Faerie Blood

Worthy of six stars

I've known the author a long time. (I figured I should include the disclaimer.) I started this book with a little trepidation. What do you tell a friend if you don't like their work? Luckily for me, this book is entrancing and very well written. I fell in love with this fantasy layer to modern day Seattle and all of the characters. It weaves legends from around the world into a gripping story. If you're a fan of fantasy fiction, you can't go wrong with this.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Has merit. The opening chapter has everything a reader might wa

Has merit.

The opening chapter has everything a reader might want in a faerie fantasy novel: an exciting fight, danger, a sassy & smart heroine, and the introduction of a mysterious love interest. Unfortunately, Faerie Blood spends most of its tension dollars in that first part. After that, it trundles along, introducing trope characters (not cliche, just very trope-y) that drag a tissue-thin shadow of plot along on their shoes. It's *almost* awesome. It wants to be awesome, and you will want it to be awesome. It takes 200 pages for the main character to get to her "You're a wizard, Harry" reveal, which the reader has known all along because it's the title of the book. When the climactic final battle comes, it's almost a non-event. Which is disappointing, because it has elements of Really Terrible Things that could have had a lot of impact if there had been development of the villain's motivations earlier and a general raising of the stakes. 

 If you need a healthy serving of familiar faerie stuff, there is ample flavor to keep you reading. The cast includes Seelie and Unseelie faeries depicted as young beauties who glow with magic. We have a crotchety old mentor, a chivalrous love interest, a wise relative, and a sturdy best friend. Still, except for the main character, who shows little to no character growth throughout the story, the stock characters have been colored in with varying degrees of success. My main issue with them is how the "important" characters were presented with a moment of spotlight, forcing you to take notice of what a cool character each was. This may have been less noticeable if it had been used to forward the plot. The focus of Faerie Blood is definitely on the characters.  I did like that many of the important characters are women, two of whom are "old" women. Christopher is the most well developed, and therefore the most believable, of all the characters. We get enough of his back history, in small doses that flavor the story,  to understand his ongoing conflict.

The author is clearly a Seattle local. You will know this even if you don't read the About the Author, because the named neighborhoods are shout-out specific without being given much description. I like to see a stronger sense of *place* in urban fantasy. I was confused about her magic logic: does the magic that some of the characters use draw from the *city* of Seattle (the municipality and people) or from the place of Seattle (which existed before the city was founded)? A good urban fantasy treats the city as a character; that's something that I felt was lacking. Seattle in particular has a lot of character, with most neighborhoods having strong identities that the residents support. 

Great book

Keeps u wondering whats coming next...great read

Excellent read!

I could not put this book down! I read it in one setting...one long setting! I caught me from the very first page. Highley recommended.

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