Bitten by Books
After the death of their parents, Monique’s brother Kieran tried to protect her by pressing an engagement to the one fairy she wants nothing to do with. Faced with an unwanted marriage, Monique fled to the human world. She has managed to avoid Kieran for the past six months with the help of her fairy charms, but she is running short on funds and needs to find a new job in a new location. In a move to hopefully help her hide longer, Monique applies for an office job as an assistant to Daniel Elliot, a human who appears to be immune to her charms.
Daniel is ready to move on from his broken engagement, but because his fiancee disappeared with a family heirloom that his parents are pressing him to get back he is having a hard time getting past his broken heart. Along with trying to find a woman that is gone without a trace, he needs to replace his longtime assistant. When Monique walks into his office for the interview he may have just found the replacement and a woman who might just heal his heart. The attraction between the two is undeniable, but when Monique’s past catches up with her, it might not be enough to save either of them.
Fairyproof is an interesting read. I enjoyed the conflict but feel that the characters are a bit flat. Monique is in a desperate situation but comes across as completely naive. Initially, I understand that but at this point she has been on the run for six months. There is nothing in her behavior that suggests she has learned anything. Daniel is fine, but there is nothing remarkable about him. I question the decisions of all the characters. It is clearly another situation where a bit of communication would solve a ton of problems. The most interesting character, Billy, another fairy living in the human world gets short shrift in the story.Additionally, although Monique and her kin are called fairies, there really is not anything that links them to what we are used to seeing aside from glamour and an affinity for nature. One of the most compelling and common characteristics of a being a fairy that I am familiar with is the taboo on lying, and there is nothing of that here. There is nothing wrong with trying to reinvent the traditional reading of the fae, but it should not be done just to be different, especially without a fairly detailed rendition.
The beginning starts off solidly but the middle drags on forever and when the ending finally comes it is a bit predictable and very fast. Much of the story is predictable, I had no problems guessing what was happening. The most unfortunate part of Fairyproof, though, is that it suffers from a bad case of telling you, not showing you. We are told that Monique and Daniel are developing this great romance, but we do not see it in their interactions. We are told about these awful things happening to other faries but we never see them occur. We are told of Kieran’s issues with humans, but there is nothing that shows why he is that way. We are told all of these facts, but nothing in the narrative shows what is happening. This prevents you from getting caught up in the story and really investing in the characters.
While I appreciated the premise of the story, Fairyproof misses the mark and is not a book that I would go back to.
Book Stats:
- Paperback: 264 pages
- Publisher: Crescent Moon Press (September 4, 2012)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1937254755
- ISBN-13: 978-1937254759
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