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A review by ghostlydreamer
Rebel Fay by Barb Hendee
5.0
Oh, look! It's the novel that WRECKED me. I basically finished this in a day. I read so late into the night that I had a headache, and I'd read so many hours on end that I'd lost track of time to begin with. Why? Because if I didn't figure out what happened, if I didn't make sure my precious characters were okay, then I would have died (dramatically speaking) in my wait to find out. And the ending still killed me, so there wasn't much relief. But it killed me in the best of ways? I think? I just know that when I finished reading this book, I went on tumblr (because that was still a thing back then), and wrote down that a book hadn't emotionally ravaged me like that since I'd read Christopher Paolini's Inheritance. And that book shattered me. So did this book, which I read immediately after book four. And it's not even the finale! The metal gods were not sparing me that summer, were they?
So. I have some thoughts. And all of them are wild and erratic and, ultimately, good. You have been warned.
The plot itself? Killed me. The dynamics between the characters? Murdered me. The shit I found out while reading it? Obliterated me. And I fucking loved every minute of it. I suppose I'm sadistic, that way. But (and spoiler alert, though not really if you've made it this far into the series, and the fact that it's in the book description), the fact that Leesil was trained to kill the very thing that Magiere is...and then Chap, the magical elven dog, intervened with fate and brought them together? I just...have no words? For how this made me feel? I mean, they love each other, so that's just an added dimension to their dilemma. And then, on top of that, there was so much tension between those two, and not the good kind like we had in book two. Sometimes I actually wondered if they were going to be okay. If the authors were going to break them up just to hurt us. Mercifully, they didn't, but that's a big reason why I just HAD to keep reading, to make sure they WERE okay. I'm pretty sure I even looked at the synopses (with guarded eyes) of future books to see if they referred to them still being a couple, and was very careful to avoid spoilers in the process. And Chap, of course, saves the day. Because why wouldn't? He's a magical elven dog, for god's sake. I love him. And yet, their fate is still uncertain.
Then we have the setting. Assassin elves? Count me IN. Even though they're all assholes to Leesil and Magiere, because they're protective of their lands and don't want any outsiders, least of all Magiere, of all people, to intrude. But man, the elven culture is rich. The Hendee's definitely know how to create a world and make their elves stand apart from everyone else's, even when certain common tropes are used. But I mean, you can't write a book that involves assassin elves and expect me NOT to love it. So that was kind of a given. Bonus stars for that.
Wasn't Magiere on trial in this one? I feel like she was, and Leesil had to do everything he could in his power to make sure she got out of that okay, because the verdict was uncertain at best. I had no idea what was going to happen. If there was going to be some kind of uprising, with Magiere slashing throats, or something more peaceable... But I was not disappointed. Also, the JEALOUSY. I'm pretty sure Magiere was worried that Leesil was falling for someone else? Another elf. And that hurt. It hurt her AND it hurt me. Of course, Leesil was doing no such thing. But this book knew how to hit me in all the right places, and I don't know if that's a good thing. Even though I enjoyed the hell out of this book, so I suppose it was.
But ouch. This one hurt. This one hurt so much. 10/10 would do it again.
Oh. And we get to see Leesil's mom. She's a bitch.
So. I have some thoughts. And all of them are wild and erratic and, ultimately, good. You have been warned.
The plot itself? Killed me. The dynamics between the characters? Murdered me. The shit I found out while reading it? Obliterated me. And I fucking loved every minute of it. I suppose I'm sadistic, that way. But (and spoiler alert, though not really if you've made it this far into the series, and the fact that it's in the book description), the fact that Leesil was trained to kill the very thing that Magiere is...and then Chap, the magical elven dog, intervened with fate and brought them together? I just...have no words? For how this made me feel? I mean, they love each other, so that's just an added dimension to their dilemma. And then, on top of that, there was so much tension between those two, and not the good kind like we had in book two. Sometimes I actually wondered if they were going to be okay. If the authors were going to break them up just to hurt us. Mercifully, they didn't, but that's a big reason why I just HAD to keep reading, to make sure they WERE okay. I'm pretty sure I even looked at the synopses (with guarded eyes) of future books to see if they referred to them still being a couple, and was very careful to avoid spoilers in the process. And Chap, of course, saves the day. Because why wouldn't? He's a magical elven dog, for god's sake. I love him. And yet, their fate is still uncertain.
Then we have the setting. Assassin elves? Count me IN. Even though they're all assholes to Leesil and Magiere, because they're protective of their lands and don't want any outsiders, least of all Magiere, of all people, to intrude. But man, the elven culture is rich. The Hendee's definitely know how to create a world and make their elves stand apart from everyone else's, even when certain common tropes are used. But I mean, you can't write a book that involves assassin elves and expect me NOT to love it. So that was kind of a given. Bonus stars for that.
Wasn't Magiere on trial in this one? I feel like she was, and Leesil had to do everything he could in his power to make sure she got out of that okay, because the verdict was uncertain at best. I had no idea what was going to happen. If there was going to be some kind of uprising, with Magiere slashing throats, or something more peaceable... But I was not disappointed. Also, the JEALOUSY. I'm pretty sure Magiere was worried that Leesil was falling for someone else? Another elf. And that hurt. It hurt her AND it hurt me. Of course, Leesil was doing no such thing. But this book knew how to hit me in all the right places, and I don't know if that's a good thing. Even though I enjoyed the hell out of this book, so I suppose it was.
But ouch. This one hurt. This one hurt so much. 10/10 would do it again.
Oh. And we get to see Leesil's mom. She's a bitch.