imjustcupcake's review
4.0
Woah! So many different types of fairy like creatures in this story! I did not expect that at all! And our main character! Elaia! She is a fire nymph! Can't say that I have ever read a story before this one where it features a fire nymph!
In Let Me Fly Free we are following along with Elaia as she tries to discover what unnatural and horrible creature has broken past the barriers that the unicorns have set up around her home to keep it safe. She discovers it's presence quite on accident, and she refuses to stand by and let the unicorns find it and fight it on her own. She will not be left in the dark and she wants to fight.
Elaia, being a creature of fire, certainly has the personality that one would expect a fire creature to have. I do think there was a bit of redundancy in getting Elaia's personality across to the reader, but all in all I think her character was developed quite well for an introduction to a character. I would have liked to see more growth, but I am guessing that will probably happen within the series and not the novella (at least I hope so anyways).
The world we are introduced to in Let Me Fly Free is indeed a very magical place and I really enjoyed reading about it. All of the different creatures that we saw in the short amount of time the story took place was quite amazing. It definitely made me want to learn more of the world and the creatures within.
All in all, Let Me Fly Free gave me a glimpse into a story that I will be reading more of in the future. This novella was an excellent read and a great introduction to a magical world.
My Rating
4 Stars
This review is based on an eARC provided by the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.
Find more of my reviews here:
http://readingwithcupcakes.blogspot.com/
In Let Me Fly Free we are following along with Elaia as she tries to discover what unnatural and horrible creature has broken past the barriers that the unicorns have set up around her home to keep it safe. She discovers it's presence quite on accident, and she refuses to stand by and let the unicorns find it and fight it on her own. She will not be left in the dark and she wants to fight.
Elaia, being a creature of fire, certainly has the personality that one would expect a fire creature to have. I do think there was a bit of redundancy in getting Elaia's personality across to the reader, but all in all I think her character was developed quite well for an introduction to a character. I would have liked to see more growth, but I am guessing that will probably happen within the series and not the novella (at least I hope so anyways).
The world we are introduced to in Let Me Fly Free is indeed a very magical place and I really enjoyed reading about it. All of the different creatures that we saw in the short amount of time the story took place was quite amazing. It definitely made me want to learn more of the world and the creatures within.
All in all, Let Me Fly Free gave me a glimpse into a story that I will be reading more of in the future. This novella was an excellent read and a great introduction to a magical world.
My Rating
4 Stars
This review is based on an eARC provided by the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.
Find more of my reviews here:
http://readingwithcupcakes.blogspot.com/
hdbblog's review
4.0
Let Me Fly Free is the second novella in the Fated Stars series, but I can assure you that it reads excellently as a standalone. I can also assure you that you'll want to read the first novella as soon as you've finished, so perhaps you'll want to get both at the same time! As a lover of all things Fantasy related, it's always a joy to find a novella that is able to immerse me just as well as most of the tomes that I generally read. Mary Fan's writing did just that.
This story introduces us to Elaia, a fire nymph whose personality more than lives up to the element crackling inside her. See, Elaia is unpredictable. She's passionate, slightly stubborn, and full of the kind of deep curiosity that tends to get characters in trouble. When an unknown beast threatens her home, Elaia's first instinct is to fight back. Which, of course, goes against everything that she's ever been taught. She's supposed to sit back and be taken care of, but what great hero ever accomplished anything by doing that? Honestly, that's what I loved most about this novella. Elaia's bright and impulsive personality sang through the otherwise quiet of her homeland. Where others fled, she remained.
After doing some poking around, I realized that Kiri is the focus of the first novella in this series. Which, as I said before, means that I need to go and seek it out. If Elaia is impulsiveness embodied, Kiri is patience and kindness. Mary Fan did such an excellent job of showing the contrast between these two, and it was really Kiri who reminded Elaia that sometimes it's more important to care for others than to follow your own path. These two seemed to keep one another centered, and I have high hopes that they'll be back!
This story introduces us to Elaia, a fire nymph whose personality more than lives up to the element crackling inside her. See, Elaia is unpredictable. She's passionate, slightly stubborn, and full of the kind of deep curiosity that tends to get characters in trouble. When an unknown beast threatens her home, Elaia's first instinct is to fight back. Which, of course, goes against everything that she's ever been taught. She's supposed to sit back and be taken care of, but what great hero ever accomplished anything by doing that? Honestly, that's what I loved most about this novella. Elaia's bright and impulsive personality sang through the otherwise quiet of her homeland. Where others fled, she remained.
After doing some poking around, I realized that Kiri is the focus of the first novella in this series. Which, as I said before, means that I need to go and seek it out. If Elaia is impulsiveness embodied, Kiri is patience and kindness. Mary Fan did such an excellent job of showing the contrast between these two, and it was really Kiri who reminded Elaia that sometimes it's more important to care for others than to follow your own path. These two seemed to keep one another centered, and I have high hopes that they'll be back!
nerdfaerie's review
4.0
god i LOVE anti-hero female protagonists who have good reasons for doing what they do but also are kind of assholes
claudiearseneault's review
Really enjoyed this. I often hear people looking for headstrong women protagonists who'll do whatever they need to get their way, and Elaia certainly fits. The narration does have some "not like other girls" threaded into it, but there are moments where Elaia's actions are so unlikeable you can only think *thank god* not everyone's like that. That balanced it out for me, and left me with a refreshing protagonist and a fun story.
More...