Frey (The Frey Saga, #1)

by Melissa Wright

Unaware she's been bound from using magic, Frey leads a small, miserable life in the village where she's sent after the death of her mother. But a tiny spark starts a fury of changes and she finds herself running from everything she's ever known. Hunted by council for practicing dark magic, she is certain she's been wrongfully accused. She flees, and is forced to rely on strangers for protection. But the farther she strays from home, the more her magic and forgotten memories return and she begins to suspect all is not as it seems.

• ISBN10: 1475005660
• ISBN13: 9781475005660
• Publish Date: 12 March 2012
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Createspace
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 250
• Language: English

Reviews

This book sucks. This sums it up - “Freya.” He said my name as if it were tearing at him and my chest ached. “You don’t understand.”

Yes that's the entire problem - no one understands and more importantly no one ever explains. This whole book is a mess that makes little sense. From the start we're introduced to Freya a character who knows nothing, says little and complains a lot. She has no idea what's going on and she has no real drive to find out. She's an absolute idiot and that makes it extremely hard to like her. She kills a bird, chokes a few people and has no idea what she's doing - even when she is told that those things were her fault she doesn't so much as flinch. She has no reaction, remorse or compassion. She kills the bird and flicks it behind a shelf so no one can see it. There's no horror, no confusion of what the hell have I done, no sadness, nothing. Then she flicks it behind the shelf and is promptly done with the whole thing. It's basically never thought of again. The other characters move around her, manipulating her into whatever the hell they are doing and she just floats. The characters are flat and lifeless and it's a struggle to connect with them.

I finished but I wish I hadn't picked this up.

[Cocktails and Books]

Elfreda (Frey) has lived in a small village with her Aunt Frannie. Her aunt either ignores her or makes her life a living hell. But Frey's life begins to take a drastic turn when she uses magic she didn't know she had to start a vine growing from a thistle. Frey soon finds herself on the run from her village council after being sentence for practicing black magic. She relies on the kindness of an elf she meets on the run and the man who she's not sure she should trust as he tries to outrun the council that wants to make sure her powers stay bound.

I felt as confused as Frey when I finished this one. While the story moves along from Frey's life in the village to her running and then meeting up with the ragtag group who help her, it's the last 30 or so pages, where I was lost trying to figure out why Frey's powers were bound, who her grandfather is and just what is going on between Frey and Chevelle. It's obvious something is going on and this group is there to help Frey, but you have no idea why.

Frey was also a little hard to warm up to. When we first met her, there really wasn't anything about her that invested you into connecting with her. To be honest, I didn't really connect with her until she started reading the diary. Even then, it wasn't really connecting with her but to the writer of the diary. I will admit, that once Frey finished the diary and she understands who the writer is, I connected with her.

We don't know a lot about all the others in the group trying to help Frey, with the exception of Steed and Ruby, and that sometimes took away from the story because I kept wondering why they were helping this girl.

I'm hoping (since I already bought it) that questions that were left at the end of this story are answered. That said, it was a read that did keep me in engaged, for no other reason than to try and figure out just exactly what was going on.