Title: The Fallen Kingdom
Series: The Falconer Series
Author: Elizabeth May
Genre: Young Adult Fiction
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Release Date: June 13, 2017
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 400

WrensReads Review:

I don’t really have a lot to say about this.

I was super annoyed with the repeated thoughts that happened after every single paragraph. I got the first time it was repeated, but then it would be repeated like twenty more times.

And then the unnecessary death.

I absolutely loved the first book. The first book was so great. But the second book was just okay (like a lot of middle-books in a trilogy) and I was excited for an epic ending and I just… I wasn’t into it.

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Title: The Vanishing Throne
Series: The Falconer
Author: Elizabeth May
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Release Date: June 7, 2016
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 384

WrensReads Review:

You know what really upsets me? When only the first book in the series is an audio-book and you can’t even get a physical copy because all the libraries around you only have the digital copy. Like, what type of BS is that?

The audio-book for the first one was so incredibly great that I was so pumped to get back into this world but then there was no audio-book. That’s called trickery and I’m not happy about it.

Ugh. I’m never going to get over this. I’m moving on.

So the reason my rating is a little lower than what it actually should be (besides the bloody audio-book drama I just laid out there) was the writing. She would Italicize flashbacks, which wouldn’t bother me at all (and it would actually be really helpful), if it wasn’t every other paragraph. I found myself getting aggravated with the constant flashback lines.

But what kept me going…

…were the twist. My goodness she threw a huge twist in there about 2/3rds of the way in. My heart literally tore open for the characters. Aileana going through some serious PTSD was written so well throughout the whole book; proving you can’t just shake it off and that it will change the whole you do things. Derrick proving he has humanity and showing everyone his home and opening it up to those who need it. Kiaran standing up for those who he loves (and proving that he can love) and revealing a huge secret that involves his sister Aithinne.

There were a lot of things I loved about this book. The continual building of this world is phenomenal. There are different layers that we get to see and experience. May does a great job of not keeping you in the dark when it comes to describing the weapons and the people.

I am already reading the third book, and I am ready to see how this catastrophe comes to an end.

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Title: The Falconer
Series: The Falconer
Author: Elizabeth May
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Release Date: May 6, 2014
Format: Audiobook
Pages: 378

WrensReads Review:

This book reminds me a lot of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. And by that I mean nothing with the story and everything to do with who 18 year old Lady Aileana Kameron, the only daughter of the Marquess of Douglas truly is: A Falconer.

Falconer: a female warrior born with gifts to hunt/kill fae.
..or really a Vampire Slayer minus the vampire and plus the fae.

So we have steampunk,

based in Scotland.

So just add a red-headed warrior-heroine,

sprinkle in a pixie,

and a lot of faes.

And you have this book.

I think the narrator, Susan Duerden (★ ★ ★ ★ ★) made me love this book even more because she has a Scottish Accent and it just drew the whole setting into a complete circle. She was easy to understand and it was just a glorious listen.

So Aileana leads a double life. She is the proper daughter and lady she is suppose to be during the day, and a fae hunter by night. She goes against everything that she is suppose to be purely because she wants revenge. A fae murdered her mother right in front of her. She wants to kill her in the least, probably torture to the greatest.

“Crimson suits you best.”

She is being trained by the exactly thing she hunts, a fae named Kiaran, in how to survive, and she has a little pixie named Derrick who helps mend her clothes for a cost (side note: Derrick was my favorite part of this whole book. He’s hilarious and I need a pixie in my closet).

There is romance in this book, though it isn’t the main focus. I will say that there is another Buffy the Vampire Slayer reference towards the romance side, you know the whole “forbidden” and “I hunt your kind, you kill my kind” type of deal.

I loved the fact that we didn’t start out with her being oblivious to the world and not knowing what she is doing and all of sudden she is so great and wonderful and spectacular at this random thing that dropped in her lap and blah blah blah blah. Insta-stars are so annoying.

She has been doing this for a while and she knows what she is doing and she trained her butt off to be as good as she is.

It’s a great read for anyone who loves things about Seelie Court and the Unseelie Court things. I can tell we are going to expand on that in the next books. Basically if you love fantasy, steampunk and just kind of BA things, this book is up your alley and you should read it so we can discuss it!

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