Fae by CJ Abedi

Title: Fae (Book 1)
Author: CJ Abedi
Publisher: Diversion Books, 2013

The first thing that struck me when I started with Fae was that it’s going to appeal to your Twilight fans. The premise is simple: an ordinary girl gradually discovers that there’s far more to her past than meets the eye. Enter the new boy and their decidedly tsundere situation. Of course the new boy isn’t quite human, and there are greater forces at play … you get my drift.

Caroline is likeable from the get-go. She’s that ordinary girl next door. Thank goodness for that. She isn’t the class reject either. The school’s new quarterback, however, Devilyn Reilly, falls squarely into Edward Cullen territory. He’s tall, dark and just so g
oddamned perfect. And he’s a Dark Fae who’s doing his level best not to turn out like his evil father.

The attraction between the two is instant, since they’re puppets to a prophecy that Caroline is heir to the Light and, once wed to Devilyn, they’ll unify light and dark and end ages of enmity. Of course this has been foretold to tragic consequences, and Devilyn’s determined to prevent this from taking place while still looking out for his destined mate.

Meddling in all of this is Odin, of the Norse pantheon, which left me curious by the end of the story as to what the old guy was doing getting mixed up in Fae affairs. And where were the others, like Freya or Loki. Just curiosity on my part. The authors do a solid bit of world-building and pacing is generally strong.

So that’s pretty much the plot. We’ve got Light vs. Dark (check); destined mates instaluv (check) and a whole lot of high school hijinks ensue. If this is your thing, you will probably love Fae and overlook its rough edges.

But this has to be said. There *are* rough edges, and I’d be amiss if I didn’t point them out. Apart from the obvious fondness for the word “suddenly” (sorry, this is one of my pet hates), there were some *very* strange things going on with the dialogue’s punctuation. Once or twice I might’ve overlooked, but there were consistently bizarre quirks I’d expect from newish writers. I don’t know if this was just the version of the novel I was given to review, but nowhere did I see any notification that this was an ARC e-copy. So… A note to the publisher, if this was the final, and it can be fixed, please do.

This being said, this is a fun story, filled with magic, fair folk and hints of a greater mystery, and the series is off to a promising start.