A review by sabiba21
Realms of Fae and Shadow by Joanna Reeder, Alison Ingleby, Valia Lind, Clarissa Gosling, Kay L. Moody, Tessonja Odette, Hanna Sandvig, Stacey Trombley
# review
Realms of Fae and Shadow Arc is a collection of 8 stories by different authors. These stories are all centered around Fae folks. Some of them are high fantasy and some of them are portal fantasy. Fortunately,I was given an advanced copy of this book to write an honest review. So I am going to review each stories of this book, one by one and while doing so, I will try to be as impartial as possible. I hope you'll find my review helpful :3
First one is Night Bringer by STACEY TROMBLEY;which follows a girl assigned to murder the youngest heir of Luminescent Court King. The girl is from Shadow court,total opposite of Luminescent court and most oppressed court to be present at the current time. Her task was simple,find the fae prince and kill him,and then she would gain infinite amount of power so that no one would ever be able to defy her or her court. But she soon realizes that she won't ever be able to kill him,because he also happens to be his soulmate. The author has a fluid writing style,that quickly tugs a reader inside the story. I had fun while reading it. But one thing I didn't like was how quickly everything happened and how quickly the author seemed to put an end to the story. There's a cliffhanger at the end,and probably I'll read the second book too, but the thing is that the book lacked depth,which I deeply crave. But otherwise it was a light,short,and interesting story you won't mind reading with your evening tea/coffee.
Second one is Heir of Bitter Throne by Kay L Moody. It's about a girl who enters into a bargain with a fae to rescue a prince in exchange of an adventure.The prince is bound to an evil queen ,and the girl must rescue him to finish her bargain. The thing I most liked about this book is how the author put visual representations through her narrative ,it's like you can feel and sense the world she created for this story. I myself have felt every touch,every smell, every sight while reading the story. I loved how she represented Elora and her father's interaction in such short period of time. If I had to talk about one bad thing about the book,its the ending.It's fraustrating!
Third one is Fae Bargains by CLARISSA GOSLING.It's about a prince who doesn't want to be the king. One day,a huntsman catches him tormenting a human which he used to do pretty often. The huntsman them makes a bargain with his mother,the queen,to release the prince of his duty and let him be the protector of the gates that connect different realm.The story illustrates the prince's journey to become the protector of the gates,for which he must complete a task assigned by her mother.There is no real conflict or plot twist,but I guess the author has more in her sleeve for the book that follows.
To Rule a Fay Throne by TESSONJA ODETTE. It's the story of a king who despises humans but he has to marry a human because of a treaty signed thousands of years ago. The plot is unique,because it's the only story in this book that shows a fae-human acknowledged relationship.The other ones show that mortals aren't informed about faes and if they somehow slip through a portal and end up being in fae realm,they pass their remaining life as a slave. So yeah,this one's concept was good but again ,it is too short to give a proper review.
EXILING A FAE QUEEN by JOANNA REEDER. At first,I thought this story was slow.But after a while,it got...interesting.I won't say it was fast paced,but it surely had elements in it. It was unique in its own way and I liked that about it. The story follows a princess who is to be a queen one day,along with her twin. This princess likes to wear pants and ride sea horses,while her sister is her complete opposite ,always dressed up in elegant clothes. One day, she reluctantly agreed to visit a court under her kingdom,and that's when she comes to the realization that she was living inside a comfort bubble her whole life. The story is basically her quest to find ways to make the lifes of ill-treated faes better and create a change.It's a prequel to a book she has written,so you wouldn't get a full reader-satisfaction after reading this one,like most other stories in this book.
Next is Crown of Darkness by ALISON INGLEBY. It is the last story with a male lead in this book. The story follows Prince Ciaran,heir of unseelie court but totally unware of his duty. Honestly,I it's the only story I've found in this book that has character conflicts and plot complexity. I loved how Ciaran,despite his darkness,despite the fae side in him,tried to bring light,tried to bring kindness in his character. The author's depiction of greyness in the world-that not all faes are dark and not all humans are light was a beautiful plot point added to the story. From forming the climax to draw an end line,the story did a beautiful job despite being caged in limited page counts.The only problem with this story that is it unfinished,but comparing it with other stories in this book,I would say it's really not a problem.
Next one is Marked by Fae by VALIA LIND. I would say it's a plot setup rather than a story. Because there is actually nothing except world building. By the end of it,you can guess the commotion of a book. Avery,who is the protagonist of this story recently transferred to Thunderbird Academy,which seemed somewhat like Hogwarts from Harry Potter Universe. She is very determined and hard-working.She wants to work for the council but soon discovers that she is part of something bigger.
Last one is The Wolf Gate by HANNA SANDVIG. It is a retelling of Little Red Riding Hood,plotted in the world of her first book,The Rose gate. Audrey is a high school graduate and a programmer;currently living in a mundane town called PilotBay. The story starts with her sending messages to her boyfriend
asking her to come meet her,but he doesn't reply back. Her friend runs a bakery shop and when her Aunt requests to deliver some doughnuts to her home over phone call,there is no one except Audrey to take up the task. Unfortunately,after delivering her parcel,she is chased by a pack of wolves on her way back home. Strangely,she found herself portaled back to another land when a wolf jumps over her. She discovers that the wolf is no one but her ex boyfriend,who she loathed above everything else in the world. What I liked about this story was that the writing style-which is very smooth and easy that I had no trouble diving into it. Also,the girl is quite sassy and I loved the snappy comebacks. The fact that the boy is not the alpha exalted me,because I'm tired of seeing the alphas being the only one to get girls in werewolves related stories. But one thing I didn't like was how easily they fought their battles,unlike the first one. I also didn't like the flawlessness of the character Gavin. It was like he was all positive person. But then again I guess one shouldn't expect too much depth from a short story. If you like sweet,romantic,light stories,give it a go!
Realms of Fae and Shadow Arc is a collection of 8 stories by different authors. These stories are all centered around Fae folks. Some of them are high fantasy and some of them are portal fantasy. Fortunately,I was given an advanced copy of this book to write an honest review. So I am going to review each stories of this book, one by one and while doing so, I will try to be as impartial as possible. I hope you'll find my review helpful :3
First one is Night Bringer by STACEY TROMBLEY;which follows a girl assigned to murder the youngest heir of Luminescent Court King. The girl is from Shadow court,total opposite of Luminescent court and most oppressed court to be present at the current time. Her task was simple,find the fae prince and kill him,and then she would gain infinite amount of power so that no one would ever be able to defy her or her court. But she soon realizes that she won't ever be able to kill him,because he also happens to be his soulmate. The author has a fluid writing style,that quickly tugs a reader inside the story. I had fun while reading it. But one thing I didn't like was how quickly everything happened and how quickly the author seemed to put an end to the story. There's a cliffhanger at the end,and probably I'll read the second book too, but the thing is that the book lacked depth,which I deeply crave. But otherwise it was a light,short,and interesting story you won't mind reading with your evening tea/coffee.
Second one is Heir of Bitter Throne by Kay L Moody. It's about a girl who enters into a bargain with a fae to rescue a prince in exchange of an adventure.The prince is bound to an evil queen ,and the girl must rescue him to finish her bargain. The thing I most liked about this book is how the author put visual representations through her narrative ,it's like you can feel and sense the world she created for this story. I myself have felt every touch,every smell, every sight while reading the story. I loved how she represented Elora and her father's interaction in such short period of time. If I had to talk about one bad thing about the book,its the ending.It's fraustrating!
Third one is Fae Bargains by CLARISSA GOSLING.It's about a prince who doesn't want to be the king. One day,a huntsman catches him tormenting a human which he used to do pretty often. The huntsman them makes a bargain with his mother,the queen,to release the prince of his duty and let him be the protector of the gates that connect different realm.The story illustrates the prince's journey to become the protector of the gates,for which he must complete a task assigned by her mother.There is no real conflict or plot twist,but I guess the author has more in her sleeve for the book that follows.
To Rule a Fay Throne by TESSONJA ODETTE. It's the story of a king who despises humans but he has to marry a human because of a treaty signed thousands of years ago. The plot is unique,because it's the only story in this book that shows a fae-human acknowledged relationship.The other ones show that mortals aren't informed about faes and if they somehow slip through a portal and end up being in fae realm,they pass their remaining life as a slave. So yeah,this one's concept was good but again ,it is too short to give a proper review.
EXILING A FAE QUEEN by JOANNA REEDER. At first,I thought this story was slow.But after a while,it got...interesting.I won't say it was fast paced,but it surely had elements in it. It was unique in its own way and I liked that about it. The story follows a princess who is to be a queen one day,along with her twin. This princess likes to wear pants and ride sea horses,while her sister is her complete opposite ,always dressed up in elegant clothes. One day, she reluctantly agreed to visit a court under her kingdom,and that's when she comes to the realization that she was living inside a comfort bubble her whole life. The story is basically her quest to find ways to make the lifes of ill-treated faes better and create a change.It's a prequel to a book she has written,so you wouldn't get a full reader-satisfaction after reading this one,like most other stories in this book.
Next is Crown of Darkness by ALISON INGLEBY. It is the last story with a male lead in this book. The story follows Prince Ciaran,heir of unseelie court but totally unware of his duty. Honestly,I it's the only story I've found in this book that has character conflicts and plot complexity. I loved how Ciaran,despite his darkness,despite the fae side in him,tried to bring light,tried to bring kindness in his character. The author's depiction of greyness in the world-that not all faes are dark and not all humans are light was a beautiful plot point added to the story. From forming the climax to draw an end line,the story did a beautiful job despite being caged in limited page counts.The only problem with this story that is it unfinished,but comparing it with other stories in this book,I would say it's really not a problem.
Next one is Marked by Fae by VALIA LIND. I would say it's a plot setup rather than a story. Because there is actually nothing except world building. By the end of it,you can guess the commotion of a book. Avery,who is the protagonist of this story recently transferred to Thunderbird Academy,which seemed somewhat like Hogwarts from Harry Potter Universe. She is very determined and hard-working.She wants to work for the council but soon discovers that she is part of something bigger.
Last one is The Wolf Gate by HANNA SANDVIG. It is a retelling of Little Red Riding Hood,plotted in the world of her first book,The Rose gate. Audrey is a high school graduate and a programmer;currently living in a mundane town called PilotBay. The story starts with her sending messages to her boyfriend
asking her to come meet her,but he doesn't reply back. Her friend runs a bakery shop and when her Aunt requests to deliver some doughnuts to her home over phone call,there is no one except Audrey to take up the task. Unfortunately,after delivering her parcel,she is chased by a pack of wolves on her way back home. Strangely,she found herself portaled back to another land when a wolf jumps over her. She discovers that the wolf is no one but her ex boyfriend,who she loathed above everything else in the world. What I liked about this story was that the writing style-which is very smooth and easy that I had no trouble diving into it. Also,the girl is quite sassy and I loved the snappy comebacks. The fact that the boy is not the alpha exalted me,because I'm tired of seeing the alphas being the only one to get girls in werewolves related stories. But one thing I didn't like was how easily they fought their battles,unlike the first one. I also didn't like the flawlessness of the character Gavin. It was like he was all positive person. But then again I guess one shouldn't expect too much depth from a short story. If you like sweet,romantic,light stories,give it a go!