winter in a warmer climate or risk death, and he leaves the girls, and particularly Jena, in charge of the home and business. But Jena finds herself in conflict with her cousin Cezar, who lives nearby. Cezar doesn't think that women should run a business or study intellectual pursuits, and he gradually begins to take charge of their affairs. Without Father to stand up to Cezar, the girls have no recourse.

Cezar blames the Folk of the Other Kingdom for his brother's death in the forest when they were children, and he is determined to destroy the forest and though it, the Other Kingdom. Meanwhile, Jena's older sister Tati is falling in love with one of the Night People, and Jena doesn't trust him. Jena is caught in the middle as she tries to save both Tati and the Other Kingdom and keep the girls' secret safe.

Wildwood Dancing got off to a slow start, and I wasn't sure that I was going to be able to read it. But by the time I was a couple of chapters into it, I was hooked and pretty much read the rest of it straight through. Although it's based on the story of the "Twelve Dancing Princesses," Wildwood Dancing is no fairy tale: it's a rich, complex story which explores themes of power, perception and forgiveness. Jena is a fascinating character with a complex personality. Although she is intelligent and strong-willed, she also makes mistakes, and those mistakes could have dangerous consequences. I wanted to slap her throughout most of the book, because I figured something out early on that it took her most of the book to find out. Cezar is also an interesting study in conflicts. Although you grow to detest him as the story progresses, you also feel sympathy for him. The other girls are less well developed and tend towards archetypes: the brainy one, the dreamy one, etc.

The book draws on Transylvanian folklore as well as some well-known fairy tales, and Marillier attempts to portray the Night People more in line with the traditional folklore rather than the modern conception of vampires. The book also touches on Transylvanian history and culture.

Wildwood Dancing is a beautifully written, exciting book that will appeal to teens who like exotic worlds, strong heroines, and a touch of romance.

Book Review: Wicked Lovely

Wicked Lovely

by Melissa Marr

Aislinn has the Sight; she can see the faeries all around. It's a genetic trait that she inherited from her mother and her grandmother, who raised her when her mother died. Grams drilled the rules for survival into Aislinn: don't look at the faeries, don't speak to them, don't attract their attention. If the fey know that you can see them, they may blind or kill you.

So when two faeries actually approach Aislinn and talk to her, she's justifiably alarmed. But the danger is greater than even she imagines. For one of the faeries is the Summer King, who has chosen her to test to be his queen, a test with dire consequences for failure. The Summer King has been bound by his mother, the Winter Queen, who is a kind of supernatural version of Mommie Dearest. The Summer King's powers are limited by this binding until he can find his true Queen, but any girl who fails the test is doomed to be subject to the Winter Queen until the next candidate tries. All Aislinn wants is a normal life, but she finds herself trapped in a situation with no good outcome possible.

I have to confess that reading Wicked Lovely immediately (minutes!) after reading Holly Black's ironside, at first it seemed like a pale imitation. Aislinn even digs her fingernails into her palms just like Black's Kaye does. However, as I continued reading, the book drew me in and became a fascinating book in its own right. Melissa Marr's story is unique and surprising and quite delightful. The plot has some surprising twists, and the characters are interesting, including a sizzling love interest.

Note: I originally posted this review late Saturday night at the end of the 48-hour book challenge, and I don't feel that I did the book justice. So I've gone back and edited the review to beef it up a bit.

327 pages

Book Review: ironside

ironside: A Modern Faery's Tale

by Holly Black

As Roiben's coronation as King of the Unseelie Court approaches, Kaye is uncertain where she stands. She doesn't feel like she completely belongs in either world, faerie or human, and she's not certain where she stands with Roiben. The Unseelie Court sees her as a liability and an inconvenience, and they tolerate her only for the sake of their new King. Goaded by some of the Unseelie Court, Kaye publicly declares her love for Roiben and he gives her an impossible quest to prove her love: find a faerie who can tell an untruth. If she succeeds, Kaye will be his consort and sit by his side; if she fails she can never see him again.

While Kaye seeks for something that doesn't exist, she and Corny, who is conflicted after his experience in Faerie, along with Luis from Valiant, are drawn into the impending war between the Seelie and Unseelie courts. The devious Silarial, Queen of the Seelie Court, is determined to rule both courts and will stop at nothing to triumph over Roiben.

Like Tithe and Valiant, ironside is a dark and compelling book. Even if I hadn't been reading it for the 48-hour book challenge, I probably would have read it straight through; it's a hard book to put down. Black is brilliant at showing how the faeries can be both horrifying and seductive, often at the same time. But where Tithe conveyed the horrors of the monsters of Faerie, this book is more about the monster within. It's also a great twist that the Queen of the Seelie, or Bright Court, is devious and cruel, while the King of the Unseelie, or Night Court, is a compassionate faerie who struggles to "be like ice" as is required of the Unseelie King.

ironside is definitely my favorite of the series. Holly Black is a gifted writer and I hope that she continues to write YA fantasy.

323 pages

Book Review: Faeries of Dreamdark: Blackbringer

Faeries of Dreamdark: Blackbringer

by Laini Taylor

Magpie isn't like other faeries. Accompanied by her band of crows, she travels the world, capturing devils that the unwitting humans have released from the bottles in which they've been imprisoned for thousands of years. But when she finds an empty bottle with a broken seal bearing the sign of Magruwen, the Djinn King, she knows that this is no ordinary devil. For Magruwen himself to have sealed the bottle means that its occupant must be powerful. And indeed, the horror that has been unleashed on the world is a monstrous shadow known as the Blackbringer, which devours everything in its path. Magruwen and the other Djinn withdrew from the world millennia ago, and the magic of the faeries has diminished over the years. Magpie and her friends are all that stands between the world and this new horror.

It's hard to describe Faeries of Dreamdark: Blackbringer in a way that does it justice. Start with a richly imagined world, add a heroine who is not only courageous but obsessed, stir in a bunch of other interesting characters, and throw in some stuff about dreams and the relationship and responsibility between a creator and his creations, and you've got a potent mix.

Faeries of Dreamdark: Blackbringer is a wonderful book on many levels, but at its core what really makes it work is the interactions between the characters, especially between Magpie and the other characters. Magpie is astonishing in her stubbornness, her determination, and her devotion to her friends. She's a young woman on a mission, and she's not going to let anything stand in her way, even her creator. One of my favorite scenes has her facing off against the Djinn King, creator of the world, in a like-father-like-daughter type contest of wills. The other characters in the book are equally interesting, including a young man who overcomes his physical limitations in surprising ways, and matches Magpie in personal heroism.

434 pages

Book Review: The Light-Bearer's Daughter

The Light-Bearer's Daughter
The Chronicles of Faerie, book 2

by O.R. Melling

When Dana's father tells her that they are leaving Ireland and moving to his homeland in Canada, Dana is shocked and upset. Besides the normal concerns about leaving friends and moving to a strange place, Dana doesn't want to leave Ireland because she worries that her mother, who disappeared when Dana was three years old, won't be able to find them in Canada if she ever comes back. Then Dana meets an unusual lady in the forest, who promises Dana her heart's desire if she will carry a message to the faerie second-in-command, the King of the Mountain who is trapped in a mountain by his own grief. Although Dana fears going into the wilderness alone, she's willing to take the challenge if it means that she will get her mother back. Dana faces many dangers in the mountains, not least of which is the evil demon pursuing her in the guise of a human. Only her spirit and her determination to find her mother will help her reach her goal. But what Dana finds in the mountains may not be what she expected.

Like its predecessors, The Hunter's Moon and The Summer King, The Light-Bearer's Daughter is a beautifully written book that deals with the relationship between the mortal and faerie realms. Where The Summer King had a theme dealing with death, The Light-Bearer's Daughter deals with the pain of separation from loved ones. It also has a strong environmental theme, which, while I agree with it, gets a little heavy-handed at times. The cast of characters is interesting and well-rounded, both the humans and the various denizens of the Faerie realm, from a powerfully maternal wolf to the delightfully childlike boggles. Many readers will see the ending coming—the title practically gives it away—but knowing what Dana will find makes it no less poignant when she does.

Each book in this series stands alone, and The Light-Bearer's Daughter is no exception. Each book has a different protagonist and a separate story. The Light-Bearer's Daughter is a little more strongly tied to The Summer King than that book was to The Hunter's Moon, but one need not have read the other books to have read this one. Melling did that intentionally, because she hates to pick up an interesting book and then discover that it's a later book in a series.

One interesting tidbit is that Melling says that there is a book behind each of her books which inspired that book and is its soul. For the Light-Bearer's Daughter, the book behind the book is Ray Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles.

Also, see our Interview with O.R. Melling from last year.