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themarishale's review
4.0
The only reason this book did not garner a 5-star rating from me is because I doubt I will re-read it. It was, however, a quick read that I enjoyed.
I would be eager to find out more about the connection between Caleb and Tara, what develops between Liza and Matthew, and what will happen once Caleb and Liza go back to Faerie.
All in all, a good read.
I would be eager to find out more about the connection between Caleb and Tara, what develops between Liza and Matthew, and what will happen once Caleb and Liza go back to Faerie.
All in all, a good read.
sclinch915's review
3.0
I really liked the simplicity of this book. It was a quick and easy read, but definitely compelling. I loved the way the author used our modern time as the Before time. My only quibble is that I would have liked to know more about the Faerie and what prompted teh great war.
olivesreadingarden's review
2.0
there was nothing wrong with the writing, but it did feel very YA to me, which is fine, but combine that with characters and a plot that i wasnt interested in at all - i just didnt like it. it was boring and this just wasnt for me.
also tw for:
- physical abuse of a child
- im not gonna put this under a spoiler bc it honestly really shook me when i read it cause i wasnt expecting it - and i think it might affect a lot of people's desire to read this book but
her dad literally throws the cat against a wall and it dies so yeah. didnt enjoy that.
also tw for:
- physical abuse of a child
- im not gonna put this under a spoiler bc it honestly really shook me when i read it cause i wasnt expecting it - and i think it might affect a lot of people's desire to read this book but
her dad literally throws the cat against a wall and it dies so yeah. didnt enjoy that.
bookgirl4ever's review
2.0
Liza lives in a postapocolyptic Earth. The faeries and the humans had a horrible war that resulted in a fear of magic in Liza's town, and more specifically with her father. When her mother, Tara, bears a child who is obviously born with magic abilities, father has the child left in the wilderness to be killed. Tara leaves the town without word, leaving Liza a month later mourning the loss of her baby sister and mother. Soon, Liza find she too has some magical abilities and leaves the village to protect her life from her father and in search of her mother. She finds her mother, magic, and the world she knows is not what she thought.
Appropriate for grades 6+. 2.5 stars.
Appropriate for grades 6+. 2.5 stars.
ambr_media's review
2.0
Ngl I kinda zoned out for a good portion of this book. The premise was interesting and I appreciate the lack of romance, since that's hard to find in YA books. I just think it ended up being a little boring and I didn't particularly care about the characters or what was happening.
nerdyfangirl's review
4.0
I loved, loved, loved the concept for this book. Janni Lee Simner's young adult debut has an incredible setting: a post-apocalyptic America caused by a war with Faerie. The two worlds are linked, and both are nearly destroyed in the war, but there are other consequences no one foresaw. Now the children are developing magic of their own as some twisted side-effect of the war, and Liza's town has strict rules about magic.
After her father leaves her magical baby sister out to die and her mother disappears without a word, Liza realizes she has magic of her own, and she runs away in order to survive. There's a nice, cute boy who chases after her and the two eventually end up on an adventure, along with a girl named Allie and Liza's cat Tallow, looking for Liza's mom, who they believe is in Faerie.
What I didn't love: the author's prose. I liked most of it, I really did, but the way she handled the visions kept dragging me out of the story. It's a personal preference, and I just didn't care for the style. Here's a non-spoilery example so you know what I'm talking about:
I looked into the glass and I saw---
A man doing something---
A young girl running---
Other things always followed by a long dash---
Like I said, nothing major and totally subjective, but I didn't like it and it really took away from the book for me. There was also a bit of distance between me and the characters. I cared about what happened to them but I didn't really connect with them; though I did almost cry at one point, but that would be a spoiler.
Anyway, the premise and the setting alone were amazing enough to keep me turning pages. I was curious to know what happened to Faerie, what was happening to the rest of the world, and about the connections between certain characters. I will admit that my favorite character was Caleb, even though he doesn't get nearly as much attention as I'd like. He was a very interesting character. All in all it's a great addition to YA fantasy and a very original faerie story.
After her father leaves her magical baby sister out to die and her mother disappears without a word, Liza realizes she has magic of her own, and she runs away in order to survive. There's a nice, cute boy who chases after her and the two eventually end up on an adventure, along with a girl named Allie and Liza's cat Tallow, looking for Liza's mom, who they believe is in Faerie.
What I didn't love: the author's prose. I liked most of it, I really did, but the way she handled the visions kept dragging me out of the story. It's a personal preference, and I just didn't care for the style. Here's a non-spoilery example so you know what I'm talking about:
I looked into the glass and I saw---
A man doing something---
A young girl running---
Other things always followed by a long dash---
Like I said, nothing major and totally subjective, but I didn't like it and it really took away from the book for me. There was also a bit of distance between me and the characters. I cared about what happened to them but I didn't really connect with them; though I did almost cry at one point, but that would be a spoiler.
Anyway, the premise and the setting alone were amazing enough to keep me turning pages. I was curious to know what happened to Faerie, what was happening to the rest of the world, and about the connections between certain characters. I will admit that my favorite character was Caleb, even though he doesn't get nearly as much attention as I'd like. He was a very interesting character. All in all it's a great addition to YA fantasy and a very original faerie story.
lunaseassecondaccount's review against another edition
3.0
This book is recommended quite often when the question of books about the land of faerie comes up, and so having heard a lot about it, I bought it when I found it at my local bookshop. I do like the cover a lot, particularly the simplicity of it, and I also though the blurb could be interesting. Hooray for faeries, hooray for magical worlds! So I looked forward to reading it. From the first page, this book reminded me a lot of [b:The Forest of Hands and Teeth|3432478|The Forest of Hands and Teeth (The Forest of Hands and Teeth, #1)|Carrie Ryan|http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41q8PcJO1mL._SL75_.jpg|3473471] by [a:Carrie Ryan|1443712|Carrie Ryan|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1259620381p2/1443712.jpg].
The pacing is all off in this book. By the third chapter (all of which are short), Liza was off on her mission and the reader is left reeling over the sudden onset of action. I would have liked a lot more worldbuilding to have been done here. How did Liza, her family and her town get to be where they are? What was done? Do the faeries still live in the world? How do children get their powers? Why is her father so cruel? Who, what, when, where, why and most importantly, how?
So Liza goes on her adventure with her far-too aware and complying cat, Tallow. I'll accept that Tallow sits on her shoulder. None of my cats would have ever done that, not without me holding their bum, but I'll accept it. Maybe it's to do with Liza's powers. And then some action scenes occur and I'm left confused and need to re-read the past few pages. Simner has a bit of difficulty with writing clear action scenes, particularly with her pacing of them.
And then we wind up with a much to adult-speaking young girl, Allie, and more odd pacing issues and then there's radiation poisoning and mirrors and... dead cats.
I felt that the pacing got worst towards the end of the book. It started to get under my skin, and I wanted to tell at Simner to SLOW DOWN and DESCRIBE. Especially about the history here. How was the arch built? How does it connect with the faerie world? How did the war start- why did the war start? And what is Liza's ability, truly?
I was able to enjoy the book, though, despite all this, which is why I'm giving it three stars. The pacing does annoy me to bits, but I liked the twist on the faerie world situation.
The pacing is all off in this book. By the third chapter (all of which are short), Liza was off on her mission and the reader is left reeling over the sudden onset of action. I would have liked a lot more worldbuilding to have been done here. How did Liza, her family and her town get to be where they are? What was done? Do the faeries still live in the world? How do children get their powers? Why is her father so cruel? Who, what, when, where, why and most importantly, how?
So Liza goes on her adventure with her far-too aware and complying cat, Tallow. I'll accept that Tallow sits on her shoulder. None of my cats would have ever done that, not without me holding their bum, but I'll accept it. Maybe it's to do with Liza's powers. And then some action scenes occur and I'm left confused and need to re-read the past few pages. Simner has a bit of difficulty with writing clear action scenes, particularly with her pacing of them.
And then we wind up with a much to adult-speaking young girl, Allie, and more odd pacing issues and then there's radiation poisoning and mirrors and... dead cats.
I felt that the pacing got worst towards the end of the book. It started to get under my skin, and I wanted to tell at Simner to SLOW DOWN and DESCRIBE. Especially about the history here. How was the arch built? How does it connect with the faerie world? How did the war start- why did the war start? And what is Liza's ability, truly?
I was able to enjoy the book, though, despite all this, which is why I'm giving it three stars. The pacing does annoy me to bits, but I liked the twist on the faerie world situation.