I wanted to love this book. I really, really wanted to love this book. Instead, I found myself reading it only so that I could finish the series, not because I was really all that excited about it. However, I think I have figured out why, and it turns out I can’t blame Lesley Livingston at all. Let’s break it down.

Things I liked

The secondary characters in Livingston’s series are amazing. Either amazingly great, amazingly hilarious, amazingly pathetic, whatever it is, they are amazing. The interactions between the Fairy monarchs (in particular Mabh and Auberon) are always hilarious, sassy and perfect. I do however wish we’d seen more Mabh, because her bad assery was always very much enjoyed, and brought a light touch (insert joke about the queen of air and darkness here) to the book. Auberon is also very fun to read with his gruff and icy (see what I did there) demeanor. Titania is a little bit too head-in-the-clouds for my taste, but she serves her purpose and ultimately has reasons for the choices she makes. Gwynn however is a mystery right through to the end, which gives the plot a much needed boost half way through.

I’ve mentioned him in past reviews for this series, but Bob doesn’t disappoint in this book. His quips add a comical undertone in what would otherwise be considered very serious moments, and it balances out a lot of scenes. Livingston clearly saw his value as a character and for that I thank her enormously.

There is also a loooot more action in this one. The end book almost felt like 2 short books brought together because there are 2 big plot points that are resolved. It made the book pace feel a bit more reasonable.

One thing this series did very well (and this speaks to the publishing side of things) is create beautiful books. I know you’re not supposed to judge a book by its cover, but that’s pretty much exactly what I did here. It screams YA in all the right ways and really caught my eye when I first saw them.

I mean they match, they are almost ethereal looking and that font is beautiful.

Things I did not like

Because there were almost 2 plots in this book, the book seemed to drag on at times. Though there was a lot more action, I kept thinking to myself that if even one character asked some of the seemingly obvious questions, everything could be resolved so quickly. I get that I have dramatic irony on my side (knowing what’s going on when the characters don’t), but come on folks. Communication. It’s important.

Repetitiveness. This kind of ties in to the “why aren’t you asking the right questions” thing, but sometimes characters would really dwell on stuff that I just couldn’t bring myself to care about. That’s maybe a little harsh of me, but there you go.

Now, I think it’s important that I point out one important thing. I read all these books within 2 weeks and I can’t help but think that my reading this series in one shot diminished my excitement by the end. That combined with losing book 2 halfway through my reading of it may very much have had an effect on how I felt about the series toward the end.

Closing Notes

Despite this, I feel like this series is definitely worth a read for anyone who

1. wants to read some good Canadian YA
2. Likes Shakespeare
3. Likes novels about Fairies and
4. Can pace the books out

I genuinely think that if I’d read them as they’d come out, with time in between to enjoy each one, I might have rated the second and third books higher.

I guess that’s just how the cookie crumbles. #YesThatsABruceAlmightyReference