Review: Faerie Blood by Emma L Adams

Posted May 16, 2016 by Lola in Fantasy, Review / 18 Comments

LolaReview

Faerie BloodFaerie Blood (The Changeling Chronicles #1)
by Emma L. Adams

Blurb;
I’m Ivy Lane, and if I never see another faerie again, it’ll be too soon.

Twenty years after the faeries came and destroyed the world as we knew it, I use my specialist skills to keep rogue faeries in line and ensure humans and their magically gifted neighbours can coexist (relatively) peacefully.

Nobody knows those skills came from the darkest corner of Faerie itself.

When a human child disappears, replaced with a faerie changeling, I have to choose between taking the safe road or exposing my own history with the faeries to the seductively dangerous head of the Mage Lords. He’s the exact kind of distraction I don’t need, but it’s work with him or lose my chance to save the victims.

It’ll take all my skills to catch the kidnappers and stop Faerie’s dark denizens overrunning the city — but if the faerie lords find out about the magic I stole last time I went into their realm, running won’t save me this time…

My Review:
I received a copy in exchange for an honest review

Faerie Blood is a great Young Adult Urban Fantasy book filled with action, magic, supernatural creatures, awesome characters and a fast paced storyline. From the first chapter this book had my attention, it start action packed with hints of a dark past and I wanted to know more. It only gets better form there on. Someone’s kid has disappeared and Ivy accepts the case. Then the Mage Lord gets involved and things get even more interesting.

The story has a fast and steady pace. The story is direct enough that its easy to follow, but it also turns out soon there is more going on than the characters thought. And something bad has happened to Ivy in her past, enough hints are dropped at the beginning to make me even more curious about what exactly happened to Ivy. I really enjoyed this book and already can’t wait to see where the second book takes us. There are some interesting twists at the end, and some action packed scenes before the book got wrapped up nicely with just a hint of what we might see in the next book.

Ivy is a great main character, she is headstrong, isn’t afraid to say what she means and she’s a bit too reckless and stubborn at times. She runs into danger without a second thought and thinks she can do everything alone, while sometimes she could use a little help. She cares a lot of about her best friend Isabelle, but she never opened up about a dark event in her past. I liked Ivy as a character, although I had wished she had opened up to the Mage Lord earlier, but I can also understand why she doesn’t. I liked seeing the banter between the mage lord and Ivy and there’s even a hint of romance, which totally worked for me. The Mage Lord was an interesting character and we learn a bit more about him as the story progresses although he also keeps part of that mysterious imposing feel. The side characters get a bit less fleshed out, but I still liked what we saw, especially Isabelle, Ivy her room-mate and the Pixie who lives in their house.

The world is very interesting and original, years ago the Faeries came to this realm and wrecked havoc. It felt a bit like a supernatural apocalypse and now years later the Faeries are gone, but the world is forever changed and many supernaturals are out in the open now. The Faeries also are called named Sidhe, Fae or other names sometimes, which could be a tad confusing at times. Then there is a bunch of other supernaturals like necromancers, shifters, mages and witches. It was a bit overwhelming at first, but slowly we got a better feel for what each creature was and their place in this new world. Although I am still not 100% sure what the mages and witches can do and what if any is the difference between the two. The world building was done well overall and it was interesting to learn more and more about the world, the magic ad the supernaturals.

To summarize: I really enjoyed this book, it had a nice and steady page and a story that kept me interested. There’s a lot of magic, action and supernatural creatures. I liked main character Ivy, she was headstrong and likeable, although she also could be a bit too stubborn and reckless at times, but it ft her personality. There’s a bit of mystery about what exactly happened in her past and nice twist later in the book. I also liked the Mage Lord and Ivy and his banter and the hint of romance, which totally worked for me. This book has an interesting world where the Faeries invaded and that hasn’t been the same since then now all the supernaturals are out in the open. I am looking forward to the next book! I would recommend this if you’re looking for a good YA urban fantasy with lots of action and magic.

4-star

Links:
Goodreads
Amazon

Have you read a book recently about Faeries or Fae?

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18 responses to “Review: Faerie Blood by Emma L Adams

  1. I’ve read about zombie, vampire, and djinn apocalypses, but I have yet to read a book that involves a faerie apocalypse 😛

    Your review makes this sound pretty good, and obviously this falls into my genre since urban fantasy is the main thing I read. But I feel like it’s just not quite calling to me for some reason :-/ Maybe I’m worried there’s too much action and not enough character development or emotion? Then again one of my few 5 star reads last year was an action-packed UF. And I kinda like the sound of the Mage Lord already 😉 And banter with a hint of romance is great for a first book I think. I’m considering this one. Glad you enjoyed it!
    Kristen @ Metaphors and Moonlight recently posted…Cover Characteristics: Book Covers featuring SilhouettesMy Profile

    • This was the first book I read about a faerie apocalypse, I thought it was pretty original!

      It’s very fast paced and lots of magic, but I also feel like there’s enough focus on the characters. I think it could be a bit more, but maybe that will happen in the next book. I have the next book for review and hope to read that after I finish my current read. The Mage Lord and the hint of romance was really done well.
      Lola recently posted…Review: Faerie Blood by Emma L AdamsMy Profile

  2. A faerie apocalypse? Hmm…actually this book sounds really good, Lola. I love the sound of Ivy – I love a heroine who is strong-minded and brave. And the world building seems well done. Plus, faeries!! I love faeries. 😀 I figured you liked this one since I saw you had #2 in the series in your Sunday Post. I’m glad it was a good read and I’ll be sure to give it a try. 😀
    Bookworm Brandee recently posted…Review ~ Nowhere Ranch ~ Heidi CullinanMy Profile

    • It was a good book and I am looking forward to start book 2 soon! The faerie apocalypse was pretty interestign and even though it happened a few years ago you saw all the effects it had and how it changed the world. I also like faeries, they can be awesome to read about and the author sure took an original turn with them. Also I just saw this book and the second one are discounted to 0.99$ for a short while!

  3. Gosh, I really love the sound of the world in this book, Lola! It sounds like a very unique take on magical fantasy, and I am definitely intrigued, although I’m not so sold on the characters, although I do quite like the sound of the subtle, sweet romance you described. I’ve found that subtle romances can sometimes work for me better than straight up romance, because they’re given a lot more time to grow and develop and that is really important and tends to make me feel like the characters’ relationship is better off when they’re given longer to get to know each other (especially when they’re prickly at each other for a while). And it sounds like this romance really worked well for you, so I’m quite interested to see how it goes for me, too!

    I’m just so intrigued by the world in this book, though. It sounds like it’s almost a mix between magical fantasy, apocolyptic and… I don’t even know, but it’s definitely original and the idea is so captivating. And oh, Ivy’s secret sounds like it might be really well done. I guess I kind of like the idea that, even as she got to know everyone, she still never felt able to share that one secret thing, because it’s quite realistic.

    Lovely review, Lola. xx
    Romi recently posted…Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo…My Profile

    • It sure was an unique take on the urban fantasy genre and fae. The subtle romance worked really well for this book in my opinion and I am curious to see how it will develop in the next book. And yes sometimes the subtle ones work better as there is more time for their relationship to develop.

      It’s a bit post-apocalyptic but caused by fae. It really influences the world and how things are now. It really was unique. You sorta know what Ivy her secret is, but don’t know the details until the end and I thought it was realistic that after what happened she was more hardened and even thought she got to know people didn’t share that part.
      Lola recently posted…Review: Two Down, Bun To Go by H.Y. HannaMy Profile

  4. I like books with fae in them, but don’t read them as often as other paranormals. I’m working through Karen Marie Moning’s latest Fever books which as you know is full of fae. 🙂
    I’ve not read much YA Urban Fantasy, but I liked the few I’ve read. Ivy sounds like a gutsy, active heroine and I don’t mind that so much in YA. The situation sounds exciting and that tension between her and the Mage Lord makes it more interesting. I saw this in your haul and was curious about it so I’m glad it was good.
    Sophia Rose recently posted…Only Beloved by Mary BaloghMy Profile

    • Same here, I have enjoyed the fae books I read so far, but don’t seem to read about them as often. Ah yes Moning her series is full with fae and one of the earliest fae series I read I think.

      I think Ivy her personality fit the book and story, she’s a bit too gusty at times, but it worked. And the tension and subtle romance was definitely a win for me and I am curious to see how that develops in book 2. I am probably going to start that next as I just finished my current read.

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