Blood Faerie
by India Drummond
reviewed by by AJ Reardon
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I've read a lot of really good books lately. This was not one of them. In fact, I only read it all the way to the end for two reasons: because it was compellingly bad, and because I wanted to be able to review it here. It's been a while since I've had a good bad book review, after all. There is a part of me that feels bad about writing negative book reviews. I mean, I've written novels myself, I know how much work goes into it. I haven't tried to publish mine because they need more work than I have time to give right now. And I know how frustrating it is to write your fiction, give it to someone else, and have them dislike it for really shallow reasons. I really don't want to hurt an author's feelings... and yet at the same time, I desperately want to point out what is so very wrong with their work. So. Blood Faerie. It was free for the Nook, and the last free book I read was really good, so I thought hey, let's give another author a try, maybe I'll get lucky again. I do like faeries, after all, although most books about them end up being awful. This series sets up a pretty interesting view point on faerie realms, their interaction with humans, and their magic system, and the story is well-paced but that's about all it has going for it. The writing is average at best, the characters are two-dimensional, the plot is pretty predictable, and a month after I read it, I can't remember much at all about it. My main impression was that this book had a serious wish fulfillment element to it. The main character has been banished from the world of faerie due to something beyond her control. She's a sad, misunderstood loner, and then she's the sole witness to a crime committed by a fellow faerie. Can she convince the other faeries that they should be concerned that someone is murdering humans? Can she find human allies? Will she save the day and fall in love? I'm sure you know the answers to all of these questions. The biggest issue I had was how everyone freakin' loved the hero Eilidhe. Ok, I'll give the author having the main love interest fall head over heels upon meeting her. I'm not a fan of "love at first sight" but it is an established trope, and one could argue for otherworldly faeries having a powerful impact on mere mortals. Likewise, when she runs into her former lover and he still has feelings for her, that could serve to build some dramatic tension. She must choose between the man from her past, or forbidden romance with a human who understands her better. But when the villain is also smitten and wants to make her his queen and breed little forbidden magic babies with her? And when the only other male character she has any significant interaction with is her dad? Here's a tip, authors: it's more believable if some characters are neutral towards or dislike your protagonist. When everyone thinks your hero is so wonderful (you know, other than that time she used forbidden magic), she starts to feel like a Mary Sue. Doubly so when that poor misunderstood soul is the only one who can stop the villain, thanks to the aforementioned magical powers. The only good reason to have all the men want to have sex with the heroine is if this is erotic fiction and they ARE all going to have sex with her. Maybe at the same time. But this wasn't that sort of story. I feel like I could go the rest of my life without reading another book where the outcast, ignored, or otherwise downtrodden hero turns out to have the key to saving the world. Oh sure, it's a pleasant form of escapism when you're a lonely teenager, but I think it builds this unrealistic expectation that you're going to discover your own amazing talent in real life and become the hero of your own story. I wasted part of my young adult life bouncing from thing to thing, looking for the one that I would be an immediate virtuoso at, so that the world could adore me for being the best at something. Now I've come to realize two things: first, that I don't need to be the best at something, just being great is good enough; and second, in general you'll never be great at anything unless you stick with it and really work at it. That's the reality I want to see reflected in my books. I don't want to read about the hero who was never good at the mainstream magic but has a secret hidden talent for obscure forgotten magic, and greater power than has ever been seen in the world. I want a hero who decides to be good at something, and worked hard at it, and has some adventures and maybe happens to be in the right place at the right time to save the world, or at least the kingdom. If you prefer this sort of story, well, it was free and it's not as bad as some self-published books, so it probably wouldn't be a total waste of your time to read it, but don't expect anything amazing.
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E-mail AJ at: ErtheFae@aol.com Visit AJ at: www.erthefae.net
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