Elizabeth May (4)Rezensionen

I thought this was a fun read. I liked the world and how the fae characters were the focused. I also really loved how this story took place in scotland and thought it also had a regency air to it. I also thought the this book also a fun romance but it was def not my favorite read. I struggled a little bit with the the pacing and the plot of this story it was quick listen!! Hope to tackle the rest of this season soon!

I thought this was a fun read. I liked the world and how the fae characters were the focused. I also really loved how this story took place in scotland and thought it also had a regency air to it. I also thought the this book also a fun romance but it was def not my favorite read. I struggled a little bit with the the pacing and the plot of this story it was quick listen!! Hope to tackle the rest of this season soon!

The concept of this book is what really attracted my attention. I know there has been a streak of fantasy books with the fae, but I’ve never read them this is my very first book and well I did like it. Aileana, while a bit too stubborn and hellbent on revenge for her mother, is a very strong female character. Aileana can make her own weapons, dress and act the part of a aristocrat, and knows her vulnerabilities. It’s been a while that I have instantly liked a character in a YA fantasy book. I do wish that the book had started a bit before Aileana’s mothers dead so we can see the character change and what has brought her to this dark place.

The beginning of the book did confuse me a bit, as I though for a quick second that I may have been reading the first book. This was quickly remedied as I got the background of Aileana and why she was a bit of an outcast now. I really liked each side characters. Derrick, Catherine and Gavin were great. The one thing I had a problem with was Kieran. It’s obvious that he is the love interest to Aileana, but I am just tired of brooding, mysterious men or I guess Fae in this book. The action and fight scenes were great though and fast paced but not to the point where I couldn’t follow along.

I may take a while before I read the second book as I felt I read this one somewhat slowly.

Un romanzo pieno di buone idee impiccate.

Partiamo dall'ambientazione e dal tempo. Si tratterebbe di uno steampunk: ne ho letti pochissimi, ma devo ammettere che l'inserimento di tecnologie meccaniche nell'Ottocento ha il suo fascino all'interno di un fantasy. Elizabeth May, però, non riesce a cogliere il potenziale del genere. Inserisce sì molti consegni meccanici, ma il lettore non riesce a vederli. La mia immaginazione non è stata stuzzicata dalle sue descrizioni, non si è appassionata insieme alla protagonista nella costruzione di nuovi congegni da utilizzare nella sua lotta contro le fate.

E proprio la protagonista – Aileana – mi ha creato non pochi problemi: sterminatrice di fate per vendetta, è piena di una rabbia che, nonostante il suo lutto, mi è sembrata fuori luogo. Sembra più una svitata senza controllo che una guerriera con una missione, visto che la May ci racconta che passa dall'essere una perfetta dama a un'assassina assetata di sangue. Per quanto grande sia stato il trauma, la storia non regge.

Altrettanto problematici sono i due personaggi maschili principali, Kiaran e Gavin. Il primo è la fata che insegna a Aileana a combattere e uccidere le altre fate. Misterioso, algido e potentissimo, è il tipico ragazzo che attrae tutta la nostra attenzione. Peccato che l'evoluzione del suo rapporto con Aileana abbia del paranormale (e non perché è un romanzo fantasy): si passa dall'indifferenza alla passione in un battito di ciglia, tanto che mi sono ritrovata a rileggere il paragrafo per essere sicura di non aver preso un abbaglio.

Gavin, invece, è il personaggio maschile che ti sta sulle scatole perché non ha un difetto. Sempre carino, disponibile e pronto a salvare capre e cavoli. Ah, ha una sorella adorabile (migliore amica di Aileana, guarda un po'!) e una madre che è una megera. Cheese! - foto di famiglia. Ovviamente tende a solleticare la parte della lettrice che vuole un tipo affidabile... C'è quindi il famoso triangolo? Boh, l'autrice si riserva di decidere.

Un ultimo appunto sul finale che non è un finale. Non è neanche un non-finale o un finale interrotto. Il libro si interrompe proprio nel mezzo della narrazione e sembra che manchi un pezzo. Capisco la necessità di mantenere alto il desiderio, ma si tratta di una serie letteraria, non di una soap opera...

This was a lot of gay scifi fun. It definitely hit all my fave tropes in pretty enjoyable ways.

Really enjoyed this sequel to [b:Seven Devils|38822981|Seven Devils (Seven Devils #1)|Laura Lam|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1573632170l/38822981._SY75_.jpg|60397353]. It repeated the quick pace and all the fun sci-fi/fantasy from the first book with a solid, satisfying ending.

I liked the rapidly changing perspectives and short chapters; it made the book flow by quickly. The characters were all compelling in different ways as well.

Just a fun found-family space adventure.

I don't know how to rate this book, so I'm not going to.

Clo is a gifted mechanic who's tired of being kicked around. Eris is a soldier who's tired of killing. The Tholosian Empire is a merciless, brutal regime controlling half the galaxy – emphasis on the controlling. The Oracle is an AI that speaks directly to people's minds, telling them what to do, what to think, how to be. Clo and Eris are part of the resistance.

The universe-building in this story is phenomenal. The world the women inhabit is nothing like our own (on the surface at least). But it is *intense*. The world is exquisitely built – but it's a lot. There's so much to establish that it sometimes gets in the way of the story.

The characters – and there are five at the heart of this story – are all flawed, multi-dimensional, and wonderful.

The story is fascinating and intricate. Though, again, it sometimes gets lost in the world-building.

The pace is break-neck – except when it reverses to give the reader a view of the past. Expect literary whiplash.

The ending… What the frack is that? I get that the authors are setting up for a sequel – but I expect some things to be resolved. I expect each book to exist on its own, at least to a degree. To end the book just when absolutely everything that can possibly go wrong has seems cruel.

The Falconertook me over a month to finish. Typically, a young adult fantasy takes me less than a week, if not just two or three days. Why it took me so long, I honestly can't put my finger on it, other than to say that I didn't love it as much as I thought and hoped I would. All the pieces were there that usually equate to literary obsession for me: fierce female heroine, faeries, a Scottish setting, steampunk elements, etc, but I just wasn't hooked.

Protagonist Aileana is likeable enough, though difficult to relate to, and her prowess in fighting killer Scottish faeries of lore is explained reasonably enough. The love story is pretty obvious and predictable and the love triangle contrived and unbelievable. The cliffhanger is terrific, but a little mean, so now I must keep reading a trilogy I might have otherwise abandoned.

But, and it's a big but, Elizabeth can write, and write very well. Any potential plot and character development shortcomings are more than compensated for with exquisite writing. May's knowledge of Scottish lore is beyond compare and she weaves such knowledge (and vocabulary) expertly into her fantastical story. Here's to hoping the second book is just as well written and the character's more developed.

Absolutely adored this book and the first one and I can't wait for the third! It definitely leaves you wanting more.

Bah. Steampunky, faeries and a strong girl hunter -- that seemed so appealing to me! But the main character is so completely overwhelmed by her need to hunt and so dramatically helpless against her need to hunt that I got really freaking tired of her need to hunt and stopped reading the book.

WHAT I LIKED 1) Lady Aileana Kameron made tools and Steampunk inventions and enjoyed engineering, 2)Derrick, 3) information about the faeries and Scottish scene descriptions, and 4)the double life of the heroine/protagonist Lady Aileana Kameron/Falconer.

The story seemed dragged out to create (hopefully to me) it will not more than a trilogy.

Too much of a cliff hanger at the end of this book, book #1, for me.

Just hoping it doesn't end like Divergent in the very end.

Luego de seis meses de no poder avanzar más de un capítulo como máximo, tengo que aceptar el poco interés que este libro me genera. No tengo interés en ninguno de los personajes, no logro entender a Aileana, no la quiero no la odio, simplemente no me importa. Y, los otros personajes tampoco me interesan.

Publicado originalmente: El Extraño Gato del Cuento

Antes de leer el libro me tope con algunas opiniones del libro un tanto acusatorias, sobre que este libro se parecía mucho a otro, pero como no leí ese libro (del cuál no recuerdo el nombre ahora) no fue tan aterradora la afirmación, pero aún así decidí posponer su lectura. Hasta que me di cuenta que se me pasó la fecha de publicación xD

Las hadas y el steampunk era una combinación a la cual no me iba a resistir, sobre todo si me lleva a la tierra misma dónde todas las historias comenzaron, Escocia. Últimamente estoy buscando nuevos escenarios reales para mis lecturas, casi siempre son algún lugar de USA, ya siento que puedo a ese país y no perderme en ninguna de las ciudades. Escocia fue un lugar genial para hacer turismo librero, sin duda ha retado a mi imaginación, la necesidad de variar era abrumadora.

Y no me decepcionó, me tuvo buscando imágenes de las ciudades, las cuáles había visto muy por encima, sin prestarle mucho atención. Sobre todo al querer adaptar la Escocia de 1840 real a la Escocia de 1840 según Elizabeth May, una en la cuál existen maquinas voladoras, electricidad y bombas hechas por la protagonista que pueden hacer caer a grandes hadas y todo un puente.

The Falconer me ha gustado mucho, es una historia que se ha catalogado en lo Young Adult pero lo sentí un poco más maduro, quizá sea por la protagonista quién no es una damisela en apuros, a pesar de las circunstancias que llevaron a Aileana a conocer el mundo Faerie, no puede negar que ese lado oscuro es parte de ella, quizá incluso desde mucho antes que ella lo supiera. Y eso es lo que me gustó, una protagonista que disfrute con el peligro y no ande lloriqueando por las esquinas lo cruel oh cruel de su destino. Siendo yo una persona bastante fría, encontrar una protagonista que disfrute como yo de la aventura y matanza me hace feliz. El romance, o la casi ausencia de este, es otro punto de que me encantó, es algo más de segundo plano, y es más un efecto que una consecuencia.

Sólo que a pesar de todo lo bueno que pude encontrar en el libro, el final no me convenció del todo. Soy muy mala imaginando batallas y peleas, a pesar de que me gustan verlas, por lo que de vez en cuando se me hacía bastante difícil meterme del todo en la piel de Aileana. Y además todo ese de "Eres el elegido" por alguna razón, por más que era algo que ya sabía, me decepcionó un poco, creo que estaba tan contenta con la personalidad de Aileana y distraída por el lindo de Kiaran y el adorable de Derrick que en algún momento olvidé por donde es que iba la historia.

Es un buen debut, de la escritora modelo. Elizabeth May ha salido en varias portadas de libros por lo que no solo los escribe, está en ellos xD

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The concept of this book is what really attracted my attention. I know there has been a streak of fantasy books with the fae, but I’ve never read them this is my very first book and well I did like it. Aileana, while a bit too stubborn and hellbent on revenge for her mother, is a very strong female character. Aileana can make her own weapons, dress and act the part of a aristocrat, and knows her vulnerabilities. It’s been a while that I have instantly liked a character in a YA fantasy book. I do wish that the book had started a bit before Aileana’s mothers dead so we can see the character change and what has brought her to this dark place.

The beginning of the book did confuse me a bit, as I though for a quick second that I may have been reading the first book. This was quickly remedied as I got the background of Aileana and why she was a bit of an outcast now. I really liked each side characters. Derrick, Catherine and Gavin were great. The one thing I had a problem with was Kieran. It’s obvious that he is the love interest to Aileana, but I am just tired of brooding, mysterious men or I guess Fae in this book. The action and fight scenes were great though and fast paced but not to the point where I couldn’t follow along.

I may take a while before I read the second book as I felt I read this one somewhat slowly.

ebbene si, mi ha preso e non sono più riuscita a staccarmi. e ora, che sono arrivata alla fine, vorrei tanto continuare.. devo sapere!
per essere un romanzo d'esordio, non si può essere cosi crudeli e terminare un romanzo sul più bello :(
le uniche cose che non mi sono piaciute sono: la prima persona e il tempo verbale usato, il presente.
per il resto, qualche piccolo confronto con la serie Fever mi è venuto naturale. ci sono svariati punti in comune, ma quest'ultima rimane comunque qualche gradino sopra.
l'elemento steampunk, seppur a me non piaccia, qui è inserito in modo consono e curioso.
complessivamente, ne consiglio la lettura! è un romanzo pieno di azione, tensione e segreti che vengono snocciolati col contagocce..maledizione, voglio sapere!

This is, as other reviewers have stated, rather like Buffy the Vampire Slayer but with fae. I wanted to like it, and I enjoyed some elements of it, but I just couldn't care for the protagonist. At the start of the book she's been in training for a year with Kieran, an evil-but-not-evil faery. Their rapport really didn't work for me. Kieran is a jerk (and everyone knows it) and Aileana wants revenge for her mother's death. There isn't much else that she cares for, save for tinkering with machinery and weapons. Her life is consumed by killing fae and taking pleasure in their deaths--a bit much for me, personally, though I am not sure what I expected.

The Falconer gets points for steampunk (fun!) and a pixie character named Derrick. As for the rest, I could do without.

teen fantasy series (fighting and faeries, sharp dialogue, romance). I skipped book 2 in this series but was able to pick the story back up alright.

Parental note: While the first book mostly stuck with stealing kisses, the characters go much further than that in books 2 and 3 (though not in graphic detail).

teen fiction (faery-ridden, early 20th century Scotland/tons action and cliff hangers, as well as a sort of love triangle). 18-year-old Aileana Kameron is basically Kam, the Faery Slayer. Recommended for anyone who likes a good adventure series. Parental notes: mild swearing (I think "bastard" might have been the worst word that was actually spelled out in the text), a few mouth kisses, not insignificant fantasy violence.

Pros: interesting world, complex protagonist

Cons: protagonist didn’t consider consequences

A year ago Aileana Kameron’s mother was killed in front of her by a fae. No longer the social debutant she once was, XX now fights the fair folk at night, social engagements notwithstanding. But her reputation is suffering and her father’s patience is almost gone. Soon she will have to choose her future, or have it decided for her.

While I sympathized with Aileana’s history, I didn’t particularly like her as a character. Her desire to kill the fae was treated very much like a drug addiction and it was hard seeing her losing her life to this obsession. I really liked her mechanical tinkering and would have enjoyed learning more about her various inventions. I was surprised by how little she thought about the consequences of her actions. Her reputation aside, the fact that she throws a bomb at monsters on a bridge in one scene with no thought of what destroying the bridge means for the city (or what kind of destruction her bomb could do in general before using it) showed how young and unprepared she was.

I liked that her best friend played a decent role in the book, and that female friendship was seen as an important factor in her life (something that’s often overlooked in SFF in general).

The book is set in an alternate Scotland, where the fair folk are real but most people don’t believe in them anymore. Only a few people, like Aileana can see them (with or without aid). The city felt like a vibrant place and the descriptions were very nice.

The romance aspects came up late in the book and were fairly subdued. So subdued in fact that I was actually shipping the wrong couple and was left surprised by the protagonist’s choices near the end.

The book ends in a cliffhanger, and it’s been a long time since I’ve read one of those. It was a very exciting scene so I turned the page in anticipation of the climax only to find the glossary.

It was an engaging story, fast paced with a fair amount of action.½

This is not feminist. It doesn't make it feminist to just put a load of women into the story. This is a collection of clichés and tropes cobbled together by someone who's only acquaintance with science-fiction appears to have been playing hack video games as a child. Not worth my time to finish it.

While each of the characters has an interesting backstory, having seven pov characters who also get chapters about their pasts left me feeling like I never really got to connect to any of them. More, in this case, felt like less: I think I'd have enjoyed the book more if there'd been only one or two pov characters.

The plot moved at a steady clip, but it never really gripped or surprised me.

Warning: The Falconer ends on a cliff-hanger, which is I why I gave it 3 stars. Otherwise, you can't go wrong with a Fantasy and Steampunk mashup set in Scotland.

18-year old Lady Aileana Kameron is so much more than the daughter of the Marquess of Douglas. It's 1844 and nearly every day Aileana wishes she could return to her former life where dresses, dances and the trappings of her privileged life meant something to her. But, since the bloody death of her own mother, her life has become something she never expected. She is still beautiful. She still has wealth and a title. But now she is a hunter, tracking down and murdering the faery creatures who roam the night with the intent to murder humans. She is a Falconer, the last in a long line of female warriors who hunt and kill the fae. But, they also hunt her.....

The Falconer is book 1 in the Falconer trilogy. The third, and final, book is set for publication in June 2017.

I enjoyed this fun, YA steampunk adventure. It wasn't anything new plot-wise, following an established YA trope: plucky, female character must battle evil to save the world and learns to fight while battling her inner confusion over whether she should love the bad boy or her childhood friend. But despite following an established basic plot, I still found myself enjoying the story. I liked Aileana as a main character. She was feisty and fun, not caring that her night battles with the fae had the local aristocracy thinking she was up to unladylike activities. Except for it angering her father and making him decide she needs to marry, and forcing her mother to lecture her on how ladies behave at social events, Alieana really doesn't care what anyone thinks. And, she has a love-hate relationship with the faery who helps train her. She is attracted to him, but she doesn't trust him and at times proved that he did not have control over her. Plus the mix of 1840s Edinburgh and steampunk was just enchanting. The main plot wasn't overshadowed by cheesy romance or overdone steampunk. It was a nice blend, well-written and without the tendency to become overly romantic childish fantasy that some similar YA books fall into. I did have to smile a bit that the main character is not only stunningly beautiful but also from a wealthy family -- poor, plain girls are never entrusted with saving the world. :o)

The Falconer is an enjoyable, light steampunk adventure. I will definitely read the rest of this trilogy. Don't expect anything really new....or complex....but it is a very enjoyable read!

This was Elizabeth May's first book. I'm very interested to see how her characters and writing matured as she continued this series. For more information on the author and the Falconer trilogy, check out her website at http://www.elizabethmaywrites.com/

Like strong female protagonists? Complex plots? Lots of action? A deftly revealed backstory for each character? An interesting world(s)? Truly nasty baddies? This book has all of these and more It's not for the squeamish as there's plenty of violence, but everything comes together nicely. I particularly like how the authors blended in each characters' backstory in a way that enhanced understanding and depth of the plot. You're left with much anticipation at the end and I most certainly will grab the sequel as soon as it's available.

(From www.pingwings.ca)

Received from the publisher, for free, for review consideration. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

This is an ARC that’s been on my shelf for a couple of years. I finally picked it up as part of my renewed efforts to read the physical ARCs that I’ve had on my shelves for some time.

I wish I’d read this book sooner! I really enjoyed the world Elizabeth May created, with the steampunk and the fairie history, and I liked that she didn’t shy away from the violence of Aileana’s life.

The Falconer was fun and exciting, and that ending!! As soon as I finished, I bought the sequel, The Vanishing Throne. I can’t wait to find out what happens next!