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jgintrovertedreader's review
3.0
I've forgotten a lot of details since I read this. I remember that I enjoyed it pretty well but I didn't think it was something that would stick with me. I was obviously right. I liked the cop and I liked Eilidh (which I kept pronouncing "Eyelid" in my head, driving myself crazy). I don't think I really knew how everything was going to play out. It was an entertaining enough read on the elliptical machine but I won't be continuing with the series.
alien_moose's review
4.0
I’m still new to the urban fantasy genre, so I don’t have a depth of experience with such books. I was a bit tentative reading the first few pages, but I soon grew accustomed with the author’s voice, I found myself binge reading the book in a weekend. I found the characters believable and likeable. The thriller/mystery aspects of the story were enthralling. The peek into the mythology was mostly satisfying, though it felt as though there were some prior assumptions that left me unsure if this was the first in a series. This feeling is probably because of my newness to the genre. I look forward to reading the other books in the series.
odomaf's review
2.0
I found this to be an "ok" meandering story - never felt like I should put it down and move on to something else, but also never felt like stopping anything else I was doing to pick it up and continue reading.
WHAT I LIKED
-----------------
* Elf in the City: The author did an excellent job getting me to *feel* the displacement the female lead feels. This aspect of the book was by far my favorite. It can be hard to see the world you live in every day as if you were a COMPLETE outsider, but Drummond pulled it off admirably.
WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE
--------------------
* The story dragged for me. I'm not a fan of having main characters (esp if they are love interests) separated for large parts of the book. I'm not a fan of reading lots of information about traveling, if the true action really only happens at the destinations. I'm not a fan of having one character be a tool for asking questions while the other character is a replacement for an encyclopedia. All of things together can really slow a book down, and I felt like that was my experience with Blood Faerie.
* While the female lead's character was deftly developed, the male lead's character felt shallow to me. I couldn't believe it when he decided he was in love with the female lead. He'd known her for a handful of days, hadn't seen her in over a week, and binds his life to her in a decision of less than 5m. I'm always willing to throw some disbelief out the window when reading, especially in this genre, but I couldn't do it with this love relationship. :/
I wouldn't really recommend this one to any friends I know who read this genre. There are just plenty of more interesting reads in this genre.
WHAT I LIKED
-----------------
* Elf in the City: The author did an excellent job getting me to *feel* the displacement the female lead feels. This aspect of the book was by far my favorite. It can be hard to see the world you live in every day as if you were a COMPLETE outsider, but Drummond pulled it off admirably.
WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE
--------------------
* The story dragged for me. I'm not a fan of having main characters (esp if they are love interests) separated for large parts of the book. I'm not a fan of reading lots of information about traveling, if the true action really only happens at the destinations. I'm not a fan of having one character be a tool for asking questions while the other character is a replacement for an encyclopedia. All of things together can really slow a book down, and I felt like that was my experience with Blood Faerie.
* While the female lead's character was deftly developed, the male lead's character felt shallow to me. I couldn't believe it when he decided he was in love with the female lead. He'd known her for a handful of days, hadn't seen her in over a week, and binds his life to her in a decision of less than 5m. I'm always willing to throw some disbelief out the window when reading, especially in this genre, but I couldn't do it with this love relationship. :/
I wouldn't really recommend this one to any friends I know who read this genre. There are just plenty of more interesting reads in this genre.
jmkemp's review
4.0
I picked this up on kindle on a special offer, and finally got round to reading it over the summer holidays. I've enjoyed the Iron Druid stories, and it seemed to share some level of realism with those. Not exactly the same, but not a sparkly urban fantasy tale either. The faerie lore was quite different, and so were the druids. However it is set in the real world, and magic stuff sort of happens without us noticing overly much. So worth a read, especially on special offer.
I enjoyed it quite a lot. I would certainly read more in this world. The premise of the story is that there are some kinds of magic that the faeries don't tolerate. The Blood magic in the title being one of those forbidden paths. Another is the ethereal, which our lead faerie (Eilidh) does. The Faeries believe that once you start down a path then you are stuck with it. So having a preference for one of the forbidden paths is a death sentence to any faerie discovered on it.
Eilidh escaped this fate, but cannot return to the faerie kingdom as a result. This is painful for her, cut off from her source of contentment. She lives out in the human world, hiding in the midst of the city of Perth (Scotland). As darkness falls the faerie kingdom expands into the shadows and green spaces. Faerie has trouble with concentrations of people, and the corruption of nature by cities and large towns. This creates opportunities for her to meet up with her old people when she experiences the blood faerie. The blood faerie is killing humans to gain power. At first it isn't clear who or why, but the picture slowly builds.
The first body is found by PC Munro. He has a knack for being in the wrong place at the wrong time, or perhaps the right place at the right time. Unlike others he senses her. We see that there's something strange about Munro from the beginning. Part of the book is about both of them realising that they are capable of more than they think. The other part is a straighforward murder mystery as they try to enlist help from other faeries to catch the blood faerie. Even when they do it isn't without cost.
Overall this was a brilliant piece of world building and a good introduction to a couple of fascinating characters, one faerie and one druid. My only real criticism was that it escalated a little too rapidly for my liking. There's so much more about the setting and characters and their background that could be explored before that escalation is needed. The character development is possibly a little too rapid, there's an instant bonding of the pair, and no real hesitations. This seems a little unrealistic, although magic. The other thing is that there are bits of info dump in places, lots of Q&A, which is better than a straight info dump, but not quite proper show. I think it could be fixed with a good edit, to chuck out some of the less necessary bits, and expand some of the character development so that we see real dilemmas with actions and decisions to show us the characters.
I enjoyed it quite a lot. I would certainly read more in this world. The premise of the story is that there are some kinds of magic that the faeries don't tolerate. The Blood magic in the title being one of those forbidden paths. Another is the ethereal, which our lead faerie (Eilidh) does. The Faeries believe that once you start down a path then you are stuck with it. So having a preference for one of the forbidden paths is a death sentence to any faerie discovered on it.
Eilidh escaped this fate, but cannot return to the faerie kingdom as a result. This is painful for her, cut off from her source of contentment. She lives out in the human world, hiding in the midst of the city of Perth (Scotland). As darkness falls the faerie kingdom expands into the shadows and green spaces. Faerie has trouble with concentrations of people, and the corruption of nature by cities and large towns. This creates opportunities for her to meet up with her old people when she experiences the blood faerie. The blood faerie is killing humans to gain power. At first it isn't clear who or why, but the picture slowly builds.
The first body is found by PC Munro. He has a knack for being in the wrong place at the wrong time, or perhaps the right place at the right time. Unlike others he senses her. We see that there's something strange about Munro from the beginning. Part of the book is about both of them realising that they are capable of more than they think. The other part is a straighforward murder mystery as they try to enlist help from other faeries to catch the blood faerie. Even when they do it isn't without cost.
Overall this was a brilliant piece of world building and a good introduction to a couple of fascinating characters, one faerie and one druid. My only real criticism was that it escalated a little too rapidly for my liking. There's so much more about the setting and characters and their background that could be explored before that escalation is needed. The character development is possibly a little too rapid, there's an instant bonding of the pair, and no real hesitations. This seems a little unrealistic, although magic. The other thing is that there are bits of info dump in places, lots of Q&A, which is better than a straight info dump, but not quite proper show. I think it could be fixed with a good edit, to chuck out some of the less necessary bits, and expand some of the character development so that we see real dilemmas with actions and decisions to show us the characters.
tiffbaker's review
3.0
Pretty good for a free book. A little on the shirt side but still fun to read.
theladygonzalez's review
5.0
I had the pleasure of reviewing India's last book, Ordinary Angels and was instantly a fan. Her latest effort, Blood Faerie, makes an incredible impression as well. From the very first line, Drummond had me completely hooked into Eilidh's world.
I am not going to get into analyzing the story, because believe me, it is amazing. It's beyond creative; I have never read anything quite like this before. Drummond breathes new life into the tried-and-true faerie story with this adventurous and exciting story. What really stood out to me while reading Blood Fearie was the writing. In short, I thought it was beautiful. I must have flagged 20 different passages; some for humor, some for beauty and some just for the striking sentence construction. Take a look at some from the selection below, I managed to narrow it down to 12 - which took a great deal of effort.
The characters and settings are also unbelievably well done. It is impossible not to connect with Eilidh; even though she technically isn't even human. She is an outsider, who has been forsaken by her people - yet she remains a caring and loving individual. When she met and formed an unconventional friendship with a local police officer (Quinton Munro), I was practically jumping for joy. As a reader, you cannot deny these two; their scenes together are pure magic. Being a faerie, Eilidh is intelligent, yet naive when it comes to human interactions. This creates a number of hilarious scenes between human and faerie, including a mishap involving a shower.
Like I mentioned above, the settings that Drummond depicts are incredible. The story takes place in Scotland and features both bustling, modern cities and lush, spacious forests. I could picture each vivid detail while reading Blood Faerie, and was completely swept up in it.
Blood Faerie is an incredible effort by Drummond. It is undeniably creative, interesting, exciting and unique. The writing is beautifully done and Drummond constructs an unforgettable set of characters that you will easily fall for. I for one, adored Blood Faerie and cannot wait for the sequel to come out.
I am not going to get into analyzing the story, because believe me, it is amazing. It's beyond creative; I have never read anything quite like this before. Drummond breathes new life into the tried-and-true faerie story with this adventurous and exciting story. What really stood out to me while reading Blood Fearie was the writing. In short, I thought it was beautiful. I must have flagged 20 different passages; some for humor, some for beauty and some just for the striking sentence construction. Take a look at some from the selection below, I managed to narrow it down to 12 - which took a great deal of effort.
The characters and settings are also unbelievably well done. It is impossible not to connect with Eilidh; even though she technically isn't even human. She is an outsider, who has been forsaken by her people - yet she remains a caring and loving individual. When she met and formed an unconventional friendship with a local police officer (Quinton Munro), I was practically jumping for joy. As a reader, you cannot deny these two; their scenes together are pure magic. Being a faerie, Eilidh is intelligent, yet naive when it comes to human interactions. This creates a number of hilarious scenes between human and faerie, including a mishap involving a shower.
Like I mentioned above, the settings that Drummond depicts are incredible. The story takes place in Scotland and features both bustling, modern cities and lush, spacious forests. I could picture each vivid detail while reading Blood Faerie, and was completely swept up in it.
Blood Faerie is an incredible effort by Drummond. It is undeniably creative, interesting, exciting and unique. The writing is beautifully done and Drummond constructs an unforgettable set of characters that you will easily fall for. I for one, adored Blood Faerie and cannot wait for the sequel to come out.
ivy_skye's review
3.0
The book was a slow but steady pace. Nothing to romantic or gory. Kept it interesting enough to read the next book in the series but probably not much further
debmozingo's review
5.0
Plot Twisted!
I got this book for free, and tend not to expect too much from freebies, but I loved it. I will definitely be reading the rest of the series, as well as anything else by this author. Give it a go!
I got this book for free, and tend not to expect too much from freebies, but I loved it. I will definitely be reading the rest of the series, as well as anything else by this author. Give it a go!
saldragski's review
3.0
A fae creature gets involved with a policeman in trying to figure out who is killing people and taking their hearts. 2.75 stars because it was written well enough to keep me reading.
bibliophilicjester's review
3.0
2.5 stars!
Really enjoyable with tons of problematic things. A very quick read, though, which is always nice. I read in bed for a few hours last night when I had a bad stomachache, a wee bit this morning at breakfast, and finished after an hour and a half or so just now.
Things I enjoyed:
• The formatting! I hope it’s the whole series and not just a fluke. Each paragraph has a line break after it. I’ve recently found it’s easier to write my reviews like this so I can reread them quickly, and I really liked it on the kindle. I never once lost my place, which I don’t think has ever happened before. The chapters were also a nice length.
• I guess this is formatting too, but the pronunciation guide was at the beginning of the book!!!! I remember being SUPER pissed to learn that my favorite character in the throne of glass series was pronounced muh-NON, and not MAH-nin, which is what I thought the obvious way to pronounce Manon. I like Celtic stuff, and despite having an Irish last name, I’m AWFUL at pronouncing all names from that area (Scottish, welsh, Irish...I’m useless). I’m American, and we’re definitely known to destroy and Americanize all sorts of ethnic names. It’s incredibly upsetting but I blame my shit pronounciatikn on that -__- There’s absolutely no way I would’ve read Eilidh as AY-lee. Idk whose call that was (publisher? Author?), but it was much appreciated.
• A realistic Scottish setting! At least, that’s how it seems. I know everyone’s in love with outlander and all that, but I liked the urban fantasy angle of it all. I don’t read much of the genre (or, sub genre, I suppose), but I really like the idea of a hidden world sort of bordering the world we know. Very enticing.
• Interesting faeries. I’m not sure why so many books have fae love interests who end up being domineering males, but I liked that it wasn’t the case with this story. It could’ve been (Saor was awful), but Eilidh rejected him in an understandable way. I liked that she realized he was asking her to give up all she was to be with him, and she didn’t just say no - she considered his intentions, her past feelings for him. She thought carefully about this guy she’d grown up assuming she’d marry, and she cane to the conclusion that you shouldn’t change who you are in order to please someone else. It’s something most modern women and men choose immediately, but faeries are usually more traditional. I like imagining that the human world around her helped her reach this conclusion. Or, at the very least, her distance from other fae helped her evaluate what was best for her as an individual. Not an individual as part of a whole.
• Similarly, I liked that faeries have such a strong connection to elements and to their magic. Other fae books have characters who are perfect physical specimens, larger and stronger than any human, and they all have this alien sort of coldness. I liked experiencing Eilidh’s emotions and concerns, and it was interesting that she was considered “weak” because of her inability to use earth magic proficiently.
• The plot and the story itself was really interesting! Nothing spectacular or surprising necessarily, but it definitely held my interest. I thought for sure I’d read the first book and be done, but now I think I want to read the whole series! Or at least enough to learn that Eilidh’s mother was some sort of queen or super powerful faerie. Or a Druid? Idk. But she’s definitely not just some normal wronged fae girl. I’ll bite, lol.
Dislikes:
• Munro’s feelings for Eilidh. Yikes. Super instalove. He agrees to the bond not out of careful consideration for how his entire world will be forever changed...he does it for her. Because he’s drawn to her and doesn’t want to live without her. Ehhhhhhhh I don’t like it. I don’t dislike him as a character, but his weakness for a pretty girl is definitely irritating at best, problematic at worst.
• Cridhe. He performs this ritual, and suddenly he’s “mad”? What does that even mean? Is he hallucinating and seeing his father, or is it some sort of illusion he or someone else created? Why was he even set on this path? Was he in love with Jon? Aside from the issue of general madness being sort of glossed over (like, he’s evil AND crazy! Must be put down!), I just don’t understand him as a character. And now he’s dead? Why make him the main antagonist of a 6 book series if he’s so easily disposed of?
• All the characters felt really distant. I actually prefer third person POV because first person often feels like the reader is trapped with a character. Many books have been ruined for me because I was stuck inside the head of the first person narrative of a character I hated (like Monty from the gentleman’s guide to vice and virtue, a book everyone but me seemed to adore 😑). Anyway, I think it’s just because the book was so short. I’m willing to work at getting to know these characters better in future books. But everything just felt really distant. That’s the best way I can describe it.
I think that’s all I have to say for now?! I flew through this book and I’m definitely interested in reading the next installment very soon!
Really enjoyable with tons of problematic things. A very quick read, though, which is always nice. I read in bed for a few hours last night when I had a bad stomachache, a wee bit this morning at breakfast, and finished after an hour and a half or so just now.
Things I enjoyed:
• The formatting! I hope it’s the whole series and not just a fluke. Each paragraph has a line break after it. I’ve recently found it’s easier to write my reviews like this so I can reread them quickly, and I really liked it on the kindle. I never once lost my place, which I don’t think has ever happened before. The chapters were also a nice length.
• I guess this is formatting too, but the pronunciation guide was at the beginning of the book!!!! I remember being SUPER pissed to learn that my favorite character in the throne of glass series was pronounced muh-NON, and not MAH-nin, which is what I thought the obvious way to pronounce Manon. I like Celtic stuff, and despite having an Irish last name, I’m AWFUL at pronouncing all names from that area (Scottish, welsh, Irish...I’m useless). I’m American, and we’re definitely known to destroy and Americanize all sorts of ethnic names. It’s incredibly upsetting but I blame my shit pronounciatikn on that -__- There’s absolutely no way I would’ve read Eilidh as AY-lee. Idk whose call that was (publisher? Author?), but it was much appreciated.
• A realistic Scottish setting! At least, that’s how it seems. I know everyone’s in love with outlander and all that, but I liked the urban fantasy angle of it all. I don’t read much of the genre (or, sub genre, I suppose), but I really like the idea of a hidden world sort of bordering the world we know. Very enticing.
• Interesting faeries. I’m not sure why so many books have fae love interests who end up being domineering males, but I liked that it wasn’t the case with this story. It could’ve been (Saor was awful), but Eilidh rejected him in an understandable way. I liked that she realized he was asking her to give up all she was to be with him, and she didn’t just say no - she considered his intentions, her past feelings for him. She thought carefully about this guy she’d grown up assuming she’d marry, and she cane to the conclusion that you shouldn’t change who you are in order to please someone else. It’s something most modern women and men choose immediately, but faeries are usually more traditional. I like imagining that the human world around her helped her reach this conclusion. Or, at the very least, her distance from other fae helped her evaluate what was best for her as an individual. Not an individual as part of a whole.
• Similarly, I liked that faeries have such a strong connection to elements and to their magic. Other fae books have characters who are perfect physical specimens, larger and stronger than any human, and they all have this alien sort of coldness. I liked experiencing Eilidh’s emotions and concerns, and it was interesting that she was considered “weak” because of her inability to use earth magic proficiently.
• The plot and the story itself was really interesting! Nothing spectacular or surprising necessarily, but it definitely held my interest. I thought for sure I’d read the first book and be done, but now I think I want to read the whole series! Or at least enough to learn that Eilidh’s mother was some sort of queen or super powerful faerie. Or a Druid? Idk. But she’s definitely not just some normal wronged fae girl. I’ll bite, lol.
Dislikes:
• Munro’s feelings for Eilidh. Yikes. Super instalove. He agrees to the bond not out of careful consideration for how his entire world will be forever changed...he does it for her. Because he’s drawn to her and doesn’t want to live without her. Ehhhhhhhh I don’t like it. I don’t dislike him as a character, but his weakness for a pretty girl is definitely irritating at best, problematic at worst.
• Cridhe. He performs this ritual, and suddenly he’s “mad”? What does that even mean? Is he hallucinating and seeing his father, or is it some sort of illusion he or someone else created? Why was he even set on this path? Was he in love with Jon? Aside from the issue of general madness being sort of glossed over (like, he’s evil AND crazy! Must be put down!), I just don’t understand him as a character. And now he’s dead? Why make him the main antagonist of a 6 book series if he’s so easily disposed of?
• All the characters felt really distant. I actually prefer third person POV because first person often feels like the reader is trapped with a character. Many books have been ruined for me because I was stuck inside the head of the first person narrative of a character I hated (like Monty from the gentleman’s guide to vice and virtue, a book everyone but me seemed to adore 😑). Anyway, I think it’s just because the book was so short. I’m willing to work at getting to know these characters better in future books. But everything just felt really distant. That’s the best way I can describe it.
I think that’s all I have to say for now?! I flew through this book and I’m definitely interested in reading the next installment very soon!