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Auri #2
Fae
Not all fae'ri tales come with a happy ending.
Ella thought taking care of the ego-bloated Mamood god would be a sure way to bring peace to the galaxy and satisfy her taste for revenge.
But she was wrong.
Despite the fact their god is gone, the Mamood refuse to abandon their attack on the planet Soltak and Ella's own so-called friends start to turn against her. And with Soltak dying--its oceans drying up and its plants withering in the ground--Ella and Cailen suspect there's a new enemy at work. As more people die and more water is leached from the planet, they both prepare for something straight from a nightmare.
The fae are coming.
Ella thought taking care of the ego-bloated Mamood god would be a sure way to bring peace to the galaxy and satisfy her taste for revenge.
But she was wrong.
Despite the fact their god is gone, the Mamood refuse to abandon their attack on the planet Soltak and Ella's own so-called friends start to turn against her. And with Soltak dying--its oceans drying up and its plants withering in the ground--Ella and Cailen suspect there's a new enemy at work. As more people die and more water is leached from the planet, they both prepare for something straight from a nightmare.
The fae are coming.
320 pages, Paperback
First published February 22, 2014
462 people want to read
About the author
Emily White
6 books399 followersEmily White is a nerd.
She prefers her men fully clothed and donning bowties, her commas British, her books cheesy with big, overly-dramatic explosions, her characters awkward and endearingly real,* and watching her movies in authentic turn-of-the-century theaters. When not exposing her nerdy self to the world, she's creating her own friends and putting them in horrible, yet sometimes humorous situations.
Check out her YA Space Opera series starting with Elemental (Spencer Hill Press, 2012), continuing with Fae (February 2014), and ending in 2015 with DESTRUCTOR. She's also authored a collection of Steampunk (zombie, werebot romance) flash fiction, if you're into those kinds of things, titled "To Love or Die in a Steamy-Reamy World." Her YA Contemporary Fantasy, ALMOST NIGHT, will be out May 2014.
She prefers her men fully clothed and donning bowties, her commas British, her books cheesy with big, overly-dramatic explosions, her characters awkward and endearingly real,* and watching her movies in authentic turn-of-the-century theaters. When not exposing her nerdy self to the world, she's creating her own friends and putting them in horrible, yet sometimes humorous situations.
Check out her YA Space Opera series starting with Elemental (Spencer Hill Press, 2012), continuing with Fae (February 2014), and ending in 2015 with DESTRUCTOR. She's also authored a collection of Steampunk (zombie, werebot romance) flash fiction, if you're into those kinds of things, titled "To Love or Die in a Steamy-Reamy World." Her YA Contemporary Fantasy, ALMOST NIGHT, will be out May 2014.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
April 10, 2014
Disclosure: I received this book in exchange for an honest review. Opinions are 100% mine and unaffected by other parties.
I read Fae while in the passenger side of the car on the way to our family beach trip, and the three hours flew by without me realizing it,I was so riveted. Emily White writes a wicked tale, and even with warnings of "not all fae'ri tales come with happy endings", I still felt dejected, feeling poor Ella had been cheated out of the beautiful life she truly deserved, regardless of her title as "The Destructor". The lengths she goes to trying to help an ungrateful planet of people, only to have them mistreat and abuse her, and her constant conflict over her warrior and eternal "bonded" love, Cailen, had my heart breaking a little for her several times throughout the novel. But there's also this refreshing badass side to Ella which emerges when she's pushed to the weakest point, and regardless of whether she's being steered in the wrong or right direction, I find myself cheering her on to find whatever path will finally keep her safe, loved, and warm.
In regards to the logistical parts of the novel, there were very few errors, and it might have benefited one more pass through the editorial process for a "quick polish up". However, the writing flowed, the world building element was awesome, the descriptions vivid, and the overall book unaffected by those minute issues. I give it 4 stars with no reservations, whatsoever, and Emily White, I'm reading Elemental next, and I can't wait to dive in! Keep doing what you do, sweetheart!
P.S. People, if you love fantasy and aren't squeamish over a little reality in an ending, buy the book. Buy. The. Book. Today.
I read Fae while in the passenger side of the car on the way to our family beach trip, and the three hours flew by without me realizing it,I was so riveted. Emily White writes a wicked tale, and even with warnings of "not all fae'ri tales come with happy endings", I still felt dejected, feeling poor Ella had been cheated out of the beautiful life she truly deserved, regardless of her title as "The Destructor". The lengths she goes to trying to help an ungrateful planet of people, only to have them mistreat and abuse her, and her constant conflict over her warrior and eternal "bonded" love, Cailen, had my heart breaking a little for her several times throughout the novel. But there's also this refreshing badass side to Ella which emerges when she's pushed to the weakest point, and regardless of whether she's being steered in the wrong or right direction, I find myself cheering her on to find whatever path will finally keep her safe, loved, and warm.
In regards to the logistical parts of the novel, there were very few errors, and it might have benefited one more pass through the editorial process for a "quick polish up". However, the writing flowed, the world building element was awesome, the descriptions vivid, and the overall book unaffected by those minute issues. I give it 4 stars with no reservations, whatsoever, and Emily White, I'm reading Elemental next, and I can't wait to dive in! Keep doing what you do, sweetheart!
P.S. People, if you love fantasy and aren't squeamish over a little reality in an ending, buy the book. Buy. The. Book. Today.
March 5, 2014
Fae is book 2 of the Auri Wars, with book one being "Elemental." I would highly recommend reading book 1 first, as it sets the stage for a universe at war.
Fae:
While the planet Soltak remains under threat of attack, Ella and Cailen have some breathing time to get re-acquainted as Ella's childhood memories slowly seep back into her mind. Throughout it all, I have to say, Cailen has the patience of a saint! He really shines in this book.
Still, coming from ten years of solitary confinement and being labeled as the "destructor", Ella can't trust anyone, not even her own heart. Everyone fears her. Everyone needs her. Everyone has an agenda...and the only people she can trust to never turn away are her enemies.
What an ending!! Fae is full of emotion, action, and (of course) destruction. I can't wait for book 3!
Fae:
While the planet Soltak remains under threat of attack, Ella and Cailen have some breathing time to get re-acquainted as Ella's childhood memories slowly seep back into her mind. Throughout it all, I have to say, Cailen has the patience of a saint! He really shines in this book.
Still, coming from ten years of solitary confinement and being labeled as the "destructor", Ella can't trust anyone, not even her own heart. Everyone fears her. Everyone needs her. Everyone has an agenda...and the only people she can trust to never turn away are her enemies.
What an ending!! Fae is full of emotion, action, and (of course) destruction. I can't wait for book 3!
January 20, 2015
God, I was looking forward to this book. Elemental was one of my favorite reads in the past two or so years. It was a little slow at points, but the universe White created was incredible. It was interesting, it was well-built, and it had great depth. Elemental actually reminded me quite a bit of the first book in Stephen King's Dark Tower series, where the plot had to be slowed down to a crawl at times in order to fully absorb the reader into the world in which the story takes place. Ella was an interesting enough hero with plenty of growth. The other characters were somewhat flat, but Cailen's entrance livened the story up and the rest was a fantastic read.
This, however, isn't a review for Elemental. It's a review for Fae. And as much as I wanted to like this, I can't.
Let's start with the biggest problem: Ella. And I'll just state up front that I think the 'lost memories' plot device worked pretty well. As much as I'm generally hostile to love triangles, I even think that the conflict between Ella and Cailen over the mysterious Anna could have worked well (I don't know if it's actually a love triangle if one of the people doesn't actually exist, but whatever). But Ella's emotional swings were so extreme as to be utterly absurd. She swung back and forth between sugary, drillium-fueled love for Cailen and psychotic (and I mean PSYCHOTIC) jealousy and anger over her insecurities about Cailen/Anna so violently that it gave me literary whiplash. It was completely unbelievable, which was bad enough, but it also made Ella into a completely unrelatable hero, which was even worse. It's just silly to have Ella smashing a mirror and cutting off her hair with the jagged shards in one scene and then five pages later have Cailen show up and say two or three short sentences (basically amounting to "but Ella, you know we're bonded? Right?"), only to have Ella melt in his arms and forget all of her doubts. At least for another five pages or so. Another review for this book states that Cailen is a saint and therefore he's the one who shines here. He is the most interesting character (which is sad, because he does nothing in this book), but the only reason he shines is because Ella is so dim. Blegh.
The second other major problem, which ties in with the first, is that nothing happens in the first half of the book. This was forgivable in Elemental because, as I already said, the first half of Elemental had to acclimate the reader into Ella's world. It's not forgivable here because the only world in which the first half of Fae takes place is a military base, and it takes about a chapter and a half to acclimate to that. Like I also said, Ella recovering her memories and the discovery of Anna was a good idea on White's part. But you have to do more with that than simply Ella/Cailen fight, they make up, they fight, they make up, they fight, they make up, they fight, they make up, they fight, they make up, they fight, they make up, they fight, they make up (x15000000). Oh yeah sure, somewhere in there Ella ALMOST gets captured (such an intense scene, something ALMOST happened). Cailen disappears because reasons (Ella can't handle danger? She blew up a freaking solar system and killed a god). There's some decent action in the second half of the book, sure, but by then Ella is already a nutjob willing to give herself over to the dark side because...more reasons? It sure as hell can't be because she met the Emperor's servant once, vaguely liked him, and can now overlook the fact that he's sucking the planet dry of all water, killing off the civilian population, and waging war against Ella's own people, right? That would just be too dumb.
There's some other stuff too that irked me. Typos, for one. Your and you're shouldn't ever be mixed up, yet it happens two or three times here. Meir is a useless character who might as well have been killed off. I could go on, but I won't. Suffice to say I was disappointed with this one. I really hope White can refocus and come up with a killer third book, because I know she has it in her and this world she has created is really fantastic.
This, however, isn't a review for Elemental. It's a review for Fae. And as much as I wanted to like this, I can't.
Let's start with the biggest problem: Ella. And I'll just state up front that I think the 'lost memories' plot device worked pretty well. As much as I'm generally hostile to love triangles, I even think that the conflict between Ella and Cailen over the mysterious Anna could have worked well (I don't know if it's actually a love triangle if one of the people doesn't actually exist, but whatever). But Ella's emotional swings were so extreme as to be utterly absurd. She swung back and forth between sugary, drillium-fueled love for Cailen and psychotic (and I mean PSYCHOTIC) jealousy and anger over her insecurities about Cailen/Anna so violently that it gave me literary whiplash. It was completely unbelievable, which was bad enough, but it also made Ella into a completely unrelatable hero, which was even worse. It's just silly to have Ella smashing a mirror and cutting off her hair with the jagged shards in one scene and then five pages later have Cailen show up and say two or three short sentences (basically amounting to "but Ella, you know we're bonded? Right?"), only to have Ella melt in his arms and forget all of her doubts. At least for another five pages or so. Another review for this book states that Cailen is a saint and therefore he's the one who shines here. He is the most interesting character (which is sad, because he does nothing in this book), but the only reason he shines is because Ella is so dim. Blegh.
The second other major problem, which ties in with the first, is that nothing happens in the first half of the book. This was forgivable in Elemental because, as I already said, the first half of Elemental had to acclimate the reader into Ella's world. It's not forgivable here because the only world in which the first half of Fae takes place is a military base, and it takes about a chapter and a half to acclimate to that. Like I also said, Ella recovering her memories and the discovery of Anna was a good idea on White's part. But you have to do more with that than simply Ella/Cailen fight, they make up, they fight, they make up, they fight, they make up, they fight, they make up, they fight, they make up, they fight, they make up, they fight, they make up (x15000000). Oh yeah sure, somewhere in there Ella ALMOST gets captured (such an intense scene, something ALMOST happened). Cailen disappears because reasons (Ella can't handle danger? She blew up a freaking solar system and killed a god). There's some decent action in the second half of the book, sure, but by then Ella is already a nutjob willing to give herself over to the dark side because...more reasons? It sure as hell can't be because she met the Emperor's servant once, vaguely liked him, and can now overlook the fact that he's sucking the planet dry of all water, killing off the civilian population, and waging war against Ella's own people, right? That would just be too dumb.
There's some other stuff too that irked me. Typos, for one. Your and you're shouldn't ever be mixed up, yet it happens two or three times here. Meir is a useless character who might as well have been killed off. I could go on, but I won't. Suffice to say I was disappointed with this one. I really hope White can refocus and come up with a killer third book, because I know she has it in her and this world she has created is really fantastic.
September 29, 2014
Mon avis en Français
My English review
Après avoir passé un bon moment avec le premier tome, j’étais curieuse de pouvoir lire celui-ci et découvrir comment Ella parvenait à gérer sa destinée.
Nous retrouvons donc notre héroïne avec Cailen dans un endroit sécurisé où la guerre se prépare petit à petit. Pourtant même là-bas leur vie est loin d’être simple car tout le monde semble les détester et notamment Ella qu’ils jugent responsable de tout ce qui arrive. De plus, la planète où ils vivent devient de plus en plus aride, les gens meurent mais Ella ne parvient à rien faire contre tout ce mal qui s’installe. De plus, elle doute de tout et tout le monde et la voix qui lui parle dans sa tête constamment n’aide pas. Notre héroïne va devoir faire des choix importants et vite afin de déterminer ce que ses prochains actes seront.
La chose la plus positive dans cette lecture est l’écriture de l’auteur qui se lit de façon très fluide et rapide ce qui nous permet de finir le roman très rapidement. Elle nous entraîne dans son histoire et nous intéresse jusqu’à la fin pour savoir ce que seront les prochains événements. Mais alors que j’ai beaucoup apprécie le premier volume, j’ai trouvé celui-ci très fouillis… C’est un peu dommage car il y a beaucoup d’idées quand même. Cependant en soit, il ne se passe pas grand-chose réellement et j’avoue qu’Ella m’a énormément énervé au cours de la lecture. Alors qu’elle ne connaît rien de son passé malgré les quelques bribes qu’elle commence à se rappeler ici, elle déduit ses vérités sans en demander la véracité. C’est alors qu’elle en veut à Cailen, qu’elle agit de façon précipitée sans réfléchir à ses actions et se rendant compte par la suite que ce n’était peut-être pas le mieux. C’était très frustrant de la voir se retourner contre les gens qui l’ont aidé jusque là et devenir une personne que nous n’apprécions plus au final. Je ne sais même pas comment les personnages peuvent lui pardonner de tels agissements. C’est vraiment une jeune fille pourrie gâtée et qui ne va que vers ceux qui la placent au centre de leur monde.
Nous ne voyons pas vraiment Meir ici, mais l’histoire se focalise surtout sur Cailen et Ella. Les deux doivent gérer un grand nombre de choses mais Ella ne se préoccupe au final que de sa petite personne et quand personne ne vient à son aide, elle pense toujours que les gens l’ont abandonnée même après tant de démonstrations de leur part. Donc oui, Ella est insupportable et j’espère vraiment qu’elle va changer par la suite. Dans tous les cas je suis très curieuse de pouvoir lire la suite pour découvrir ce qu’à l’auteur en tête mais j’espère de tout cœur que la jeune fille va évoluer et devenir plus mature. J’espère aussi que l’histoire redevienne aussi structurée que le premier tome.
Ce roman était donc intéressant mais j’en attendais peut-être un peu plus. Dans tout les cas je suis impatiente de lire le prochain tome.
My English review
Après avoir passé un bon moment avec le premier tome, j’étais curieuse de pouvoir lire celui-ci et découvrir comment Ella parvenait à gérer sa destinée.
Nous retrouvons donc notre héroïne avec Cailen dans un endroit sécurisé où la guerre se prépare petit à petit. Pourtant même là-bas leur vie est loin d’être simple car tout le monde semble les détester et notamment Ella qu’ils jugent responsable de tout ce qui arrive. De plus, la planète où ils vivent devient de plus en plus aride, les gens meurent mais Ella ne parvient à rien faire contre tout ce mal qui s’installe. De plus, elle doute de tout et tout le monde et la voix qui lui parle dans sa tête constamment n’aide pas. Notre héroïne va devoir faire des choix importants et vite afin de déterminer ce que ses prochains actes seront.
La chose la plus positive dans cette lecture est l’écriture de l’auteur qui se lit de façon très fluide et rapide ce qui nous permet de finir le roman très rapidement. Elle nous entraîne dans son histoire et nous intéresse jusqu’à la fin pour savoir ce que seront les prochains événements. Mais alors que j’ai beaucoup apprécie le premier volume, j’ai trouvé celui-ci très fouillis… C’est un peu dommage car il y a beaucoup d’idées quand même. Cependant en soit, il ne se passe pas grand-chose réellement et j’avoue qu’Ella m’a énormément énervé au cours de la lecture. Alors qu’elle ne connaît rien de son passé malgré les quelques bribes qu’elle commence à se rappeler ici, elle déduit ses vérités sans en demander la véracité. C’est alors qu’elle en veut à Cailen, qu’elle agit de façon précipitée sans réfléchir à ses actions et se rendant compte par la suite que ce n’était peut-être pas le mieux. C’était très frustrant de la voir se retourner contre les gens qui l’ont aidé jusque là et devenir une personne que nous n’apprécions plus au final. Je ne sais même pas comment les personnages peuvent lui pardonner de tels agissements. C’est vraiment une jeune fille pourrie gâtée et qui ne va que vers ceux qui la placent au centre de leur monde.
Nous ne voyons pas vraiment Meir ici, mais l’histoire se focalise surtout sur Cailen et Ella. Les deux doivent gérer un grand nombre de choses mais Ella ne se préoccupe au final que de sa petite personne et quand personne ne vient à son aide, elle pense toujours que les gens l’ont abandonnée même après tant de démonstrations de leur part. Donc oui, Ella est insupportable et j’espère vraiment qu’elle va changer par la suite. Dans tous les cas je suis très curieuse de pouvoir lire la suite pour découvrir ce qu’à l’auteur en tête mais j’espère de tout cœur que la jeune fille va évoluer et devenir plus mature. J’espère aussi que l’histoire redevienne aussi structurée que le premier tome.
Ce roman était donc intéressant mais j’en attendais peut-être un peu plus. Dans tout les cas je suis impatiente de lire le prochain tome.
September 20, 2014
It's been a while since I read Elemental, and admittedly, that did mean I had a little trouble keeping up with everything at first. There's a lot going on. I think I would have enjoyed it more if I'd read it immediately after Elemental, so I wouldn't have forgotten as much, and I would have found it easier to read if I hadn't been reading it in little intervals during break periods at work. Probably would have made some of the scenes seem less jumpy. But once the story got going, I was able to remember the basics of what happened.
My main problem with Fae was that Ella seemed so back-and-forth on what she believed. Half the time she seemed weak and constantly worried, and the other half, uber-powerful and in "Destructor" mode. I can understand why, given that she was in isolation for so long and isn't sure who to trust, but there were times when I really wanted her to make up her mind.
Granted, it's fun to see her as the Destructor when she decides to go that route. I really enjoyed the magic system of the story (and how she sees the different elements), and the flashbacks were all enjoyable. I liked the world and the tech, and seeing how the pieces fit together.
Speaking of which, this book had a great ending spot. A cliffhanger (sort of), that brings us full-circle to what's going on at the beginning of book one. But now I really want to know what Ella's reaction is when she wakes from her memory and realizes the truth of her past...
So now I get to wait for book three. *Sigh.*
Anyway, I did feel that a lot of problems Ella has could have been solved by her simply asking questions. Rather than being so quick to assume, so much could have been avoided if she'd just said, "Cailen... I don't really remember much. What happened between you and Anna?"
But nope. Goes off and listens to that voice in her head, which always had such great timing. Malik's voice was one of the story bits that I found awesome. As much as I kept wanting to shout at Ella that she should really tell someone about that... I hope to learn more about that voice in the next story. Also, I enjoyed First's character. He had that creepy, you know something's up but you're not sure what personality.
Overall, I enjoyed Fae. I wasn't much interested in the romance aspect, but that's because I tend to be more interested in the world building, and there's a lot of world building with some really nice visuals. I look forward to reading the next book when it comes out. :-)
My main problem with Fae was that Ella seemed so back-and-forth on what she believed. Half the time she seemed weak and constantly worried, and the other half, uber-powerful and in "Destructor" mode. I can understand why, given that she was in isolation for so long and isn't sure who to trust, but there were times when I really wanted her to make up her mind.
Granted, it's fun to see her as the Destructor when she decides to go that route. I really enjoyed the magic system of the story (and how she sees the different elements), and the flashbacks were all enjoyable. I liked the world and the tech, and seeing how the pieces fit together.
Speaking of which, this book had a great ending spot. A cliffhanger (sort of), that brings us full-circle to what's going on at the beginning of book one. But now I really want to know what Ella's reaction is when she wakes from her memory and realizes the truth of her past...
So now I get to wait for book three. *Sigh.*
Anyway, I did feel that a lot of problems Ella has could have been solved by her simply asking questions. Rather than being so quick to assume, so much could have been avoided if she'd just said, "Cailen... I don't really remember much. What happened between you and Anna?"
But nope. Goes off and listens to that voice in her head, which always had such great timing. Malik's voice was one of the story bits that I found awesome. As much as I kept wanting to shout at Ella that she should really tell someone about that... I hope to learn more about that voice in the next story. Also, I enjoyed First's character. He had that creepy, you know something's up but you're not sure what personality.
Overall, I enjoyed Fae. I wasn't much interested in the romance aspect, but that's because I tend to be more interested in the world building, and there's a lot of world building with some really nice visuals. I look forward to reading the next book when it comes out. :-)
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December 27, 2014dec 10th
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January 18, 2014i love it
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