Fast-paced and Original, but the Romance Was Flat - The Faerie Guardian Review

Title: The Faerie Guardian

Series: Creepy Hollow #1

Author: Rachel Morgan

My rating: 4 hearts

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Romance
Pub. date: October 17, 2012
Synopsis: Enter a hidden world of magic, mystery, danger and romance in this YA fantasy from Amazon bestselling author, Rachel Morgan...

Protecting humans from dangerous magical creatures is all in a day’s work for a faerie training to be a guardian. Seventeen-year-old Violet Fairdale knows this better than anyone—she’s about to become the best guardian the Guild has seen in years. That is, until a cute human boy who can somehow see through her faerie glamor follows her into the Fae realm. Now she’s broken Guild Law, a crime that could lead to her expulsion.

The last thing Vi wants to do is spend any more time with the boy who got her into this mess, but the Guild requires that she return Nate to his home and make him forget everything he’s discovered of the Fae realm. Easy, right? Not when you factor in evil faeries, long-lost family members, and inconvenient feelings of the romantic kind. Vi is about to find herself tangled up in a dangerous plot—and it’ll take all her training to get out alive. (synopsis from Goodreads)

I had mixed feelings about this one, to be honest. I loved Violet and some of the side-characters, and the plot was really great, not to mention the world-building. But I didn’t like the romance at all. It came kind of out of nowhere, there was no build-up whatsoever, and it was pretty much love-at-first-sight, which I don’t like at all. 

Violet is seriously awesome. She’s totally badass, a lot of fun to read about, and I loved her. And there were several side-characters that I loved. However, I didn’t really like the love interest at all. He fell sort of flat to me, and I couldn’t bring myself to like or even care about him. 

The romance also felt pretty flat to me, probably because it was really quick, there was no build-up at all, which made me feel like there wasn’t much emotion behind it. And since I didn’t like Nate, I just couldn’t bring myself to care about the relationship. It ruined some of the reading experience, but there was a lot to love about it, fortunately.

The plot was really fun. It was fast-paced, original, and full of twists. And the world-building was amazing. I absolutely fell in love with the world from the start, and I can’t wait to learn more about it. 

Despite my mixed feelings, I really did enjoy it. I loved Violet, and can’t wait to read more about her, and I’m also really curious about some of the other characters. Okay, I didn’t really like the romance, but the plot was fast-paced, and the world really original. Overall, I’d definitely recommend it to anyone in search of a fun fantasy adventure.