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Merissa (11622 KP) created a post

Mar 8, 2023  
"For a first-time author, I'd say Ms Speelman nailed it!"

Crimson: A Dark Sidhe Faerie Tale by Tiffany Speelman - #Dark, #Faerie, #Paranormal, #Romance. 4 out of 5 (very good)

https://archaeolibrarian.wixsite.com/website/post/crimson-a-dark-sidhe-faerie-tale-by-tiffany-speelman
     
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Daisy (166 KP) rated Stardust in Books

May 17, 2017  
Stardust
Stardust
Neil Gaiman | 2005 | Fiction & Poetry
8
8.4 (35 Ratings)
Book Rating
Magically romantic. (2 more)
The writing is very good.
Endearing adult fairly tale.
Human of faerie? Story of self discovery.
  
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Garthy (203 KP) rated Stardust in Books

Jun 22, 2017  
Stardust
Stardust
Neil Gaiman | 2005 | Fiction & Poetry
9
8.4 (35 Ratings)
Book Rating
There's no doubt that this book is cleverly written. (1 more)
Creative and imaginative.
p (0 more)
Faerie tale, but one for the adults.
  
TF
The Faerie War (Creepy Hollow, #3)
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
<b><i>I received this book for free from Author in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.</i></b>
I find I actually enjoyed <i>The Faerie War</i> despite its differences to the first two books in the <i>Creepy Hollow</i> series. <b>The third and final book in Violet's story happens approximately a month after the events in <i><a title="The Faerie Prince" href="http://www.bookwyrmingthoughts.com/review-the-faerie-prince-by-rachel-morgan"; target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Faerie Prince</a></i>, telling it from both Ryn's and Violet's view.</b>

<i>The Faerie War</i> is... different, per say. Since Violet doesn't have her memories this time around, <b>Morgan seems to write in an entirely different way that I somehow find really weird.</b> Violet isn't the same as she is in the first two books – her memories are obviously gone, but <b>I didn't find much of Violet's snarkiness, sass, and sarcasm</b> that I find when I look back to the first books in the series. There are hints of the old Violet, but other than that, <b>Morgan writes in a formal way that makes Violet seem quite distant, aloof, and empty.</b>

<b>Reading from Ryn's view was a little confusing at first.</b> It's completely different from Violet's as his side of the story goes way back when – just before the faerie world flips upside down and everything goes straight to hell. <b>It took a while to actually figure out when his story started taking place</b> and how it all worked, but after putting the pieces together, <b>I actually enjoyed Ryn's side of the story.</b>

I was pretty disappointed when we went back to Violet's part, knowing that Violet was going to be just as distant and aloof as she was when we first meet her in the third book. To my delight, she does become a more sassier and has a bit more sarcasm when we meet her once more, which fortunately doesn't make her sound like an empty glass of milk.
<blockquote>“Does that mean you agree with me? You’re not angry with me? You … think my bony ankle makes a good pillow?”</blockquote>
The ending to <i>The Faerie War</i> and Violet's story isn't exactly mind-blowing. <b>Violet's confrontation with Draven seemed to mainly consist of Draven threatening Violet</b> – not exactly my cup of tea. <b>I still enjoyed the entire happily ever after aspect, but like with most endings these days... I'm just not feeling it.</b>

<a href="https://bookwyrmingthoughts.com/review-the-faerie-war-by-rachel-morgan/"; target="_blank">This review was originally posted on Bookwyrming Thoughts</a>
  
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Klou (162 KP) rated Carnival Row in TV

Oct 15, 2019  
Carnival Row
Carnival Row
2019 | Drama, Fantasy
Faeries and humans struggle to co-exist in this dark, Victorian, fantasy world.


When a faerie (Cara Delevigne) and the lead detective (Orlando Bloom) fall in complete lust, they find themselves in dangerous territory. Then the killings, only a monster could do this. A monster like no other.
  
AF
A Faerie's Secret (Creepy Hollow, #4)
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
<b><i>I received this book for free from Author in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.</i></b>
The fourth novel to the <i>Creepy Hollow</i> series pretty much made me realize that <b>there were actually some loose ends left untied in the third book</b> – I'm not sure if I mentioned it felt like an almost abrupt ending (I probably did).

Anyways, <i>A Faerie's Secret</i> is <b>set approximately ten years after the events in <i><a title="The Faerie War by Rachel Morgan" href="https://bookwyrmingthoughts.com/review-the-faerie-war-by-rachel-morgan/"; target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Faerie War</a></i></b>. Rachel introduces us to a <b>new main character – Calla Larkenwood, Ryn's little sister</b> who made a few appearances in the first three novels when Violet is the main character.

<b>Calla is definitely different from Violet – she's just as kick-ass, adorable, and doesn't actually follow orders from others.</b> She's a bit bratty sometimes (within reason) and a seemingly hopeless romantic who longs for companionship. She <b>desires to be a guardian and actually trains in private</b> before something happens and her parents approve of her joining a guild. She <b>gets a crash course of all four years in a month</b> before starting as a fifth-year guardian, where a lot of her peers and her mentor believe she doesn't belong. She's <b>determined to prove everyone wrong and show that she definitely belongs with the guild.</b>

Rachel seems to have focused more on giving the series more action, which doesn't really work out too well. <b>There's an entirely different faerie world that we are introduced to, and it's different from <a title="The Faerie Prince by Rachel Morgan" href="https://bookwyrmingthoughts.com/review-the-faerie-prince-by-rachel-morgan/"; target="_blank" rel="noopener">when Violet was a guardian</a></b> – not just with time, but with everything that happened in the third book. The <b>author does a pretty good job with easing us into the new guild,</b> but I'm a little curious on what the new guild looks like now that everything seems to be nice and dandy.

<b>I have very little idea on what the past characters are up to a decade later.</b> I'm very up to date with what happened to Ryn and some of the characters, but I don't really know what happened to Violet, Raven, and Flint. <b>There's some cryptic dialogue that tells me something, but it's not sure.</b> (It's not exactly safe to assume.) I know they survived, and they're still good friends. I don't know if they retired from the guardian life and pursued another career or something else entirely.

I may have enjoyed <i>A Faerie's Secret</i> more than the last two books – <b>there are more dangers and adventures with Calla as our new heroine.</b> I don't really know what will happen in the next book – <b>I'm left with an open ending where I have some questions that I hope to be answered in the sequel.</b>

<a href="https://bookwyrmingthoughts.com/review-a-faeries-secret-by-rachel-morgan/"; target="_blank">This review was originally posted on Bookwyrming Thoughts</a>
  
TF
The Faerie Prince (Creepy Hollow, #2)
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
<b><i>I received this book for free from Author in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.</i></b>
<b>It's weird to get back into a series after over an entire year.</b> Everything that happened back in the <a title="Read Sophia's review of The Faerie Guardian" href="https://bookwyrmingthoughts.com/review-the-faerie-guardian-by-rachel-morgan/"; target="_blank" rel="noopener">first <i>Creepy Hollow</i> book</a> has either been entirely forgotten or stored away and wouldn't be recovered unless Rachel Morgan refreshed me in the sequel.

I suppose the memorable ones – the ones I'm extremely passionate or enraged about are the ones that are remembered. Someone do an experiment on this. I digress.

<b>The second book in the <i>Creepy Hollow</i> series brings us back to Creepy Hollow (of course)</b>, shortly after Violet was handed over to the Unseelie Court by Nate, a half human and half faerie she fell in love with. Violet and Ryn decide to forget their ugly past and become friends, and Violet gets her final assignment as a trainee before becoming a guardian and finding out whether or not she gets the top prize of her graduating class.

<i>The Faerie Prince</i> <b>isn't exactly as action-packed</b> this time, mainly focusing on Violet's final assignment as a trainee before graduation – definitely <b>the slowest out of all three books in this first arc of the series</b> (I just hope Morgan doesn't pull off a Cassandra Clare/Erin Hunter). It's more of an observation, lose the magic, and walk home – in midst of <b>developing the overall plot of the first arc and Violet's relationship with Ryn.</b>

Reading <i>The Faerie Prince</i> probably <b>opened up my eyes on quite a few things about the series</b> that I probably wouldn't have noticed while reading the first book, and had I actually read the first book again this year, I may not have rated it as high as I did. However, <b>the series definitely has the majority of everything I would want in a book:</b>

<b>A fantastic main character – Violet is just like any other ordinary teenager</b>, even if she's not a human. She has her moments and her quirks. She's extremely determined, wanting to do things on her own if at all possible without any help. She also <b>kicks butt and she has an attitude filled with sass and the occasional sarcasm that makes the book more entertaining</b>. It certainly made the second book entertaining. I suppose part of that sarcasm is to be blamed on Ryn.

<b>The writing</b> – It's fantastic. The way Morgan writes, <b>you can almost <i>feel</i> Violet's emotions</b> – her anxiety, fear, nervousness, happiness, joy, etc.
<blockquote>Oh dear Seelie Queen I'm going to trip in these heels and land on my butt and my dress will tear right down the middle and everyone will see my ridiculous enchanted underwear and –</blockquote>
<b>A world I want to live in</b> – I would love to live in Creepy Hollow. It might just be the faeries and other cool creatures (like Filigree, who I want as a pet), but <b>I imagine the world to be absolutely magical and fantastical</b>. I even want a story from another guild, so long as the traditions are different. Maybe from another creature? (I repeat: I seriously don't want a bunch of spin-offs, but that topic will be discussed another day.)

<b>The ending of <i>The Faerie Prince</i>, however, felt a little abrupt. It also felt appropriate for some unknown reason</b>, but with the slowness of the book, the fast ending just felt skewed and a little out of place. <b>Everything seems to be going well and peachy for Violet, but all of a sudden, everything just falls apart and the book ends.</b>

I'm not too sure how I feel about that.

<a href="https://bookwyrmingthoughts.com/review-the-faerie-prince-by-rachel-morgan/"; target="_blank">This review was originally posted on Bookwyrming Thoughts</a>
  
Radiant Shadows (Wicked Lovely, #4)
Radiant Shadows (Wicked Lovely, #4)
Melissa Marr | 2010 | Paranormal, Science Fiction/Fantasy, Young Adult (YA)
8
7.1 (8 Ratings)
Book Rating
This book continued with the theme of each book focusing on different pivotal characters in the world of Faerie by focusing on Devlin and Ani and their respective roles and impact. I loved how different these two were and yet had such a strong connection right from their first meeting. As usual with this series, I could not predict the ending, which makes it all that much more satisfying.
The spectral girl Rae was a very interesting character in that she seems to be an orchestrator of much of Devlin and Ani's relationship, even though she behaves as if she is in love with Devlin. Only once is jealousy even mentioned on her part in the entire book, and it is so brief I almost missed it. This reminds me of the triangle of Niall, Irial, and Leslie, as well as the two triangles that Keenan seems to be a member of. The fact that Marr pulls all of these off so seamlessly marks her as an excellent writer, in my opinion.
The High Queen Sorcha becomes quite a sorry excuse for a queen through most of the book because of her inability to handle all of the new emotions she possesses for her "son" Seth. I find it quite ironic that though she is the creator and controller of Faerie and one of the first two faeries to exist, she is still dependent upon things she can not control in order to continue to exist.
I was very disappointed in the near absence of Aislinn and any information regarding her relationship with Seth. In addition, Keenan seems to have disappeared with no explanation, and apparently very little concern on anyone's part throughout the book. While I never liked the guy, he is kind of important in the world of Faerie.
Another loose thread that really bugged me was the outcome of Irial's injury - one minute he is dying and the next everyone is behaving as if nothing is wrong and he's not going anywhere. So which is it??
The outcome of Devlin and Ani's budding relationship was thoroughly satisfying and exactly what the world of Faerie needed, but now I am wondering what will happen with an odd number of courts. The logical response is that yet another court will be created to restore balance, but Marr rarely sticks to the easy solutions with this series. I can not wait for Darkest Mercy (Wicked Lovely).
  
OS
Of Shadow and Elves ( Of Goblin Kings 2)
Emma Hamm | 2023
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
151 of 235
Kindle
Of Shadows and Elves ( Of Goblin Kings 2)
By Emma Hamm
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Freya couldn't have known she would destroy the entire faerie court by beating the Goblin King. All she wanted was her sister back, not to imprison the king. But with her sister refusing to return home, Freya is left trapped in her own mess. She has to fix what she broke or the faerie realm will get infinitely more dangerous.

Bring the Goblin King back. Save the people she harmed. And do her best to avoid the temptation of falling into the Goblin King's arms. Considering the Goblin King is locked away in a magical prison, at least one of her goals may be impossible to achieve...

...unless she's willing to go through hardships unnumbered.

I needed this it was all magic and fantasy with kings queens hero’s and villains plus a few goblin creatures thrown in. It followed on from book one seamlessly and was a fun read. Freya is a sweet hero who has to reach deep in this one to go against her own nature all for her goblin king.
  
A Court of Thorns and Roses
A Court of Thorns and Roses
Sarah J. Maas | 2015 | Young Adult (YA)
8
8.7 (107 Ratings)
Book Rating
I loved this book. It is a re-telling of Beauty and the Beast which started a little slow, but if you think about the classic BATB story, it's somewhat slow in the beginning as well. Feyre is human and is taken to a faerie world where she meets Tamlin and works throughout the last half of the book to free him and his "village" from a curse. At the end of the book, the author tied in many elements from the beginning of the book that seemed boring and unimportant at the time, which left me amazed and wanting more.