Weeeellll. I put this one down because it just seemed like another fantasy with no diversity. Why bother? If you're making up societies and races, and don't include any PoC, then I'm going to assume you're not writing for me.

So I keep..it...moving. ( )

She's the daughter of the Fae King and he's a cop. This is the first book in a new series. Lots of Fae intrigue, battles and plots. Her half siblings may or may not being trying to kill her and the king and the Fae want to keep her two human companions and she's determined to get them out of Fae.
( )

Brianna is the daughter of the High King of the Sidhe and a human with magical abilities. Years ago she’d crossed the Veil, preferring to live in the Earth Realm to avoid the back-stabbing politics and threats she experienced there. Most humans aren’t aware that the Fae exist.

The owner of an occult shop, she finds herself back in Faerie, along with her human co-worker and his brother when a portal that can only be used by herself or her father, is somehow used by doxies to invade and steal the kittens from her home; a delicacy to some on the other side. Incensed, she and they follow to retrieve the kittens, and are taken captive by the Sidhe when a war with the doxies might ensue.

My first experience set in the world of the Fae was with the Merry Gentry series, so I was interested to see how this would compare. There are a number of things that are similar to that series, especially a daughter who prefers to avoid the Sidhe court shenanigans. But this is vastly different in both the world building and what’s going on. We get points of view from a number of different characters which gives us a more complete picture without relying on in depth conversations to analyze everything. That aspect takes a little getting used to for a few chapters. This interesting story is tightly written and moves along at a good clip.

Like Merry, Brianna is a very likeable character who cares for not just what happens to the Sidhe, but all of the Fae, making her popular with the various species; and this series contains a larger variety of species.

But this series isn’t just about what’s happening in Faerie and involves more than the Fae and humans with action taking place on both sides of the veil. The three souls of Fate are also involved.

I highly recommend this story if you like tales involving the Fae. ( )

If you love reading about the Fae that you find in the Merry Gentry series by Laurell Hamilton but would prefer no sex…at least so far - you are in for a treat with this book. The worlds are quite similar. So is some of the story-line. The exception is that there is no Dark Court and no Light Court – there is only one Sidhe High court and High King, but there are the other types of Fae that we’ve come to understand from other books. The romance is very much lacking in this first book, but there is plenty of action to take your mind off of that aspect.
There are also vast differences in the two series also; besides the lack of sex. I’m thinking that with this first book, this series is going to be just a tad better also. Then again, you never know just how something will turn out.

This book deals with several story lines at one time and it is told through several points of view. This is a little different than I am used to, but I really liked hearing about the different situations right from the ‘horse’s mouth’ shall we say! It is interesting to hear what Nick, a human who has come to Faerie sort of by accident has to say about what is going on around him.

Speaking of Nick, a human policeman – he is probably the shakiest aspect of this story and his character isn’t as fleshed out as some of the others. It is clear though, that as he gets a bigger part in this series, we will be learning more about him and his brother David.

I had no problems immersing myself into this book once I got past the prologue and first chapter…as a matter of fact, I just could not put it down; to use a horrid old cliché!

This is a quick wonderful read, one that ends on a bit of a cliff hanger. I certainly cannot wait for the next book in this series. ( )

C.T. Adams has written books as Cat Adams, a dual-partnership writing team with Cathy Clamp. I’ve never read anything by either author before, so I was looking forward to starting out with Ms. Adams’ first solo full-length novel The Exile, especially since I love stories about the fae.

The protagonist Brianna Hai lives a double life as necessitated by her own very nature. By day the half-human, half-fae young woman runs an occult shop selling innocent knickknacks to tourists, while hanging in her home is a magical painting which acts as a portal between our real world and the world of the faerie. As the daughter of High King Leu of Fae, Brianna enjoyed a childhood living amongst the wonders and delights of her father’s realm until her mother, a powerful human witch, changed the Veil that separated the worlds. All crossings between them are now governed by a new set of strict rules.

One day an unexpected attack by doxies on her apartment lands Brianna and her colleague David and his brother Nick back in Leu’s court, where she also discovers that her father may be in trouble. Having spent most of her life living as a human, Brianna is unused to the dangers of Fae politics, but she’ll have to deal with them in order to bring herself and her friends safely home.

This was a great book; I loved the story. However, from a technical standpoint, I stumbled a little with the writing.
The Exile will wow readers with a luscious, excitement filled plot. There’s very little downtime as we’re ushered from scene to scene, and something important happens in every one. The book is also filled with rich, beautiful descriptions of the Fae world, everything from the surroundings of King Leu’s palace and the huge variety of different fae that live in his magical domain, right down to the finest details about what the court lords and ladies wear and to the decadent food they eat. I seriously loved this.

I also enjoyed the characters and was impressed with Brianna most of all. The author paints a very unique picture of the fae, but at its heart they are still the conniving tricksters that make their stories such a delight. Being able to survive their world of ruthless politics and backstabbing is no mean feat, but Brianna manages to navigate this quagmire with aplomb. Despite being rusty in her knowledge of the ways and traditions of the fae, she’s frequently able to use her quick thinking and resourcefulness to get out of trouble.

The writing itself was what I struggled with most of all, along with the pacing of the story. Simply put, too much happens much too quickly, and not exactly in a way that’s desirable. The plot elements and the events in the timeline feel disjointed, particularly because there are so many character perspectives and so many point-of-view changes, all within a relatively short period of time. This gives the book an aura of confused, disorganized energy. Stylistically, there’s also something about Adams’ prose that I find distracting sometimes. I get jarred out of my immersion when I come across passages like:

“Nick didn’t consider himself overly modest, but he had never particularly liked being naked in front of strangers…”

Apparently, Nick has had plenty of experience to be naked in front of strangers. Or it sounded that way in context. Also, I imagine not too many people do. Another example:

“Ulrich’s voice sounded strained and strange.”

Strained and strange? I imagine the former would already suggest the latter. Little redundancies like this along with other instances of awkward phrasing gave me pause and stalled my reading somewhat.

Still, overall The Exile was a pretty good read. It’s entertaining and grabbed my attention right away, which is by far the most important criterion, especially considering that it’s the first installment of a series. It’s an urban fantasy, but to me it also feels very different from the usual standard UF fare. The way things are going, I believe these books will go above and beyond simply chronicling the main character’s life and her immediate interactions and surroundings. Instead, the world-building feels very important too, and the narrative seems just as focused on the bigger picture. To me that means future plot developments will probably surprise us with large scale repercussions for both the human and fae worlds.

I’m definitely planning on sticking around to see what happens next. ( )