I read the first book in this series last year, my first book from Netgalley (oh, the memories). However, I have since collected this prequel as well as the second book from Amazon/Smashwords and was planning on reading them for some time. Starting with Evangeline.

 

It's a very short story in which there isn't too much to be told. It's hard to really rate a short story without putting it in the bigger picture. However, I thought it was quite a nice introduction but for one thing: there was so much emphasis on the fact that she was different that it really annoyed me. Even though the story was very short.

 

I'm still planning to read the second book, Ever Fire some time soon.

 

Evangeline is a short prequel story to the Dark Faerie Tale series. The other books in this series are Ever Shade, Ever Fire, Ever Winter, The Cursed, Ever Wrath, History of Fire, Ever Dead and Legends of Fire.

I received a free copy via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review...

 

It's said to be 'a dark faerie tale'. All my book-encounters with faeries have been quite grim though. Does this book has something extra that can make this 'extra' dark?

 

Shade witnesses a fight between two faeries after the voices in her head lead her to an abandoned warehouse on her way from school. She joins one the faeries as he shows her his powers and tells her they might have a solution or at least an explanation for her problem back at his place. Straight after hearing she isn't crazy, but in fact half-faery, they ask her to take part in a very dangerous journey to retrieve some very special water they'll need to win the war against some very evil faeries.

 

Overall, this was a very enjoyable read. I was immediately sucked into the story, and it was hard to stop reading. I don't really know a lot about faeries, so I just sat back and enjoyed it. The writing was quite nice too, and easy to read. The story moves very fast, especially when you keep in mind it all happens in just over 200 pages. This means that there aren't really that many details, and sometimes I'd liked to see a bit more character development and interactions between different characters. Shade talks to most of the group members only once of twice and too short for us to get a real sense of their relationships. Shade is supposed to get magical training during their trip (I always enjoy such scenes) but this is somehow forgotten a bit during the story. I'd liked to see more of that.

 

Shade, being the main character, being a 17 year old girl, has many of the symptoms of a classic YA heroine. Not extremely pretty or popular, she's learned to take of herself (as her mother is a single mom with four children). She's not quite the outdoorsy type, as the book tells us multiple times. But why was it necessary that her father learned her basic survival skills, as she wasn't the 'outdoorsy' type and they only went camping within reach of a bathroom and car?

 

My biggest problem though was the enormous power the magic has in this book. It literally solves every problem in the book! A few things, I wouldn't have mind, even though I sometimes think it's an easy plot device. But the things that were solved went almost ridiculous, as there are spells/charms to 'keep you dry when walking through a river', 'auto-refill your water bottles', and when they make camp (near that same river) they brought toilets and showers. That doesn't really sound like a real quest! (Okay, I admit I would like to have the Hermione-style bag).

 

It's a nice and quick read if you don't bother too much about magic solving the characters' problems. I'm certainly curious enough to read the other books in this series, if I can find the time to do so.

This novella provides a good introduction to the Dark Faeries series. I'm glad I read it first.

The Cursed (A Dark Faerie Tale, #3.5) - ... I loved this short. It gives the reader a glimpse of what is going on with Aveta and the ancient Unseelie Arathas. They are both truly evil. Only Arathas is even more so. *shudders*. Alexia is a wonderful writer. She weaves a tale that engages readers and makes her work unputdownable. Even though this story is short it is still packed full of information and gives the back story. I suggest reading this short after you read Ever Winter. It might be spoilerish if read before it.

Dylan is back booyashacka mutha f*cka! So totally inappropriate for a review, but it's my review so I'm gonna be like that and shiz. Anyway. LOL. This book begins with Shade recovering from her imprisonment, by Aveta, on a beach in Fairie. Her magic has been bound by Corb and she feels lost and isolated. Her feelings for Soap, while still there are not as intense as they are for Dylan (Me so happy. I like Soap, but I love Dylan....kinda like Shade.) In order to get her magic unbound Shade must go to Corb and get him to undo his magic on her. And so begins our quest....
And what a quest it was. ACTION packed. Shade never gets a moments peace poor girl. There are twists and turns in this book that I did not see coming. These books keep getting better and better and better. I love them.
How many are there going to be Alexia? Cuz I want, need, no DEMAND more!
Alexia's strong point as a writer, is her writing. She doesn't need typical tricks to lure readers in. She weaves a magical, hypnotic spell with her words and then blows us away with her epic skills. She really, really shines when writing action filled scenes and this book is not short on them.
Shade just keeps growing, and getting stronger with each book. Magically and mentally. She is really turning into a great character. The romantic tension in these books is really great, and we don't even toe the line of NA. This is clearly in the YA lines. Nothing sexual done, or even implied other than some steamy kissing scenes. Boy are they steamy too. ;-)
Overall, in my opinion, the best of the series yet. I am in love with it, and want to re-read it some day soon. Also, will be buying the autographed copy for my collection.
**I received an ARC from the author in exchange for my honest review. This review is 100% honest and 100% written by me. There are no quotes in this review because parts of it a subject to change.
Check out my other reviews at my blog Contagious Reads