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The Autumn Fairy by Brittany Fichter

Fantasy. 519 pages. 4 Stars

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Synopsis:

Katrin knows little about her origins, but whatever she is, it’s certainly not human.

On an island where humans have banned magic and hunt all who possess it, the dark power within her has become too strong to hide. With each passing day, the threat grows. For if she cannot master her terrifying abilities soon, everyone around her will suffer. And that’s something she cannot accept.

While Katrin is willing to sacrifice herself to save others, Peter, her childhood friend and protector, is not. But when he promises to save her at all costs, jeopardizing his own kingdom in return, he finds that his failure will mean either Katrin’s death or the isle’s doom.

And if unraveling the source of Katrin’s power isn’t difficult enough, a mysterious and powerful stranger from the forest reveals that he has plans of his own for Katrin…and the rest of the isle.

To protect their home, Katrin and Peter must face not only their worst fears about who and what they are but their true feelings for one another as well. For if they don’t, everything they love will perish…

The Autumn Fairy is the first book in The Autumn Fairy Trilogy, where fairies, humans, and legends collide. Buy The Autumn Fairy today to Peter and Katy through their journey as they search for truth among ancient lies, hope in the darkness, and their own happy ending.

My Review:

First of all, that cover, y’all!!! Thank you to the amazing cover artist for sharing this with the world. Kay, on to the actual review. This is the first book in Brittany Fitcher’s Autumn Fairy Trilogy, and my second book by the author. I first found her through the Entwined Tales and An Unnatural Beanstalk: A Retelling of Jack and the Beanstalk was one of my favorites in the series.

What drew me into Mrs. Fitcher’s An Unnatural Beanstalk was her unique take on the tale and her characters. In the Autumn Fairy, Peter and Katy truly stole my heart. Even the supporting characters made me smile and yell and cry. I loved the group of knights once I got them all sorted out in my head. I loved the palace staff and the king. I wish we could have gone deeper into some of the king’s thoughts and processes because he puzzled me sometimes. Lady Saraid was a fun character and I thought she was very well done. The villagers were well done and I would love nothing more than a prequel just so I could see Sir Christopher in action! The firin and Emma were both endearing, but in completely different ways. As amazing as the secondary characters were, Peter and Katy were the shining stars here for me. They were both complex and well-rounded with solidly written personalities. I relished the history of their relationship as childhood friends and every mention of it made my heart soar. (Again, prequel would be sooo well-received by this gal!) I liked that their relationship as adults was so strongly founded on who they knew the other to be, but at the same time, they realistically felt a little bit like strangers after so many years. They had to form a new bond as adults instead of blindly relying solely on their past. I loved the unwavering trust they held in each other and the self-sacrifice they chose. They both bore insecurities and made mistakes. They were a far cry from perfect, but that only made them real. They were heroes that you could look up to. These are the kind of characters I want to read about and admire.

The world-building was pretty solid and I’m excited to see it expanded in the sequels. I feel like the book kind of alluded to some of the isle’s history, but I would have liked even more. Similarly, I didn’t really feel the political system in place. There was a king and a monarchy, but I didn’t ever see the effects of the kingdom on the rest of the isle, the villages outside of the capitol. They seemed to kind of run independently with loose threads tying them ultimately back to the throne. Even despite the loose connections, we only ever learned one law–magic was outlawed. The creatures were setup with a proper helping of mystery and intrigue. I loved the way Mrs. Fichter approached the olc’s and I hope to see more of a variety of creatures in the sequels. I think the olcs were very intricately created, which I quite enjoyed. I want to learn more about their people, their manifestations, and their society. Oh my gosh! I loved the waterfall!! I was kind of sad that she kind of dropped off the face of the earth, though. Like, whatever happened to her? Maybe she’ll have a comeback. I am very excited to learn more about The Autumn Fairy and what the significance of that is, as well as the rest of their kind.

The plot felt more like an epic journey storyline than what I was expecting. The book was longer than I originally thought it would be (not that I’m complaining!). There were more parts to the story that had to be shifted and shuffled around. I think I liked that. Everything kind of tied together in the end, but it wasn’t a straightforward story. It did keep me engaged and curious, but I was probably more invested in the characters than the plot. I did really like Atharo and the allegorical setup. I also hope to see that expanded in the second book. For the most part, I feel like the book was well-paced and even in some of the slower sections, the plot was still interesting. I never got bored with the story. Furthermore, I very much enjoyed the theme of self-worth and love that the book concentrated on. Mrs. Fichter explores questions that every human asks at some point and answers them very clearly, I think. I love when authors tackle difficult questions and this was very tactfully approached.

The writing itself isn’t bad by any stretch of the imagination. I didn’t find any plot holes or large writing mistakes. I did find several minor errors, but nothing that made the story difficult or unpleasant to read. I don’t recall seeing any grammatical issues or typos; they were mostly words that had been left out by mistake, such as “of” or “if.” Mrs. Fichter isn’t overly descriptive, bogging the story down, but still manages to provide an appropriate amount of the setting for the story to take place. My only issue with her writing were the repetitions. She often used the same words and phrases multiple times very close together. Even her sentence structures tended to mirror each other and remain stagnant some of the time. It is my opinion that this is something the editor should have drawn her attention to, but I understand that every editor is different and takes note of different things.

All in all, I thought The Autumn Fairy was a beautiful read. It’s a fantasy quest with a realistic and sweet dose of romance. There was one foul word, but it didn’t feel out of place in the text (to me). There was some violence and one scene of torture, but none of it terribly graphic. I think the violence was very tactfully handled. There were a few kisses, but nothing more. I would be perfectly content to hand this to anyone thirteen/fourteen and up.

More:

Book 2 in The Autumn Fairy Trilogy is The Autumn Fairy of Ages (5 Stars)

Book 3 is The Last Autumn Fairy (5 Stars)

I have rated and reviewed the above on Goodreads! Click the link to check it out. The final installment is out this week!! Go show this book and/or it’s sequels some love! Tell Brittany that Coralie sent you!

This trilogy must be read in order!

On GraceBought

Check out my thoughts on the next book in the series here:

The Autumn Fairy of Ages