Fairy Queens: Books 5-7

*****

5 Stars/5

OF SAND AND STORM

Of Sand and Storm is the very good 3^rd novella in the Fairy Queens series and like the others it is fast paced, well written and has good world building. However this is the darkest of the books as it deals with difficult issues such as slavery and sex trafficking. I would suggest you don’t read this story until you have read the previous books otherwise it could be confusing. One thing which lets this story down is that it had insta-love which I am not a fan of, and I got the impression from Winter’s Heir that Cinder would not have a love interest.

Cinder is determined, protective and like all of Amber’s protagonists she has strong inner strength. However, she is the most damaged of the heroines with a coping mechanism in numbers, and not surprisingly Cinder is not very trusting. The love interest, Darsam, pretends to be flippant and cocky but is actually selfless, kind and gentle. Ash and Storm would do anything to protect Cinder and want her to have a better life than they did.

I love this series and I am looking forward to reading what Amber writes next. I would highly recommend the Fairy Queens series to fans of YA fantasy novels, especially to those who like Maria V Snyder and Trudi Canavan’s books.

DAUGHTER OF WINTER

All Elice has ever known is the never-ending isolation of the Winter Queendom. She has no company apart from her immediate family, including her mother, the Winter Queen, and the animals that she heals, but all that changes when a ship crashes and she rescues the lone survivor, Adar. Elice wants the freedom to see the rest of the world but when she discovers that the world is in more turmoil than she ever knew, will she be able to escape her mother?

Daughter of Winter is the brilliant and magnificent third book of the Fairy Queens series. It is very addictive and it pulled me into the story. Also, it has some action and a hinted at romance. Unlike the other books in this series the POV is from both Elice and Adar rather than just the heroine. One tiny problem with this book is that I was confused about the timeline and how people are the ages they were.

Elice is resilient, creative and innocent because she has been sheltered all of her life. She also reminded me a bit of Senna from Amber’s Witch Song series. Adar is cocky, talkative and easy-going but also protective and a bit mysterious. I was sad to see how different Ilyenna is and how cold and distant she has become.

I love this series and I am really looking forward to reading the fourth and final book in the series Winter’s Heir. I would recommend Daughter of Winter to fans those who have read the Fairy Queens series and to those who are fans of YA fantasy books.

WINTER’S HEIR

Winter’s Heir is a fantastic end to one of my favourite series and it ties up all of the loose ends and unanswered questions nicely.  Like with all of Amber’s books it has very good world building and is a fast paced page turner. This book had more romance than Daughter of Winter, and it had a kind of Romeo and Juliet vibe to it.  One thing I love about this series is that the characters are relatable and never give up.

At the first half of the book Elice is less sure of herself and is still very naïve but this lessens as the story continues. She is sweet natured,  gentle, empathetic and has an inner strength, like all of Amber’s Heroines, and is determined to gain her independence and freedom. Adar is more serious in this book as he faces very difficult choices and is conflicted about what he should do. However, there is still some of the charming tease there and I felt we got to understand more about him and his life than in the last book. There are lots of returning characters from the previous books, which was interesting to see how they have changed, but also there were some new characters, my favourite being Cinder, and I am looking forward to learning more about her in the last novella.

This book is a brilliant conclusion to the main story of the Fairy Queens series and I am really looking forward to reading the last novella Of Sand and Storm when it comes out. This book hints at future books set in the distant future in this universe which I cannot wait to read. I would recommend Winter’s Heir to fans of the Fairy Queens series, and this series I cannot recommend highly enough to fans of YA fantasy books.