Review: I Do Believe in Faeries by Erin Hayes

Posted June 25, 2016 by Lola in Fantasy, My To-Be Read List, Review / 16 Comments

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My To-Be Read List is a meme hosted by Because Reading is Better Than Real Life where at the beginning of the month visitors can choose which book I’ll be reading this month. On the first saturday of a month the poll will be up, then on the second saturday of the month I’ll announce the book that won and on the last saturday of the month I’ll post my review of the book.

I Do Believe in FaeriesI Do Believe in Faeries (The Cotton Candy Quintet #3)
by Erin Hayes

Rating 3 stars

Blurb:
Abby knew that life wasn’t fair.
That’s why she turned to the Fair Ones.

Abby thinks she’s a disappointment. Even though she’s grown up in a family of powerful witches, she can’t use magick, she can’t connect to nature, she can’t do anything special – she’s just a normal human.

And normal isn’t good enough for her.

When a group of faeries offer her one wish, she doesn’t hesitate to wish for magick of her own. But wishes require a sacrifice. And that sacrifice is her friend Alaina’s unborn baby.

Magickal or not, Abby has to make things right. She ventures into Tír na nÓg to rescue the infant before it’s too late. There’s only one problem. Once she’s there, she may never be able to leave.

** I Do Believe in Faeries is a tie-in with How to be a Mermaid and I’d Rather be a Witch. It uses some of the same characters and can be read as a standalone or as a complement to them. **

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

I Do Believe in Faeries is a fun read. It’s the third books in the Cotton Candy Quintet series, the series is a very loose one and can be easily read out of order. In this book we follow Abby, the sister of Jordan, the main character of book 2. We also meet a few characters of book 1 again, but it’s only little touches and scenes. I did like the connection this one had with book 2 as Abby is Jordan her sister. But as most time is spent in another world, the focus is never really on that part, but I still though it was a nice touch.

This was my least favourite book in this series so far and I feel bad about that. I think it’s me, not sure if I was in the mood for something different or had different expectations after the last book, but it just didn’t fully work for me. I did enjoy it and it was a nice quick read, but I just didn’t enjoy it quite as much as the previous books. I do like faerie books, but I felt like the faerie aspect fell a bit flat and there wasn’t enough time to fully explain the whole world. Maybe it’s the faerie aspect that didn’t fully work for me? The next book is about werewolves and I really like shifters, so I have hopes for that one.

With how the set-up is kinda serious, Abby makes a wish and accidentally gifts away someone’s baby, the tone of the book seems very light. A bit whimsical and silly and yes there is danger, but it never really felt too dangerous. Also how do you even steal a baby out of someone’s belly, how does that even work and how can these faeries even do that? That part seemed a bit weird to me. I would’ve liked a bit more explanation of how these wishes and magic worked. Maybe I kinda missed the darker tone from book 2, although book was lighter and a good one too.

Abby is a bit of a moody teenager at first and I have to admit I never fully warmed up to her, but I did like how she changed in this book. And that when she realizes she made a mistake she’s doing everything she can to make it right and she ends up sacrificing some things for that. I did admire that. I just felt like we never got to fully know Abby and I had hoped to get to know her a bit better, but I still enjoyed following her adventure in the faerie world. I just felt like there could’ve been a bit more depth to her struggle with fitting in in her family without magic and her feelings about that. It stayed a bit too much on the surface for me. Most of the characters stay a bit flat, but I did like seeing a few of the characters from previous books.

There is a bit of romance, but it’s a tad insta love like. Abby even realizes this herself, not sure if that made it more realistic or more obvious or maybe a bit of both. I just didn’t quite feel the romance and thought they didn’t know each other enough yet to get at the I love you point. I did sorta like how it get resolved. I thought it was a bit weird he was willing to risk so much for her, but how things resolved in the end did surprise me. I never fully felt their connection or why they liked each other, he helped her and that just seemed to be the extent of their connection.

The book is a bit too short to really allow for a lot of in depth world building, so while Abby travels to a whole new world here, It was hard to really get a feel for it. You know how supernatural creatures are done differently in each book and if you’re reading a book you’re trying to figure out which rules apply here and what not? It was a bit hard to fully do that here, we do get to see a bit of the faerie world, but it was a bit anything goes with some creatures thrown in, the courts, but not enough to fully understand everything, but enough to get a feel for things. They also keep referring to A Midsummer’s nightdream, which I haven’t read and thus didn’t get the reference.

To summarize: This was a fun, light and quick read, but it didn’t grab me as much as the two previous books. Abby goes on an adventure to the faerie world to save a baby she accidentally gave up in exchange for getting magic. There’s some danger and adventure, but overall the tone of this book is light. I never fully warmed of to Abby and would’ve liked to get to know her a bit better. There is some interesting character development and I did like how Abby did her best to correct her mistake. The romance didn’t quite work for me as I didn’t quite feel their connection. I did sort of like how the romance got resolved in the end, although it didn’t fully make sense. The world building fell a bit flat for me, the faerie world is a whole new world and I never fully got a feel for the kind of faeries in this book. And I didn’t get the references to a Midsummer’s night dream. All in all it was a decent read, but did fell a bit flat for me and I didn’t enjoy it as much as the first two books.

3-star

Links:
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Do you like it when books refer to other books, stories etc?

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16 responses to “Review: I Do Believe in Faeries by Erin Hayes

    • It was still an enjoyable book even if it didn’t quite live up to my expectations. Even though it’s a loose series it’s still fun to see characters from previous books make an appearance.

    • The next one in this series is about werewolves, so I am curious about that one. It was a shame this one fell a bit flat. I still enjoyed it, but it just lacked a bit depth at times.

  1. Ani

    I attest to the fact that sometimes your mood can and WILL dictate whether or not you like a book–I have many such instances where I felt I would have liked a book more if I had read them at a different time… but those are uncertain instances. Sorry this one didn’t work out for you like you wanted though, so hopefully your next one will be better. 🙂
    Ani recently posted…Brief Thoughts: Hanover HouseMy Profile

    • Yeah I think I was more excited for the book I read after this one and that didn’t make for as good of a mood to read this one. mood is such a tricky thing to work with sometimes. And you can never fully know how much your mood contributed to your enjoyment.
      It was still an okay read, I just had hoped for more. I am looking forward to the next book in the series.

    • Maybe it just was my mood or too high expectations, but the first two were very good and this one just fell a bit flat.

  2. Light and fun can be nice, but it’s tough when you don’t get the connection with the character and the story as a result. A petulant and moody character even if they change later does make it hard to care about them. That is different about the taking the baby from the womb.
    The faery connection is a hit with me.
    Insta-love is hit or miss depending on how it’s written.

    Oh well, maybe the shifter book will have more appeal for you, but glad it was at least an okay read.
    Sophia Rose recently posted…Summer Shoot ‘em UpsMy Profile

    • I usually like faerie books, but it didn’t quite work for me in this book. I do enjoy light and fun books, as long as I can connect to the characters. It was hard to like Abby at first, although I did like her a bit more as the story progresses I never fully warmed up to her.

      The taking the baby form the womb plot line was kinda weird, but original as well. With novella’s that have a romance I am always a bit prepared that things move faster, but I had hoped to feel their connection a bit more. I hope the shifter one is good, looking forward to it.

  3. It is hard to really get a lot of depth or get everything explained in short books, which is why I so often avoid them. But then there are times when I do just want something quick and light, so shorter books are good for that. I don’t really like it though when books takes something serious and heavy but then make it light. And accidentally giving away someone’s baby does sound a little odd, but I suppose I’ve probably read about stranger things lol.

    I don’t think this is one I’d have ever picked up anyway, just doesn’t seem like it’s for me, but I’m sorry you didn’t enjoy it more!
    Kristen @ Metaphors and Moonlight recently posted…Cover Characteristics: Book Covers featuring ZombiesMy Profile

    • I have read quite some shorter books that still manage to give enough depth or interesting characters, but here it didn’t fully work out. The first two books in the series were pretty good. And the second book was actually pretty dark, while this one in comparison felt much more light again.
      The accidentally giving away someone else their baby plot line was a tad weird, I guess it’s also original, but it just felt a bit off. Especially with how the baby disappeared out of it’s mothers womb.

    • Magic I presume? That’s also how they got the baby out, it was just gone and then later it was suddenly back. It was a bit weird and I never really got how it worked or how they had the magic to take the baby from her belly.
      I agree with shifters I usually understand why things might move a bit faster. These were teenagers so I guess the insta-love could be explained by that, but it just felt a bit too fast.

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