So excited to be a part of this, my very first blog tour, hosted by Storytellers on Tour! There is even a giveaway at the end of this post – so keep reading right to the end… Please check out the other reviews of this book on the Storytellers on Tour website. They do a fantastic job highlighting books written by indie authors of fantasy and science fiction. Thank you to Justine and Timy for hosting my blog on their tour!
Fly Free Book Description
In the land of Faerie, lies are easily disguised as truths.
They were raised like sisters, the heir to the Court of the Day and her guardian.
And as rebellion darkens the land of the Day—and the faeries of Court fall under a dark magic that disconnects them from the land, dooming them to a slow, agonizing death—they will question all they know to be true.
Sevelle, the Light of the Day, is destined to rule one day. She possesses a rare form of magic, the ability to heal the powerful connection between faeries and the magic in the land, the connection that gives them life—if only she could figure out how to use this magic, or even find it within herself.
Jae lives in the shadows, watching over Sevelle as her guardian and listening to the whispers of Court brought to her by the winds. She longs for a life outside of Court, but knows her duty to Sevelle is more important than her own desires.
But when an unexpected proposition comes from none other than Lex, son of the rebel leader, Sevelle and Jae realize their lives will never be the same—and that evil may be within their own court more so than in the rebels that oppose them.
Walking paths far different than they imagined separates the sisters, but then a secret is revealed that may break them apart forever.
Fly Free is the first installment of the Light of Faerie series. Enter a land of magic in the midst of a power struggle, where all is not as it seems and love may be found in the most unlikely places.
Fly Free by Allison Rose
SERIES: Light of Faerie (#1)
PUBLISHED: September 20, 2020 (Self-Published)
PAGES: 252
GENRE: Fantasy, Young Adult
Check Fly Free out on goodreads
Buy Fly Free Here:
US: www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0897DZ4YG
UK: www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0897DZ4YG
My Review
4/5 stars
I was provided with both a paperback copy and a kindle version of Fly Free by Storytellers on Tour as part of the blog tour for this book, Thank You very much!
Fly Free takes place in the Land of Faerie. The territory is split by the Great Divide, which cuts right through the middle of the land. One half, that to the west of the Great Divide, is occupied by the faeries of the Day Territory, whereas the eastern half belongs to the faeries of the Night Territory. Each territory has its own ruling Court. A map of the Land of Faerie is provided at the beginning of the book.
We meet the main characters of this story in the Day Court, located to the south of the Land of Faerie. Sevelle, the heir to the Day Court, who is also known as ‘Light of Day’, or simply ‘The Light’ appears to be the daughter of the Queen, Shayna, who is known as ‘The Glorious’ and Drake her husband.
The action in the first few chapters all takes place in the Day Court and is told mainly in third person with the focus switching between Sevelle and her guardian, Jae (short for Sanjae). Occasionally we are presented with snippets of the faeries’ thoughts in the first person point of view.
The magic of the Land of Faeries is known as the ara and is accessed by Spirit faeries through the earth and by other faeries via Telk stones. The majority of these stones are owned by the Court. A group of rebels believe they should be distributed more fairly amongst the commoners of the land.
The magic manifests itself in different ways depending on which type of faerie they are:
- Lex, the son of the rebel leader, can communicate with animals. He has become firm friends with Ash, a bird of prey called a halkyr, and can communicate with him using only his mind.
- Jae can use the winds to bring her snatches of the conversations of other faeries. In this way she was ideally disposed to being a spy in the Court for the rebel faeries.
- Sevelle is supposed to be able to communicate with the Sun but is struggling to develop and control her power. She should be able to use the power of the Sun to heal other faeries – a skill which would be very useful during the blight.
- The Glorious is able to read the minds of other faeries whether they are willing or not.
All of these powers appear to be boosted by the mysterious Telk stones, which I do not feel were given enough explanation in this book.
It did not matter how close these faeries got to the ground, the source of the ara. It would not make them stronger. They were all born with a certain amount of ability, a range of connection to the land around them. Increasingly, more had been born with little magic. Those born with more power rose in the ranks and usually ended up in a position of power…”
Allison Rose
The faeries of the Day Court have been led to believe that Lex’s father, Lore, has caused a blight, which is sickening the faeries and robbing them of their magic, but is he truly the cause?
The characters within this story are mostly likeable. The only real villain of the story is the despotic ruler of the Court of Day, The Glorious.
Jae is strong and skilled with weapons. Although a teenager, two years younger than Sevelle, she has spent her life training to protect her charge, and she proves herself to be loyal and brave. She takes her role as guardian of the heir to the throne seriously.
Sevelle is a kind and caring teenager. She is a positive influence on those around her. She is determined to negotiate with the rebels for peace and also shows bravery in her own way. She is defiant and stands up to The Glorious for what she believes in, despite her fears of repercussions. She will make a great leader, since she is neither afraid to stand up for her beliefs, nor frightened to confront and negotiate with the leader of the rebels.
Drake appears to be wise and kind but defers to his wife, The Glorious, who is ruthless enough to call in the Faeries of the Night to kidnap Sevelle before she reaches the rebel leader.
The Glorious constantly puts the success of the Court of the Day, and therefore her own success as ruler, ahead of her own daughter’s happiness and emotional security. We learn that she used to employ the services of a torturer known as The Punisher, who has since been banished to the human realm, but who was able to wipe clean the memories of faeries who were not in favour with The Glorious. She is a devious leader who will employ whatever tactics she finds necessary to accomplish her goals.
Lex is a charming rebel, able to gain people’s favour easily. He displays integrity and determination for fairness. He is a potential romantic partner for both Jae and Sevelle and they both easily fall under his spell.
Another character we meet along the way is Ash, a large bird of prey like a hawk who allows Sevelle to ride on his back during the journey to the mountains. As mentioned previously, Ash is a halkyr, able to put images into the minds of those he likes and trusts by way of communication. He shows Sevelle an image of darkness inside the core of Lex, which eventually enables Sevelle to find her power and save Lex from the Darkness which is threatening to consume him from within. As a result Jae finds herself jealous of Sevelle’s bond with Lex.
We also meet Lakera, a mezra, which appears to be a black panther-like beast. Lakera is the leader of the mezra and the familiar of Kye, who is the female leader of the faeries of the Night Court.
A poisonous illness, known as the blight is affecting a large number of the faeries who are beginning to weaken, to lose their connection to the magic of the Earth, known as the ara and to rot. If only Sevelle could harness her healing powers and use them to save the faeries.
We become aware that a band of rebels is trying to restore the balance in their land between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have nots’ and that Sevelle’s guardian, Jae, is in league with the rebels and has been passing information to them via Lex, the son of the rebel leader, and his companions Couren and Verity. The Glorious has made it known among the faeries that the rebels are the source of the blight and must be stopped. There is much drama and political intrigue at play in this story – both between the Glorious and the band of rebels, and also between the Court of the Day and the Court of the Night.
We learn that Sevelle’s aim above all else is to restore peace between the Court and the rebels and she is persuaded by Lex, the bewitching son of the rebel leader that if she ventures with him into the mountains to meet with his father, Lore, she may be able to do so via negotiating with him, rather than by the violence favoured by The Glorious. Sevelle tells her mother that she may be able to meet with the rebels if she is allowed to leave the court and travel to the mountains. Her aim is to try to bring an end to the blight and save all the affected faeries, but The Glorious does not seem particularly convinced that talking peacefully with the rebels is the way forward:
“They are targeting the commoners as well. These stunts cause pandemonium in the villages. If we do not strike back, we will look weak. We would be handing them the power to destroy us.”
Allison Rose
The Glorious tells Sevelle to leave right away if she is going to go and at first it is not clear whether she will be welcome to return, despite being the heir:
“Do not argue. Find a way to end the rebellion and you may keep your position as heir. On your own. Such is the way of rulers.”
Allison Rose
Halfway through the story there are some surprising plot twists which I was not expecting, but which made the story much more interesting and added another layer of intrigue. After Sevelle leaves in search of the rebels, we discover that Sevelle was in fact adopted by Drake and The Glorious due to the healing powers she appeared to exhibit, but has been unable to harness.
Following Sevelle’s departure, poor Jae, her guardian, is now bound to the Court by the will of The Glorious, when all she really wanted was for everyone, including herself, to be happy. She had wanted to leave the Court and join the rebels but her duty to Sevelle, as her guardian, had kept her at the Court. Jae’s determination and loyalty have caused her downfall, as now she is trapped at the Court of the Day and facing a future with her potential partner, Morlan, her solid and dependable training partner, who she does not care for in the same way she cares for her other potential partner, the rebel Lex:
She supposed, to the outside observer, they were perfect for each other. They matched each other in cunning and strength. They practically knew each other’s thoughts. And yet in her mind they always stood on opposite sides of a line, neither of them willing to cross it. He served The Glorious. And Jae pretended to.
Allison Rose
Lex and Sevelle are also potential romantic partners and Jae is left to feel helpless and jealous. What will become of Jae? Sevelle had never even considered leaving the Court, but now that she has, she has discovered that her destiny was never really to be a part of the Court of the Day. Sevelle is determined not to give up on Jae, so we will need to read the next installments in their story to discover what happens to these likeable faeries.
I found this story a lot of fun to read and enjoyed getting to know the characters and their values. There is plenty of intrigue and unexpected twists to the tale to keep the reader interested and I would recommend it to fans of YA and adult fairy stories.
About the Author
Driven by a lifelong passion for words and reading fantasy novels, Allison Rose writes YA fantasy stories featuring faeries, magic, and strong heroines. She has a BA in psychology and is fascinated by how other people think, but her love for reading and writing is greater. When Allison isn’t writing, she is editing and proofreading the works of others. Allison lives with her fiancé, collie mix, bunny, and chinchilla in the place of wild weather also known as Buffalo, New York.
You can find her at www.allisonroseauthor.com
The Giveaway – US Only
Prize: Fly Free by Allison Rose – 1 of 3 paperbacks
Start: January 10th, 2021 at 12:00am EST
End: January 17th, 2021 at 11:59pm EST
Click on the image or click here to enter. Good Luck!!
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