Published: May 6, 2014
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Author: Elizabeth May
Pages: 378
Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy, Historical Fiction
Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy, Historical Fiction
Edinburgh, Scotland, 1844
Lady Aileana Kameron, the only daughter of the Marquess of Douglas, was destined for a life carefully planned around Edinburgh’s social events – right up until a faery killed her mother.
Now it’s the 1844 winter season and Aileana slaughters faeries in secret, in between the endless round of parties, tea and balls. Armed with modified percussion pistols and explosives, she sheds her aristocratic facade every night to go hunting. She’s determined to track down the faery who murdered her mother, and to destroy any who prey on humans in the city’s many dark alleyways.
But the balance between high society and her private war is a delicate one, and as the fae infiltrate the ballroom and Aileana’s father returns home, she has decisions to make. How much is she willing to lose – and just how far will Aileana go for revenge?
From the beginning the reader is
catapulted with stories a year after the death of the
mother of Aileana and there are moments of confusion page after page. I was disappointed from that beginning
in medias res, though unsettlement at first, and what a pity it never reached the excitement stage. In fact, just the opposite.
I stopped taking this novel seriously more or less the same time that I started to dislike Aileana, within two or three chapters.
I think the
author's intent was to create a protagonist tormented by her past and the
desire for revenge, dark heroine, but it is not what I perceived.
Aileana was quite a whiny girl, unaware of what consistency is.
She spent half of the
time to saying phrases about her dark soul and how she was doomed to seek revenge:
"I'm a ruined girl who made her choice. This is who I am, a night creature who thrives on death and destruction."
* how I imagined Aileana while she was saying this*
(Yes, I just
imagined a scene like that. And yes, I laughed. I'm a bad person.)
And the rest of the
time she spent saying that she will never be the girl from the past, who only wished for beautiful dresses and elegant parties and imagined her wedding; although she would love to go back to those times. No, it is not true, she prefers to be strong ... But life was
easy back then, it would be so nice if she could ... No! Better to be the murderer
of fairies, skilled fighter, rather than the useless and naive girl from the
past.
* me throughout
the novel *
No, it is not the only thing that made me mad. Aileana contradicts with herself most of the time.
And is not consistent with Kiaran. He is the sìthichean (fairy) who she met the day
after the death of her mother, who saved her and decided to train her. Between
the two there seems to be a sort of alliance.
It is immediately
clear that he will be the romantic interest of Aileana. How can it not be clear?
Aside from the obvious fact that Kiaran is mysterious, strong and contemptuous
enough, the author wanted to hide the love and make it a torment.
Yes, there is so
much torment here. Mine, however.
I did not find the
plot engaging, surprising,and in some cases it seemed too predictable.
Even the steam punk setting did not seem well made, it seemed to have been put as an excuse to put strange gadgets and weapons details, functional enough to pull Aileana out of trouble.
The style is fairly
smooth and simple, but superficial and often clumsy, for example in the fight
scenes, which I found repetitive. Moreover, the pace in the first part is
quite slow, so much so that I even got bored.
Right now I'm not
going to continue the series, but it infuriates me that I have read three hundred pages to be annoyed and have an big
"WTF?" everytime I read something
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