Title: The Falconer
Author: Elizabeth May
Genre (s): YA, Faeries, Historical, Romance.
Publisher: Orion Publishing Group
Stars: 5 massive ones!
Summary: One girl’s nightmare is this girl’s faery tale.
She’s a stunner.
Edinburgh, 1844. Eighteen-year-old Lady Aileana Kameron, the only daughter of the Marquess of Douglas, has everything a girl could dream of: brains, charm, wealth, a title — and drop-dead beauty.
She’s a liar.
But Aileana only looks the part of an aristocratic young lady. She’s leading a double life: She has the rare ability to sense the sìthichean — the faery race obsessed with slaughtering humans — and, with the aid of a mysterious mentor, has spent the year since her mother died learning how to kill them.
She’s a murderer.
Now Aileana is dedicated to slaying the fae before they take innocent lives. With her abilities and her knack for inventing ingenious tools and weapons — from flying machines to detonators to lightning pistols — ruthless Aileana has one goal: Destroy the faery who destroyed her mother.
She’s a Falconer.
The last in a line of female warriors born with the gift for hunting and killing the fae, Aileana is the sole hope of preventing a powerful faery population from massacring all of humanity. Suddenly, her quest is a lot more complicated. She still longs to avenge her mother’s murder — but she’ll have to save the world first.
First thing first; I hate faerie books with a burning passion. My experience with them (except Julie Kagawa’s Iron Fey) have been anything but pleasant. But THE FALCONER… well, I’ve officially been blown out of the water with how amazing this book was.
Set against the backdrop of 19th century Scotland, this book opens with our heroine Aileana Kameron (or Kam as Kairan calls her) trying in vain to ignore the lies and gossip of her peers, then going up against a faerie that has infiltrated the ball she’s at. She dispatches the beastie in style, but only just.
By day she’s an heiress, but at night, Kam slays faeries that cross her path along with the mysterious fae Kairan. Revenge on the faerie that murdered her mother is all she thinks about. She creates ingenious contraptions to aid her in her quest, ignoring what others think of her.
Juggling two lives is not easy for her. Especially when you have a little pixie called Derrick living in your drawing room causing all kinds of mischief, occasionally venturing out and about on your shoulder. Kam is an exquisitely wrought character that is rare to find in YA books these days. She may be a huntress out for revenge, but she is still trapped by everyday occasions such as marriage, balls and social etiquette. Her secret nightly endeavors not only cause her agony in the form of gashes, blood and bruises, but it also affects her day to day life. Even though she does such great things as a Falconer - a woman destined to kill faeries - Kam still suffers from the pain of 19th century life where good breeding and wealth and reputation are held above everything. Her family is broken, yet still she holds her head up high. Truly one ofthe strongest YA heroines I’ve read in a long, long time.
Her hunting partner is also her tutor; the faerie Kairan. Mysterious, deadly and more than a little scary (sexy), he’s an intriguing character. When we first meet him, you can’t help but feel shocked at the fact Kam of all people is hunting with a faerie. But Kairan is not of the normal sort. Lies, secrets and inhumanness surrounds him like a cloud of smothering fog. His character is beautiful, much like Kam. Their friendship of sorts, their passion for fighting and banter makes for an amazing pair that I could not help but love and cheer for. Romance is not a main feature in this book, but there is enough to guarantee that you won't be bothered by that fact. The little romance is just urgh, beautiful. Elizabeth May is so talented.
This book is a whirlwind adventure full of dark monsters, explosive scenes that take your breath away, characters that swiftly become favorites. A vein of fiery passion snakes itself through the scenes, darting from page to page until the chilling conclusion.
The fact this is a trilogy, not just a standalone is the best news ever. But sadly the next book is not due to be published for quite a while yet. *Now picture me falling to my knees screaming WHYYYYYYYYY* I need more Kairan and now would be amazing. Thank you very much.
Scintillating read. Read it in one go, completely forgot about breakfast, lunch and dinner. Uh, think I should get onto making something to eat before I shrivel up from hunger and starve and never see the sequel. *Runs to kitchen*
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