Do you really want to know where we come from?" she said. "In every century, in every country, they'll call us something different. They'll say we're ghosts, angels, demons, elemental spirits, and giving us a name doesn't help anybody. When did a name change what someone is?
Well, finally, I'm here with a review for a book I read the end of February. Do not judge me.
If you like crazy cool faeries, dark atmospheres, and messed up characters, try this one out. For all the little things that bothered me, it's an enjoyable book.
Stats:
Genre: Faerie paranormal.
Feelings: I didn't connect with the book as much as I wanted to, except for sibling love.
Happiness: See above
Cuteness: I personally didn't ship it. At all.
Fast
pacing: It was a steady solid story, but because of some reading problems I had going on, it dragged at a few parts.
Series: No
Read if
you like: Faeries! Dark faeries. Changeling stuff, awesome sibling characters, POV characters who think they're awful but they aren't.
Content: Some kissy kissy touchy touchy. Some bloody stuff, some bits where Mackie mentions girls chests and other bits, so if any of that bothers you...well. Also profanity, teenage drinking, and stuff like that.
In one
sentence... Mackie Doyle is a changeling and because of that dark magic is coming, and he is determined to stop it and rescue a missing child from the fate like his.
Thoughts: Cold wet grass and cold air.
Messages: Not a message-y book, but it sent a lot of nice messages about the whole "You're not as dangerous and awful as you might think" thing.
Overall:
Rating: 3.5/5 I really liked it, but I don't think it was the right time for me to read it and get more out of it.
This review is SPOILER FREE
The Lovely Bits:
This was a lovely book through and through. Not perfect, but lovely. It had some great vibes and prose, and plenty of cool characters.
-Characters-
Mackie was a very interesting main character. I love reading about changelings, so getting a first person POV from one was really neat. He was likable, mainly because of how much he almost despised himself. That was really powerful.
Tate was definitely a refreshing character, though I didn't like her as much. She was far from the submissive female side character, and that was appreciated. I'm not saying that in the Blue-Sargent-Raging-Feminist way, but more of, it was a different character trope I hadn't seen for a while.
Emma, on the other hand, I loved. I really love a good sibling relationship, and this one was effortlessly flawless. There dialogue and actions were relaxed and done so beautifully without shoving there sibling love on the reader.
The Faeries and villains? They were cool. They were twisted and evil, far from any type of faerie I have read about.
-Structure and Plot-
The plot was well thought out which perfectly led up to an epic climax. I liked the slow and steady pace, with the perfect amount of excitement scattered throughout. Other than that, there really isn't much to say about plot and stuff.
I'm just upset that this is Brenna's first book and it's this good.
-Messages and Other-
Mackie felt like he was not normal, or he was dangerous, but he proved multiple times that he was good. And that in itself is a really interesting thing.
Brenna's prose was like fire. It flickered steadily, but occasionally burst up in a beautiful one liner or paragraph that you just grinned at yourself because you like it so much. I definitely want to read all the others of her books. They sound brilliant.
The Less Lovely Bits:
I don't really know why or how it dragged at one point, but it did. It's weird to be, because I loved the prose and characters and concept, but the whole story seemed almost flat. I'm really not sure why? Looking back I can't find anything that really threw me off.
I think it's a combination of many little things that bugged me. I think the main problem is that I hadn't known what to expect really. And the atmosphere was more modernly scary that I thought. When I hear Faeries, I think something more ethereal and lightly dark if that makes sense. This one was like a punk rock faerie story, which will appeal to many and even me, but not what I had been expecting and wanting to read.
Mackie is one of those characters that was interesting, and I felt like I should totally connect with, but I just didn't. Maybe it's because he was so distant. Maybe it was the constant complaining about the people of his town being fake, or the constant lust after that one school girl. Or the weird back and forth with him and Tate. I don't know what it was, but I didn't connect as much as I really desperately wanted to.
Overall, I really think a lot of people will enjoy this. It's got some real cool concepts, and some great rock vibes, and interesting characters.
