Faery Rebels: Spell Hunter {YA Book Review}

Faery Rebels: Spell Hunter by R. J. Anderson
HarperCollins (April 2009)
My Rating: (4/5 I loved it!)
Read my book review rating philosophy.

(From R.J. Andersons official site) There are humans at the bottom of the garden, and a glimpse inside their forbidden House convinces the fierce young faery hunter known as Knife that they have knowledge that could help her dying people.

But if the human world has so much to offer, why is the faery Queen determined to keep her people away from it? Is there a connection between the House and the faeries loss of magic? And why is Knife so drawn to the young Paul McCormick that strangest of creatures, a human male?

My Thoughts:

I love fairy tales and stories about fairies, so Faery Rebels: Spell Hunter appealed to me from the start. The lovely fairy girl on the cover caught my eye, and I was definitely up for an adventure involving fairies and humans interacting together. Another thing that made me want to read it is the fact that the author is a Christian. I was interested to see what she would do with a fantasy fairy story – and I wasnt disappointed!

The book did start out a bit slowly, but once the adventure began and Knifes character started really blossoming, I found myself hooked I didnt want to put the book down! Ms. Andersons faery world is well thought out and all of the characters both faery and human are believable. Knife is about 16 years old and lives with the faeries in an old Oak tree. Each faery, once she has come of age, has a job given her by the Queen, be it the scullery or gathering food for the Oak inhabitants. Knife is given the duty of Hunter, one of the few jobs requiring faeries to go outside and this she is delighted with! She has longed to go outside since she snuck out as a child and got a breath of the fresh air and was even able to glimpse a human boy. The things Knife manages to discover in the coming chapters are both exciting and terrifying and mean changes for all of the faeries that live in the Oak.

There is so much to like about this book! The story moves along at a great pace, and there is plenty of action and intrigue. Knife battles murderous crows, is captured by a human, and is deeply involved in a web of lies and deceit, but she never wavers in her quest to find out the truth about why there are so few faeries left.Spell Hunter is also a touching story encouraging compassion and kindness. Knife learns a lot about love, and you can see her growing as the story progresses.

There is nothing overtly Christian about this book, but the faeries do say things such as Thank Gardener and Gardener has blessed us Gardener being God in this fantasy world. I enjoyed the story and was glad it wasnt preachy not that I mind it in books, but sometimes it seems as though authors throw in Christian parts and it doesnt seem to fit with the story. What made this a wonderful read (and me very glad for the authors understanding of Gods love for us and our need to love each other) was the fact that love, self-sacrifice, and empathy are traits of characters in this book very refreshing!

What I loved:

  • The fairy world and attributes of the fairies are original, fresh, and creative.
  • I had no idea what would happen next yay for unpredictable endings!
  • The characters are likable and nicely developed.
  • The book is completely free of bad language, sex, or innuendo and is still a wonderful read! Wonder of wonders! 😉 (There is some innocent kissing 😉
  • The faeries in the Oak have the coolest names! Thorn, Linden, Amaryllis wouldnt it be fun to be able to choose your own name when you became a teenager? I think I would have chosen Rogue or Embyr if I had been a faery. 😉

Final Thoughts:

I highly recommend Faery Rebels: Spell Hunter for adults who enjoy a nice fantasy read and for young adults and older children. I really enjoyed this clean fantasy read and will be watching for R. J. Anderson books from now on! You can purchase it in hardcover from Amazon.com for only $11.55 right now.

Upon visiting R. J. Andersons website, I was delighted to find that book 2 will be releasing in the near future! I cant wait to read it! 🙂 Click here to head on over to Amazon.com and pre-order Wayfarer, book 2 in the Faery Rebels series!

Links of Interest:

Faery Rebels desktop wallpapers and avatars!
R.J. Andersons Blog

R. J. Anderson Twitter!

This review is part of a fantastic blog tour thanks to the Christian Science Fiction and Fantasy Blog Tour Website! To see other reviews of Faery Rebels: Spell Hunter, visit the following participants blogs:

Sally Apokedak
Brandon Barr
Amy Browning
Melissa Carswell
Stacey Dale
D. G. D. Davidson
Jeff Draper
April Erwin
Timothy Hicks
Jason Isbell
Becky Jesse
Cris Jesse
Jason Joyner
Julie
Carol Keen
Krystine Kercher
Dawn King
Rebecca LuElla Miller
New Authors Fellowship
Nissa
John W. Otte
Donita K. Paul
Crista Richey
Chawna Schroeder
Andrea Schultz
James Somers
Steve Trower
Fred Warren
Phyllis Wheeler
KM Wilsher

I received a copy of Faery Rebels: Spell Hunter thanks to HarperCollins and CSFF. This is an uninfluenced, honest review by me.