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Elora is unhappy with her mother's, the Dark Queens, rule, so she's conspired with the Bright Queen to overthrow her. The Bright Queens wants an offering in return, Elora has to find a human boy who's a 'young leader of men' and bring him to her (God knows what she plans to do with him). As this obviously shows that the Bright Queen's rule will be splendidly peaceful and a huge improvement from the Dark Queen's, Elora decides to go undercover at the local high school to find just such a specimen. Real undercover, and flying around at night like real humans do all the time...

I'm not sure about The Last Changeling. On one hand it's definitely the best of the numerous faery books I've read this year (like Undertow, Faelorehn and The Winter People), probably because it doesn't focus on whiny girls who suddenly get stalked by too-goo-to-be-true guys. The story itself might not be the most original premise, but I was still interested in just how it would be done this time. I also liked the diversity of the characters, which might be in a wheelchair or LGTB.

But the characters in the end felt a bit flat. Like the ideas were good but it needed a bit more to make it feel real. Quite a large part of the book is actually about saving Prom, which wasn't what I was expecting in this fantasy novel. The ending was a bit messy for my liking and left me a bit confused. I think the second really will be necessary to figure out where the story is going. And, don't get me started about the romance. Of course you take the random girl you just met into your home because she's got no place to go, is perfectly normal. Even if she disappears at night. Just insta-love her and all will be fine. She would never take advantage of you! Oh, wait...

The Last Changeling is the first book in the Faerie Revolutions series.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. ( )

How do you cope when you're part of an evil family? This would be a difficult question for any teen, but what if you're nonhuman? This is the challenge Elora faces as a young princess of the dark faeries. She hates the way her mother the Dark Queen treats others, but despises her half brother even more. When she makes a bargain with the Bright Queen, it sets in motion more than Elora ever expected, starting with a cryptic demand: “Bring me a human boy who is a 'young leader of men.'”
After crossing over to the mortal world, Elora assumes the shape of a teen hitchiker who dies in an auto accident, hiding the body before appearing on a swing set near the soccer field where Taylor is wrestling with how to prevent the team bully from seriously injuring a player on the opposing team.
When he notices her, sitting on a swing, it's the beginning of an extremely interesting journey for both of them, one that unfolds gradually at first, but speeds up as things come to a head in her world. Along the way, they start realizing how much they're attracted to each other, she discovers how quirky and often unfair the world of high school is (her involvement with the Gay-Straight Alliance is very refreshing and her backtalk to school staff is really funny at times), she has to control her urge to give in to her feelings which begin to conflict with everything she was taught in her world and she has to educate her new friends to the threat coming from her realm.
The book ends with a slam bang and as a result, I ordered book two immediately. This is a great urban fantasy for school and public libraries to add to their YA collections. ( )

I would like to thank Flux & NetGalley for granting me a copy of this e-book to read in exchange for an honest review. Though I received this e-book for free that in no way impacts my review.

Goodreads Teaser:
"A Kingdom at War . . .

Elora, the young princess of the Dark Faeries, plans to overthrow her tyrannical mother, the Dark Queen, and bring equality to faeriekind. All she has to do is convince her mother’s loathed enemy, the Bright Queen, to join her cause. But the Bright Queen demands an offering first: a human boy who is a “young leader of men.”

A Dark Princess In Disguise . . .

To steal a mortal, Elora must become a mortal—at least, by all appearances. And infiltrating a high school is surprisingly easy. When Elora meets Taylor, the seventeen-year-old who’s plotting to overthrow a ruthless bully, she thinks she’s found her offering . . . until she starts to fall in love."

Filled with the rich, tangled emotions so commonly associated with teenagers, this story is at times sweet, tender, angry, depressed, confused, and basically any other feeling that can be conceived. It is a lovely way for a YA readers to connect, or reconnect, with a turbulent period of time, when everything feels as if it is a life or death situation.

Elora arrives in the human realm with all her powers, and all her preconceived notions about humanity. Taking the identity of a teen runaway killed in a freak auto accident, she sets out to solve a riddle set for her by the Bright Queen. The purpose of the riddle is twofold, and if she can figure it out in time it may be enough to alter her beloved realm of Faerie forever.

Completely at a loss when it comes to interacting with humans, let alone doing something like enrolling in the local high school, the newly christened "Lora" finds unexpected help in the form of a local teenage boy named Taylor. Taylor is nothing like Lora expects, but then many of the humans are completely different from everything she'd been taught.

Elora/Lora is a bright character, who is turns sweet, whip-smart, generous, caring, steel-willed, imperious, protective, and loving. Her adventures in the human realm are entertaining, and watching her grow is a delight. As her misconceptions are altered one by one, her character makes adjustments accordingly. All but one, and that involves Taylor.

Taylor is certainly not your typical high school attending boy. He comes from a less than pleasant home life, and has a secret of his own. One that is growing in him like a cancer, slowly strangling him from the inside out. Yet he still manages to set aside his personal pain in order to offer help to this obviously lost and confused young woman. While his motives may have been initially spurred by his attraction to her, he is one of those rare, chivalrous young men. The kind that stand up for what is right, even when the cost is potentially higher than they knew - yet they'd do it again in a heartbeat, even once they know the full extent of the price. He believes in honor, and in supporting the underdog, even though he's certainly not Mr. Popularity himself.

As these two get to know one another, we are introduced to a cast of supporting characters. Each one is a very unique and distinct personality, at least those in the human realm. Those in the Faerie realm are less well developed, but only because we have such limited contact with them. The very few we do know about have strong character traits that define them. And as we get to know the characters more in-depth, the arc of the story is matching their development. The plot progresses in step with the individuals, so that the overall effect is seamless. Everything moves together very smoothly, allowing for the story to unfold organically.

This is an entertaining tale, keeping us attached to the fate of the characters by getting us invested in their lives, and thus in their welfare. The fact that it all melds together like a well-oiled machine makes it read that much faster, all of which means we reach the climactic end sooner than expected. Can anyone say cliffhanger ending? Because that's what you'll get with this book, which leads one to seriously hope for a sequel to come out very soon - like tomorrow! ( )

The Last Changeling is the first book in the new Faerie Revolutions series and I love the fact that it is so much more than a YA fantasy romance novel. At its heart, it is a story about equality and standing up for what is right. It is about fighting prejuice and making the hard choices in order to remain true to what you believe is right.

That being said, it is also not a book that really hits you over the head with those messages. They may be the driving force behind the story, but they don't overwhelm it. There is also magic, romance, danger, friendship, and a whole lot of intrigue woven all around the true messages of the story.

The characters in this book are fantastic. Elora, our main character, is fighting to change her world... the world of Faery. She has been brought up in a world of racial prejudice, the light and the dark realms of Faery fighting against one another for centuries. She has been brought up to believe that humans are yet another enemy, lesser creatures incapable of true compassion and love. She has come to realize that those racial prejudices within her own world are weakening it for both sides and is trying to change that. When she moves into the human world and is saved by Taylor (a human guy), she is faced with the realization that perhaps humanity is not what she thought it was.

The destructive prejudices that she has found to be true of the Faery realms are also present in Unity High School, the human school she has "infiltrated" with a name that does not fit its reality. The prejudices here are manifested in sexuality and the treatment that those who are thought to be anything other than straight is horrendous. Taylor and Elora team up to change that, along with some unexpected allies.

I really enjoyed the premise behind this story, unlike any others I have read. I am a sucker for all things faery and I loved that this one came from the perspective of a Dark Faery. The story was engaging and engrossing and I can't wait to read the next installment!

Things to love...

--Elora and Taylor. The romance was there, but it wasn't in your face. Sweet!
--Kylie and Keegan. The twins, friends of Elora and Taylor, figure prominently and I love what they represent for the story.
--The attention paid to real issues and the ways in which they were handled.

My Recommendation: If you love the realm of the faery, this is a great read! If you love a story that has some depth and some messages to it, this is a great read!

Note: I received this for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. ( )

Review courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales

Quick & Dirty: There were many things I enjoyed, though the romance was too insta-love for my favor.

Opening Sentence: I was seventeen when death first crossed my path.

The Review:

Taylor is a boy with a dead brother, abandoning family, and hard life. Elora is on a quest for the chance to save the land of the fae from an oppresive reign. But when Elora enrolls in high school to find what she needs, she finds that high school is much like the fae land. Popular jocks rule over those who don’t fit in with an iron fist. Soon, she is leading not one, but two revolutions, and falling in love.

I had high expectations for this book. For one, that mind-blowing cover. Look at it! The colors and shapes and brightness! And the synopsis got my excitement growing even faster. Did The Last Changeling deliver? It was not everything I had hoped and dreamed, but there were parts of it that I enjoyed. It didn’t unfold at all the way I had thought at first it would. There is more emphasis on the main character’s relationship than the plotline, most of the time: while it made their romance more powerful, it also swallowed lots of pages that could have otherwise have been filled with richer details about the plotline that were more relevant.

The duel point of views were Elora and Taylor. One thing I really appreciated about Changeling was that the chapters from the two different characters were written differently enough that I could tell who was who, which is pretty rare. I never got confused from who I was reading from. They each have pressing problems, Elora’s being the safety of the faerie race, and Taylor’s being his family and the recent death of his brother. Like I said before, it was very centered on their relationship, which by the way was insta-love. I am not a huge fan of insta-love, preferring instead a gradual buildup like Tris and Four (Divergent). The fact that humans are told to be despicable creatures in faerie lore isn’t helping Taylor in his quest for Elora. Let me tell you, also — they pine for each other 80% of this book and in the last 20% their kisses begin.

The information you receive about the character’s backstories are extremely staggered. You really don’t know fully what had been happening until towards the end. But, another thing I liked was the fae. The way their world was built was unique, and lots of fun to read about. Though it took a while to really understand the faerie world, since as I said the world building was staggered, I was happy when I did.

Was I happy with The Last Changeling? It was a good beginning to a series, for sure. It dealt with sensitive subjects: bullying, death, war, abandonment, betrayal. Something that it did have and I was pleased that it did was bi-sexual and gay characters. As gay pride becomes more celebrated, it seems natural that gay characters should be cropping up more in books. I liked how Taylor’s strained relationship with his family changes as the book goes on, thanks to Elora and the new strength she gives him. I like how Elora fights the bullies at the school with the same fire that she does the evil fae in the final battle — it made me smile. The misfits team up to fight the jocks and the populars. A character that I love, love, loved was Kylie’s girlfriend, who was such a tremendous surprise when she was revealed thanks to reasons you will discover if you read the book. Altogether I enjoyed The Last Changeling, though certain problems made it less appealing. Namely the insta-love romance.

Notable Scene:

“In the created social order of high school, we are required to project very specific identities in order to be accepted. Now, I don’t know about you, but I’m sick of trying to fit in.”

I paused, letting the gravity of my words sink in. Half the crowd had risen to their feet and those enthusiasts were nodding.

“I’m sick of trying to mold myself into someone else’s definition of acceptable, beautiful, valuable. I know I’m valuable. Why must I spend every day of my life proving it to other people? And at night, as I lie in bed, I think about the efforts I made that day to fit into an impossibly narrow standard, and I feel like I’m living a lie.”

FTC Advisory: Flux provided me with a copy of The Last Changeling. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review. ( )