Review: City of Fae by Pippa DaCosta

City of Fae by Pippa DaCosta
Pub Date: May 7, 2015

My Rating:  
Sultry Scale:

From the moment Alina touches London's hottest fae superstar, breaking one of the laws founded to protect all of her kind, her fate – and the fae – close in. 

Below ground, the fae High Queen plots to claim the city as her own and places her pawns, ready for the battle to come. A battle she cannot lose, but for one small problem – Alina. There are four ancient keepers powerful enough to keep the queen in her prison. Three are dead. One remains … And to fight back, Alina risks sacrificing everything she has come to love. 

This New Adult urban fantasy is packed with action and suspense and will have you yearning for more forbidden fae romance.

This is not your normal fae plot. There were enough similarities to recognize fae traits and characteristics, but I don't feel that the story had been done before. There are no journeys to Faerie, everything takes place in London or Under (the tunnels below the city). So I liked this aspect. Since I gravitate toward UF/paranormals, I often feel that I am reading the same stories with different characters. That definitely wasn't the case here.

I normally latch on to fae books and characters, but I didn't find a strong connection to anyone in this book. Maybe it's because Reign is a rock star and musicians just aren't my thing. Who knows. I liked Alina. Things are definitely not as they seem with her... but I can't say much more without giving away spoilers. One thing that kinda irked me was that she was a reporter at only 19. I figured most reporters these days need a journalism degree and should be older. Why not make her 22, or even 25? I'm not crazy about the trend of younger and younger heroines these days. They make my 35 y/o self feel absolutely ancient. That's another reason of maybe why I didn't connect to anyone.

And let me just say... spiders. No. I am itching all over just thinking about them.

The story started dragging for me after about the 50% mark. So while it was a good read, it fell a bit flat. I expected more romance given the blurb description... but there's nothing more than a couple kisses followed by regret. Given that fae books are usually on the steamy side, I was left wanting in this regard as well. No character connection and no smexytime. Nothing to keep this dirty old lady happy.

That being said... I will probably keep reading if more books are released. There was not a cliffhanger, but the way the story was left open implies that there could be more action, adventure and faeries to come. Plus, I would really like to see how Alina fares in her new life.

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The copy I received is definitely not in final format... so maybe there will be some corrections to improve the story or pacing a bit.

View all my reviews