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The Mark of the Fae #1
The Gateway
For some people, the draw to be surrounded by nature is strong. For Shaylah Derry, that’s exactly how it is. The draw to the forest behind her house is all-consuming until one night it gets to be too much, and she finds herself at the window, staring out into the trees. The last thing she expected to see, however, is a set of eyes staring back at her.
As Shaylah’s impulse grows, so do her suspicions, until her small Oregon town becomes a town tied by secrets and fairytales...literally. With the help of her best friend and the new boys in town, Shaylah begins to unravel the secrets that have encased her family for years. And as soon as she seems to have figured it out, things get much more complicated.
**WARNING book contains some language. May not be appropriate for younger readers**
As Shaylah’s impulse grows, so do her suspicions, until her small Oregon town becomes a town tied by secrets and fairytales...literally. With the help of her best friend and the new boys in town, Shaylah begins to unravel the secrets that have encased her family for years. And as soon as she seems to have figured it out, things get much more complicated.
**WARNING book contains some language. May not be appropriate for younger readers**
404 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 1, 2017
2 people are currently reading
1 person want to read
About the author
M.M. Paquin
1 book6 followersM. M. Paquin was born and raised in New England, where she resides today with her family. She is a stay at home mom who writes young adult fiction.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
September 30, 2017
Wow, I've never been first to review something. Talk about pressure! Jk.
The Gateway has a lot going for it! An informative plot, intriguing characters, lots of fun one liners via Brina, interesting side characters. There were a couple areas that I feel could have run smoother and I only say that because it was almost choppy. Almost. More like just a minor stutter. The pacing is slow and steady yet there are some points where the flow just isn't quite there. The action portions are evenly spaced yet I felt lacked a bit of tension. There was a decent amount of great Fae lore involved throughout the book which added to it. Also the spattering of Gaelic was a nice touch! Overall it was a charming story.
Ok I may be a little biased here because my name is Shayla but Shaylah is a great name for a character ;-) Anyways, Shaylah lives literally on the edge of the forest. A forest she has grown up being banned from entering and yet drawn to all the same. The pull is so strong in fact that she soon finds herself awake at 3 am peering out her window longingly towards it nightly. But something is staring back...
With some mild investigating Shaylah and her bestie Brina find themselves somehow on a whirlwind excursion into the world of the Fae with a crash course provided by Liam, the recently returned college student and Finn, the new kid in town. If only she had known what she was getting herself into.
I'm really curious to see where this new series leads and can't wait to find out what's next! Thank you M.M. for introducing me to your world!
Arc generously provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.
The Gateway has a lot going for it! An informative plot, intriguing characters, lots of fun one liners via Brina, interesting side characters. There were a couple areas that I feel could have run smoother and I only say that because it was almost choppy. Almost. More like just a minor stutter. The pacing is slow and steady yet there are some points where the flow just isn't quite there. The action portions are evenly spaced yet I felt lacked a bit of tension. There was a decent amount of great Fae lore involved throughout the book which added to it. Also the spattering of Gaelic was a nice touch! Overall it was a charming story.
Ok I may be a little biased here because my name is Shayla but Shaylah is a great name for a character ;-) Anyways, Shaylah lives literally on the edge of the forest. A forest she has grown up being banned from entering and yet drawn to all the same. The pull is so strong in fact that she soon finds herself awake at 3 am peering out her window longingly towards it nightly. But something is staring back...
With some mild investigating Shaylah and her bestie Brina find themselves somehow on a whirlwind excursion into the world of the Fae with a crash course provided by Liam, the recently returned college student and Finn, the new kid in town. If only she had known what she was getting herself into.
I'm really curious to see where this new series leads and can't wait to find out what's next! Thank you M.M. for introducing me to your world!
Arc generously provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.
January 18, 2018
I loved this book! By the end of this novel, I was begging for more and had so many questions that I can't wait for the second book to answer. If you are a fan of YA literature or Fantasy Fiction, this is a great book for you.
Shaylah is your typical, hard-working teenage senior from a very small town in Oregon. Her dream in life is to get out of her hometown and have an adventure - experience the world. Little did she realize, she was in for the adventure of a lifetime.
This book has it all - fairies, a fantasy world, mystery, suspense, teenage angst, etc. Can't wait for the second of the series!
Shaylah is your typical, hard-working teenage senior from a very small town in Oregon. Her dream in life is to get out of her hometown and have an adventure - experience the world. Little did she realize, she was in for the adventure of a lifetime.
This book has it all - fairies, a fantasy world, mystery, suspense, teenage angst, etc. Can't wait for the second of the series!
October 3, 2017
I liked it more than I hated it.
*I received a copy from the author via email in exchange for an honest review.*
SPOILER FREE REVIEW
P L O T
The plot is really slow. It takes so long to progress which is why this book is quite long. Events of days keep repeating over and over again and it starts to get annoying. But I do understand that it is a key plot to the entire story. Most of the time the characters go to a certain place and think to themselves that something bad might happen and nothing ever does. It seems that luck is always at their side and barely any harm comes to them which makes the story rather boring. I'm used to reading books where almost nothing goes as planned and the characters need to take a detour.
The setting of the story is mostly in the 'forbidden forest'. That's because the title is 'The Gateway' and the forest is this huge gateway to ensure that the Faes who reach the borders of the 'Fae city' are worthy to enter and it is also for the protection of the residents within the city. However, with just enough patience, I carried on and filled my curiosity to learn what the author is trying to tell me.
C H A R A C T E R S
I know how hard it is to create different characters and to ensure they still maintain a realistic personality. So far the characters in this book are one sided but not much has happened for them to reveal more sides of themselves. Sometimes I think the main character is just too dumb or stupid. When told about centaurs and satyrs, she had no idea what they are. Though some of her side comments to herself are hilarious, most of the time her thoughts are just wasting paper. It annoys me most of the time too which is why I tend to skim over those and get to the conversations. Most of the characters are also new to the eyes of the main character, and we know how new people act. I am looking forward to seeing more sides of these characters in the next book.
W R I T I N G S T Y L E
This is the other reason why I don't love this book. I have no problem with it being told by the POV of the main character, but I do have a problem with the need to repeat her thoughts in text. This is something my creative writing teacher told us when we first submitted a short story to her. A line is said by a character, it's clear and understandable by the reader therefore there is no need to repeat it in the form of thoughts by another person's POV and that is exactly what's happening in this book. I'm sorry for sounding mean but I'm just laying out the lesson I learned from my teacher and it has stuck with me ever since.
O V E R A L L
In the end I'm all about the story and barely about how it is told. I understand we all have a story to tell and others are just better at telling them rather than some but each of our story no matter how unlikely they are told they are filled with magic and light.
This may be far from my best read of the year but it is also not at the bottom of my list of favorites. I still do look forward to reading the second installment of this series.
*I received a copy from the author via email in exchange for an honest review.*
SPOILER FREE REVIEW
P L O T
The plot is really slow. It takes so long to progress which is why this book is quite long. Events of days keep repeating over and over again and it starts to get annoying. But I do understand that it is a key plot to the entire story. Most of the time the characters go to a certain place and think to themselves that something bad might happen and nothing ever does. It seems that luck is always at their side and barely any harm comes to them which makes the story rather boring. I'm used to reading books where almost nothing goes as planned and the characters need to take a detour.
The setting of the story is mostly in the 'forbidden forest'. That's because the title is 'The Gateway' and the forest is this huge gateway to ensure that the Faes who reach the borders of the 'Fae city' are worthy to enter and it is also for the protection of the residents within the city. However, with just enough patience, I carried on and filled my curiosity to learn what the author is trying to tell me.
C H A R A C T E R S
I know how hard it is to create different characters and to ensure they still maintain a realistic personality. So far the characters in this book are one sided but not much has happened for them to reveal more sides of themselves. Sometimes I think the main character is just too dumb or stupid. When told about centaurs and satyrs, she had no idea what they are. Though some of her side comments to herself are hilarious, most of the time her thoughts are just wasting paper. It annoys me most of the time too which is why I tend to skim over those and get to the conversations. Most of the characters are also new to the eyes of the main character, and we know how new people act. I am looking forward to seeing more sides of these characters in the next book.
W R I T I N G S T Y L E
This is the other reason why I don't love this book. I have no problem with it being told by the POV of the main character, but I do have a problem with the need to repeat her thoughts in text. This is something my creative writing teacher told us when we first submitted a short story to her. A line is said by a character, it's clear and understandable by the reader therefore there is no need to repeat it in the form of thoughts by another person's POV and that is exactly what's happening in this book. I'm sorry for sounding mean but I'm just laying out the lesson I learned from my teacher and it has stuck with me ever since.
O V E R A L L
In the end I'm all about the story and barely about how it is told. I understand we all have a story to tell and others are just better at telling them rather than some but each of our story no matter how unlikely they are told they are filled with magic and light.
This may be far from my best read of the year but it is also not at the bottom of my list of favorites. I still do look forward to reading the second installment of this series.
October 2, 2017
*I received an ARC of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review. This did not change or affect my opinion of this book in any way.*
"Dig down and find that place inside of you where the wild lives. Once you find it, grab hold with your mind, and let it take over."
This book has just about everything I want in a good fantasy story. Relatable and likeable characters, magical elements, a bit of lusty-love and some good plot twists.
For the first roughly 1/3 of the book, there's 5 main characters we get to know. Shaylah "Shay" Derry, our main character, is a seemingly normal high school senior waiting to graduate and get out of her boring hometown. Her best friend Brina is full of witty and hilarious one liners, always loving and protective. The mysteriously attractive new guy Finn and back-in-town hottie Liam make compelling love interests who aren't afraid to throw down with Shay's wacko ex, Evan. Don't worry, there isn't a love triangle.
But as the story progresses, we get to continuously meet both charming and unique characters. A scorned lover and her hilariously indifferent sidekick. A sarcastic yet endearing sister. A sassy yet loving aunt. And a trio of ladies who can bring a lot more to the table than initially meets the eye.
At first glance, Breen, Oregon seems like an average small town where everybody knows everybody, and for as long as anyone can remember, it's been strongly advised against entering the forest the town is nestled against. Before long, Shay finds herself waking up at the same time every night to a unique but odd visitor from the forest in her back yard.
As the story progresses, we get transported to a whole other realm, just beyond our own. We get to meet a bunch of new magical creatures, and we get a better look at the main magical focal point of the story - the Fae. The Fae lore is woven into the story nicely, and paced well, without too much of an information overload all at once.
The author also beautifully wove a second language, Irish Gaelic, into the story, adding an air of mystery and sometimes tension to the situation.
The last half of the book genuinely had me on edge and unable to read fast enough. At times, I found myself pleading with the characters to do or say this thing or that, and I am genuinely invested in the arcs of all the characters.
While I did have some minor issues with the occasionally stiffly worded sentence, and the author sometimes telling vs showing, it was easy enough to move past as the story kept me frantically turning the pages. No joke, I read the bulk of this novel in under 48 hours, and when I wasn't reading, I was trying to figure out what would happen next.
I have some burning need-to-know questions for book 2, but I can't wait to dive back into this series once it's out.
All in all, it's a great debut novel that I would gladly read again while I anxiously await the next instalment.
"Dig down and find that place inside of you where the wild lives. Once you find it, grab hold with your mind, and let it take over."
This book has just about everything I want in a good fantasy story. Relatable and likeable characters, magical elements, a bit of lusty-love and some good plot twists.
For the first roughly 1/3 of the book, there's 5 main characters we get to know. Shaylah "Shay" Derry, our main character, is a seemingly normal high school senior waiting to graduate and get out of her boring hometown. Her best friend Brina is full of witty and hilarious one liners, always loving and protective. The mysteriously attractive new guy Finn and back-in-town hottie Liam make compelling love interests who aren't afraid to throw down with Shay's wacko ex, Evan. Don't worry, there isn't a love triangle.
But as the story progresses, we get to continuously meet both charming and unique characters. A scorned lover and her hilariously indifferent sidekick. A sarcastic yet endearing sister. A sassy yet loving aunt. And a trio of ladies who can bring a lot more to the table than initially meets the eye.
At first glance, Breen, Oregon seems like an average small town where everybody knows everybody, and for as long as anyone can remember, it's been strongly advised against entering the forest the town is nestled against. Before long, Shay finds herself waking up at the same time every night to a unique but odd visitor from the forest in her back yard.
As the story progresses, we get transported to a whole other realm, just beyond our own. We get to meet a bunch of new magical creatures, and we get a better look at the main magical focal point of the story - the Fae. The Fae lore is woven into the story nicely, and paced well, without too much of an information overload all at once.
The author also beautifully wove a second language, Irish Gaelic, into the story, adding an air of mystery and sometimes tension to the situation.
The last half of the book genuinely had me on edge and unable to read fast enough. At times, I found myself pleading with the characters to do or say this thing or that, and I am genuinely invested in the arcs of all the characters.
While I did have some minor issues with the occasionally stiffly worded sentence, and the author sometimes telling vs showing, it was easy enough to move past as the story kept me frantically turning the pages. No joke, I read the bulk of this novel in under 48 hours, and when I wasn't reading, I was trying to figure out what would happen next.
I have some burning need-to-know questions for book 2, but I can't wait to dive back into this series once it's out.
All in all, it's a great debut novel that I would gladly read again while I anxiously await the next instalment.
October 4, 2017
"The Gateway" blew me away. I am now addicted to the story and am jonesing for another fix!
If you follow my reviews, you know the drill! First, comes the grades, then any thoughts, gushing or notes I have, and then a ruling for clean-readers.
World-building: A+
Mythology: A
Plot-Twists: A
Suspense: A-
Girl Power: A-
Guy Hero: A-
Villains: B
Love Interests: A-
Feels: A+
"The Gateway" is a suspenseful story filled with magical adventures and powerful messages of family, friendship, and trust. The copy I read has several occurrences of the words "of" and "off" being swapped. I assume those kinks will be worked out later.
For you clean-readers: this book does NOT have mature content.
Huge thank you to M.M. Paquin for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book! I hope my thoughts on her work help drive more readers towards this book! Join the addiction, folks....
If you follow my reviews, you know the drill! First, comes the grades, then any thoughts, gushing or notes I have, and then a ruling for clean-readers.
World-building: A+
Mythology: A
Plot-Twists: A
Suspense: A-
Girl Power: A-
Guy Hero: A-
Villains: B
Love Interests: A-
Feels: A+
"The Gateway" is a suspenseful story filled with magical adventures and powerful messages of family, friendship, and trust. The copy I read has several occurrences of the words "of" and "off" being swapped. I assume those kinks will be worked out later.
For you clean-readers: this book does NOT have mature content.
Huge thank you to M.M. Paquin for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book! I hope my thoughts on her work help drive more readers towards this book! Join the addiction, folks....
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews