The Faerie Guardian (Creepy Hollow, #1)

by Rachel Morgan

She's fae. He's human. When he accidentally follows her back into the magic realm, a deadly plot is set in motion.

Rule: Never reveal yourself to a human.

I swear I didn’t break this rule. I had my glamour in place. I saved the guy’s life, just as I was assigned to do. And then he looked at me. Looked at me.

Rule: Never bring a human into the fae realm.

Technically, this wasn’t my fault either. He followed me. But the Guild doesn’t see it that way. Assignment status? Failed.

I’m months away from graduating top of my class, and now Nate has ruined everything. If I can get him back home without killing him, maybe I can salvage my guardian future.

Except ... there’s way more going on here than I suspected. Someone else is after Nate. Someone intent on unearthing long-forgotten secrets and immense power.

Next thing I know, we’re tangled up in a plot more dangerous than anything I’ve had to fight my way out of before.

Bonus complication? I think I’m falling for Nate ...

Graduation is the least of Violet’s problems in this bestselling YA fantasy series packed with dazzling magic, page-turning action, family secrets, and swoon-worthy romance.

• ISBN10: 0987029088
• ISBN13: 9780987029089
• Publish Date: 27 October 2012
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Imprint: Rachel Morgan
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Language: English

Reviews

[tweetybugshouse]

This book is amazing total what i expected it to be a great faerie story with lots of twists and turns. You never know what to expect, you think you know what going to happen and then nope author pulls a plot twist our of no where. I am total fan hooked and will be picking up the rest of this series.

[anastasia]

First, I want to say that I love, love LOVE, the cover!

The story took place in the human realm and in Creepy Hollow. The descriptions of the settings and action scenes were more than I could have hoped for, they were so detailed. The way the author described Creepy Hollow, all of beautiful colors,
the tall trees, nature, and paranormal creatures, was very realistic, like Creepy Hollow actually existed. I was super impressed.

The main character is Violet [but goes by the name Vi] She's 17-year-old, whose independent, intelligent, and hardworking. She was in her fifth year in training to become a guardian; she learns to protect humans from the paranormal creatures. It was important to her to graduate at the top of her class, as her mother had done before her. Another significant character is Ryn, who was Vi's competition. Ryan was confident, he knew he was attractive. And then we have Nate, the human boy, who was able to see past Violet's faerie charm while she was battling a creature; protecting him. They end up falling for each other.


The Faerie Guardian is a fast-paced, and action-packed story! It was really captivating story, it really pulls the reader in! I definitely could not stop reading! There were many features that made this story enjoyable. I liked the setting of Creepy Hollow, how the author presented this new world and especially the characters in the story, learning about the many different types of paranormal creatures for example, Faeries, Pixies, Sprites,… etc. I just had to find out what was happening next. I definitely recommend it. Can't wait to read more, from this author.


-Ana @SoManyBooksSoLittleTime


This review can also be found on my blog

[violetpeanut]

Faeries, you say? More faeries? I know, I know. The YA market has become quite saturated with Faeries and Fairies (and any other spelling you can think of ) - especially since the success of Julie Kagawa's Iron Fey series. So, what makes this series different and worth reading? A few things: an original take on human/faerie interaction, amazing world-building, entertaining dialogue and a kick-ass female main character to start.

In this faerie world, humans are strictly forbidden. They are never to know anything about Faerie. Of course, there are the baddies who want to take advantage of humans, or maybe eat them for dinner, but that's where the Guardians come in. Guardians are an elite group of Faeries who are trained to fight their darker counterparts and protect humans. They use glamour to hide themselves from us. I thought this take on Faerie was unique. Usually faeries - light and dark both - are all about taking advantage of humans in whatever way they can. I found it refreshing that in this world, there are faeries who want to protect us.

The world was also unique. The fae live mostly like humans do but things we do with technology, they do with magic. They create light with magic, they have "sound drops" that play music into your ears when you stick them to your temples, they even have modern conveniences like bathrooms - with a magical twist:

I jump off the bed and join him at the doorway to the bathing room. He peers in at what looks like a slice of nature. Grass grows naturally, and a pool fills the center of the room. Scattered amongst the blades of grass are hundreds of tiny blue and yellow flowers. Trees with tangled branches conceal the walls, and water tumbles down a pile of rocks and into the other side of the pool.

"You are kidding me, " says Nate. "You have a pool in your bathroom?"

"The bath idea never really took off," I say. "Self-cleaning pools have been in for centuries. And the mini-waterfall provides an excellent shower."

It's details like these that make me really fall in love with not only the story, but the world it is set in.

Violet, or Vi, is a faerie training to be a Guardian. Nate happens to be an assignment. After fighting off a baddie, she realizes that Nate can see through her glamour. She tries to high-tail it out of there but Nate hitches a ride with her to Creepy Hollow, the faerie world. So, now Vi is in trouble! She has broken the first and most important rule of Faerie - no humans allowed! As part of her punishment, she is tasked with protecting this human boy while escorting him back to the human world. This is where the action starts. I'm not going to tell you more than that because I don't want to ruin it for you. Suffice it to say that there's quite a bit of action.

I loved the interactions between Nate and Violet at the beginning of the book. I laughed out loud in a couple of parts and snickered at others. The author did a really great job of writing Nate as a human who learns that magic and faeries are real. He has all these misconceptions based on fairy tales and movies and that makes for some great dialogue.

"No way," he says, rustling the leaves as he stands. "You can't be a faerie. You're way too big."

I lower my hands. "Excuse me?" I've been called many things in my seventeen years, but 'big' has never been one of them...

"Aren't faeries supposed to be, like, really tiny? With wings and a wand and faerie dust?"

"I'm not Tinker Bell!" ....

"So you don't have wings then?" he asks, completely ignoring what I just said.

"Sure I do, they're in my pocket."

"Really?"

"No!"

Of course, Nate and Violet end up an item. This is actually the part that almost lost me. Anyone who has read this blog before knows that I am not a fan of insta-love and Nate and Violet walk a very fine line there. There is no big declaration of love, no declaration that they are soul mates, but things develop a little too quickly for my taste.

I really enjoyed the storyline and thought the pacing was good. There was a point somewhere towards the middle of the book where it almost seemed like I was reading a different book about the same characters. I can't say more without giving anything away but that was a little jarring for me. This book was originally published as four separate novellas so this makes sense to some extent. We go from romance with Nate and Vi to no Nate and backstory with Ryn instead. Later on, things became more clear and I could see how things fit together but while reading there was definitely a little bit of a disconnect between the plotlines. Generally, this book moved along quickly and was very entertaining.

My favorite thing about this book was the main character, Violet. She is a strong heroine both physically and mentally. She has a smart mouth and is funny. She works hard to be the best at what she does. She is dedicated to her work and to the people she cares about. At the same time, she still has vulnerabilities and insecurities that make her a believable character. I enjoyed reading from Violet's perspective and watching her question and grow along the way.

Overall, I very much enjoyed this one. I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys a good fairy tale, fans of fantasy and especially fans of Julie Kagawa and her Iron Fey series. This was an original take on the Fae and I can't wait to read more!

P.S. I'm Team Ryn!