Synopsis: When the ancient evil of the Blackbringer rises to unmake the world, only one determined faerie stands in its way. However, Magpie Windwitch, granddaughter of the West Wind, is not like other faeries. While her kind live in seclusion deep in the forests of Dreamdark, she's devoted her life to tracking down and recapturing devils escaped from their ancient bottles, just as her hero, the legendary Bellatrix, did 25,000 years ago. With her faithful gang of crows, she travels the world fighting where others would choose to flee. But when a devil escapes from a bottle sealed by the ancient Djinn King himself, the creator of the world, she may be in over her head. How can a single faerie, even with the help of her friends, hope to defeat the impenetrable darkness of the Blackbringer?
At a time when fantasy readers have an embarrassment of riches in choosing new worlds to fall in love with, this first novel by a fresh, original voice is sure to stand out.
Review: I had a really hard time trying to figure out how to review this book. I've enjoyed so many of Laini's other books (DOSAB trilogy and Strange the Dreamer) that I was sure to love this book. I enjoyed most of the characters. I liked being in Magpie and Talon's head. I enjoyed the dynamic between Magpie, Calypso, and the other crows. Blackbringer was a cool villain and seeing the way he affected the faeries was definitely interesting. There is a bit of a romance, but it felt real which is hard to find in this age of insta-love. The characters are definitely where this book shines. This was Laini's debut and it was pretty apparent. Again, this could have been an issue with me having read her other books first, but the fae world didn't feel well fleshed out in this book. I liked how there was minimal human interaction. In so many YA fae books, the story revolves around human(s) interaction with the fae and how these worlds collide. This wasn't like that. It was primarily about the faeries, and how their world is changed by this other supernatural creature. If you're put off by YA books about faeries because of how many humans are in the story, this might be a better book to look at. It definitely reads more like a straight fantasy than an urban fantasy. I wish we learned more about the Djinn in this book, because I think they could have added a more interesting dynamic to the story. They are definitely a part of the overall story. I just wish there was some more. I think this series overall probably could have been better if the series was a bit longer. That would allow for a little more character interaction and fleshing out the world.
As an aside, the term "gypsy" is used a lot in this story. I understand why, and it personally did not bother me as I read the book. It was just something I noticed. This book came out way before that particular slur was widely discussed, so keep that in mind if this bothers you and you were thinking of checking out this series.
I'll check out the second book because I already have it and I really enjoyed the characters. I just wish I liked the world more. I'll probably re-read this in the future and see if my opinion changes at all.
3 howls
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