C. J. Brightley

This lovely twist on The Little Mermaid was surprising in so many ways. I appreciated how the whiny mermaid (I detest Disney's rendition) was exchanged for a vain merman. He knew he was beautiful and that his voice was lovely and any human would be lucky to fall for him. Except then, he falls for her for real.

The princess was even more delightful. Having an ailing father meant she was carrying the weight of the kingdom on her shoulders, even planning her own marriage alliance. She did so with such grace and acceptance, even when it was clear this wasn't what she would have chosen if she didn't love her kingdom so much.

From licking soap to marveling at legs to disavowing inconveniences like needing to breathe air and dry skin and even feeling confusion over why male height matters to humans, the story had a level of realism mostly missing from mer stories. It will make you laugh and wish it didn't end so soon. I'm excited for more books to be written in this beautiful world.

I received an ARC from the author and have reviewed it willingly.… (más)

The story continues exactly where book two left off. Colonel Grenedor is listening to the wrong voices and persecuting Christians. More fae have experienced redemption. And Aria is struggling with her own desires to be better to be more and maybe even to believe in the God that Owen and Bartok and others have staked their lives on.

What stood out to me in this segment of the story was how each of the fae responded to grace. While it was similar to humans--some accepted it and others didn't--those who experienced grace changed drastically, choosing to enact that grace toward others, especially others who didn't deserve it. And more often than not, it started a chain reaction.

I hated watching Aria struggle. I kept thinking, just believe already! How can you not believe after everything you've seen? And yet, she didn't stop caring for others or listening to those who did believe. She didn't reject people just because she was confused but kept an open mind. And she grew as a result.

And then there is still Petro. I don't know what Petro is or what he does. Even with a pretty big reveal at the end, he is a great mystery, but even more fascinating the more we find out. He's something like an angel turned semi-mad scientist experimenting on humans but in non-lethal ways because angel, but also a bit more detached and dangerous than I would expect an angel to be. Hopefully, book four will reveal all.

This has been an incredibly wonderful and unexpected series. I can't wait for CJ to finish the finale.… (más)

This book was very different than book one, Things Unseen. In many ways, it was shockingly different. It made book one feel like only introduction to the story--and I thought it was fabulous, so that is by no means a criticism. But book two, The Dragon's Tongue, jumped into the war.

The fae are being hunted, but also, so are the Christians. Something evil is out in the world, and it will stop at nothing to take down anyone and everyone in its way. After Lord Owen rescues a number of the fae, Colonel Grenidor takes matters into his own hands, increasing the level of cruelty toward the few fae still under his control and watching one turn to the dark side. The colonel also wrestles with how far he is willing to go to gain power and eradicate his supposed enemies. But can he trust the being who claims to want to help him?

At the resistance headquarters, the fae are wrestling with issues of faith and forgiveness. Is their god, El, the same as the god of the Christians, and if they are the same god, then can the grace and forgiveness offered to humans in the Bible be offered to the fae as well?

Aria and Owen are less main characters, but still significant as they wrestle with their own issues. Owen isn't healing well and struggles to relinquish guilt over what he did while in captivity. Aria learns secret after secret that threaten to change everything. And Bartok prays. A secondary character in the previous book, he has risen to prominence in this story, as his faith and understanding of the Bible makes him highly sought after by friends and enemies.

This is a strange book for me to review. It had hints of Frank Peretti and Randy Alcorn's spiritual warfare stories and yet remained entirely something of its own--a new fantasy in the best sense. I'm looking forward to reading the next book in the saga and finding my own faith and hope challenged to grow as a result.… (más)

Things Unseen begins with a mundane account of a college student struggling to do research and write her papers. Then it gets weird from there. She sees a young man that few others can see. A monster attacks that no one has heard of. Fae are real. And the government has placed trackers in...everyone?

Initially due to curiosity and later conviction, Aria follows the young man and learns there's more to everything going on around her than she could have ever imagined. Like many heroines, she is with a choice. Will she choose to go back to life as usual, or will she risk everything for truth and love?

I said earlier that this was nothing at all what I expected. The character types and archetypes in this book aren't typical of a dystopian story. The fae almost seem like angels, the way their powers work and don't. And I have no idea what Petro is. The book also delves into the human need to know everything but questions is that good for us? I struggled with that. Because as a human, and probably as an American, I want to know things, I think I have the right to know things, to be able to make decisions for myself after being given all the information. And yet, I know that knowledge can be used to enact great evil, so perhaps there is a point where we need to relinquish our insatiable need to know and choose who we will trust. I may change my mind tomorrow, though. I'm still processing this.

There is also much of good versus evil. You may detest someone, or you may find their methods incongruent with your worldview, but they still might not be evil...possibly, even good. It's a lot to wrestle with. And I'm looking forward to mysteries that will unfold in book two and, probably, a lot more questions.

Note: This book ends on a bit of a cliffhanger, and the author has said the story doesn't resolve until book four. I think it's still worth the read for the questions that begin to be asked in this book.… (más)