3 out of 4 stars
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The world is divided into faeries, hunters, mixed beings called fae-hunters, and human beings. Catori thought herself to be a normal human being but recently, she has come to know that she is a fae-hunter. Her very precious book is stolen by her friend Stella. Now, she is surrounded by many people but doesn't know who is her friend, and who is her enemy. Ace and Kajika are faerie and hunter respectively. They both care a lot for Catori, but Catori has trust issues with everyone including these two guys. Are Ace and Kajika her friends? Will she be able to retrieve her book? What is so special about the book?
Rowan Wood Legends by Olivia Wildenstein falls into the genre of fantasy. It's like a fairytale in which the heroin has some hidden power which she is unaware of. There is certainly a prince charming to complete the fairytale effect, but like every fairytale, there are more than one candidate for the heroin, and she is torn between the two. Catori lives near a cemetery that has a fairytale feel about it. If the story lacks any quality of a fairytale, it is the absence of a full-time villain. There is no absolute negative person in the story, so it is difficult to figure out who is the villain.
As being a fantasy lover, I loved the whole book. I loved the mesmerizing character of Ace. He sounded a real prince with killing looks and great sense of humour. Despite of Ace’s charming character, I felt the characterization was incomplete. Every character seemed incomplete. They looked like jigsaw puzzles with missing pieces. The book was stated as a stand-alone, and I didn't know that it was the 2nd part of a series until I downloaded it. I think the author should have included some sentences in the description to make it clear that it can't be read as a stand-alone.
Despite all this, I enjoyed the whole book very much. It was engaging and I couldn't put it down. There is one main plot and many subplots. These minor plots bind the story together in a perfect harmony. I like the different perspective from which the typical tale of faeries is told. The book presents the dark side of the faeries. The faeries are not perfect beings so are not the hunters. I am desperately waiting to read the next installment of this series. I hope to have a look upon Neverra, the faerie world. There is not much about it in this book, but I hope the next book will include a detailed description of Neverra.
I would rate this book 3 out of 4 stars. I omit one star for a morally weak protagonist. Catori as a protagonist doesn't possess the qualities of a fairytale heroin. She is a selfish girl and doesn't care about the person who saved her life so many times. All she cares about is herself, and she doesn't feel guilty for that. Most of the time she hurts others because she thinks they don't care for her, and in doing so, she hurts all of them. Otherwise, the story was great and had a lot of potential. I would love it if it is adapted into a tv series. The book seemed professionally edited as there were no grammatical errors. I would recommend this book to all fairytale and fantasy fans above 18. Although it is categorized as a young adult book, but it contains a lot of adult stuff, so I won't recommend this to readers under 18.
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Rowan Wood Legends
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