Concrete Faery: Book I of the Troutespond Series

by Elizabeth Priest

When it comes to fantasy, the world is always bigger than you think it is… Even when you live in the smallest town in the deepest corner of the country where, by official records, nothing has happened since Vikings stopped pillaging nearby.

Ally Guardian is convinced that the universe wanting anything to do with her is a cosmic joke. Until a strange man appears outside her window and tells her, “I can’t speak to you yet.” Things only get weirder when she is then implicated in a demonic attack on her history teacher and given the new girl, Alana Larbie, to look after as punishment.

Alana seems to know an awful lot about demons, claiming they got her kicked out of her old school. Together with Ally’s oldest friend Tanya, and their one “normal” friend, Teb, they decide to investigate.

The Troutesponde Series is a YA fantasy, working on the premise that if the supernatural did exist, inquisitive teenagers would be the first to notice, and absolutely the worst people ever to interact with it.

208 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 6, 2018

Reviews

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love stories that combine the ordinary with the extraordinary. This story does this perfectly with a teenage girl (seemingly fed up of life in her boring town where nothing ever happens), suddenly thrust into the middle of adventures with the faery world. The characters were interesting, believable and likeable. Loved the Piper especially. I look forward to reading the others in the series.

[Sandra Augiga · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved it. Its quirky and it reminded me of Terry Pratchett. If only because the sentences were such a joy to behold, the jokes were sharp and the elfs were nasty. Anyway I love my disaster girls. I cannot wait till part three.

[Ashleigh Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really good introduction to all of the characters in this series and I really liked the Pied Piper coming into this and more understanding of his origin story. I think having the fairy world was also great to see and the book made me smile a lot as well. Can't wait to see what comes next.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars rounded up. This was a lovely cosy YA fantasy. It was nice to read a book from a small publisher and author, as it had a certain charm to it.

Aside from the actual story, I would say it could benefit from using double spacing between paragraphs and a larger font in any future editions.

[Xanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Concrete Faery was super fun! I have to say, I did feel like I was thrown in without a net sometimes regarding this world and it's rules. But the characters were great and a lot of fun. I really enjoyed it and am looking forward to continuing on with the series.

[Jule · Rating 3 out of 5]

This might look like a small book, but don't be fooled, it has a lot of words. Just like "The Hobbit", but with 400% more women, so "Concrete Faery" clearly wins. I don't think this book is for everyone and I admit I took some time until I got into the story, which has a rather slow start. It defenitely gets more interesting towards the end, and there were some twists I didn't expect. I absolutely loved all the characters and their nuanced portray and how the author tackles rather complicated topics, such as mental health. Even though it centers around a group of 4 friends these girls are allowed to disagree with each other, they are allowed to make mistakes, and to question themselves and each other. On top of it there were some fantastic elements that I admit I wasn't that familar with (not everyone is a fairy scholar), and the way they were presented made a nice change to other contemporary YA fantasy novels. Looking forward to the next book of this series <3

[Miss CE Biddiss · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this book!

I loved reading this book - it was light hearted and had me giggling out loud.

Ally likes to think of herself as a normal, grumpy teenager. And when weird things start to happen around her, beginning with the mysterious stranger piping music outside her window one night, she does her best to ignore it.
But when one of her best friend's goes missing, she realises all the strange things are connected and is forced into an adventure to find out what's going on and rescue her friend.

I can't wait to read the next book in the series.