Author: Elizabeth May
Genre: Fantasy/Steampunk
Rating:★★★★
I finally read this book! And I
actually really enjoyed it. While it did have that Throne of Glass vibe I felt the story was very
original and interesting to read. I loved the author's writing style. Like
seriously I am IN LOVE with her writing. I love books that use words that I've
never heard of before and puzzle me so much that I have to look them up. Some
people find it annoying but I love learning new words and this book definitely
had a lot of new words for me to learn.
I must say that every fae book I've
read is different. Sure, some of the same aspects are there like the Seelie and
Unseelie Courts, the light and dark fae, and the powers they possess but in
each book I've read the author is able to completely make the story their own.
And Elizabeth May definitely accomplished this in this novel.
The setting is in Edinburgh, Scotland
in 1844 and the story is told from the point of view of 18-year-old Aileana
Kameron. She is the daughter of the Marquess of Douglas and has been taught how
to be a proper lady her whole life. However, that all changes when her mother
is killed right before her eyes by a faerie. From that day on she has sworn to
kill any faeries she comes in contact with except one. Kiaran McKay. Kiaran
teaches Aileana everything about fighting the fae and what she needs know in
order to survive. Kiaran seems cruel at times but I feel that that is shield to
hide his true emotions from Alieana. I really enjoyed the relationship between
Kiaran and Aileana but I was also annoyed because like most books they didn't
show their true emotions for each other until the end of the book.
There were some small things that
bugged me about the book that made me give 4 stars instead of five. The first
thing being that it's tough to follow at times because of the different
language used throughout the book. There certain names for faeries that are
mentioned in this other language that confused me. I had to keep looking back
at the glossary to see what faerie was being talked about. I also felt there was
some info dumping in the beginning of the book. There wasn't a ton but I felt
at times there were things that the author didn't explain to the reader well
enough. Also my last issue was with Gavin....I really just did not like him and
I didn't understand his role in the book at all. I understand he is a seer but
other than that he really isn't that significant. I found that I was forgetting
him throughout the book. However, I feel like we're going to be seeing more of
him in the next book.
