Book Review: The Falconer

The Falconer written by: Elizabeth May
Release Date: September 19th, 2013 *UK*; May 6th, 2014 *US*
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Format of Book: Nook
Summary (From good reads): One girl's nightmare is this girl's faery tale
She's a stunner.
Edinburgh, 1844. Eighteen-year-old Lady Aileana Kameron, the only daughter of the Marquess of Douglas, has everything a girl could dream of: brains, charm, wealth, a title—and drop-dead beauty.

She's a liar.
But Aileana only looks the part of an aristocratic young lady. she's leading a double life: She has a rare ability to sense the sìthíchean—the faery race obsessed with slaughtering humans—and, with the aid of a mysterious mentor, has spent the year since her mother died learning how to kill them.

She's a murderer.
Now Aileana is dedicated to slaying the fae before they take innocent lives. With her knack for inventing ingenious tools and weapons—from flying machines to detonators to lightning pistols—ruthless Aileana has one goal: Destroy the faery who destroyed her mother.

She's a Falconer.
The last in a line of female warriors born with a gift for hunting and killing the fae, Aileana is the sole hope of preventing a powerful faery population from massacring all of humanity. Suddenly, her quest is a lot more complicated. She still longs to avenge her mother's murder—but she'll have to save the world first.

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This is the first book of the trilogy. When I started my mini read-a-thon (or stopped paying attention to the page goal), this book was on my list, and once I started reading this; I didn't want to put my nook down at all. I almost literally forgot about the other books I was currently reading because of the way this book sucked me right into Aileana's world. This book was a mental refresher with the fae lore and the fights were bad ass. I loved Aileana as a character. She is high in society, but yet, she comes out to be a girl in the modern age that knows how to fight for what she loves. Everything about her is refreshing and I kept wanting to know about her and her connections to the Falconer heritage.

The author also did a fantastic job with the side and the other 'major' characters. Each of them had their own sass in them and were more realistic than a lot of typical characters readers normally see in literature. Out of most of the characters, I found myself enjoying Derrick right from the start. For a fae, he was completely out of character when focused on Aileana's enemies. I kept picturing him as one of those flamboyant guys that ends up being your best friend for life and I wanted to hug him to death while eating loads of honey and cookies. And don't get me started on Kiaran, what a stone-cold hottie. He was a typical bad ass, but at the same time; you can feel sympathy for him while he's assisting Aileana in battle.

One of the key things I did enjoy a lot while reading this book was the historical lore of both Scotland and Fae Elizabeth May incorporated for this trilogy. Within the writing, the knowledge the author possessed really shined and made the book more powerful in terms of the plot and the different versions of fae that roamed within the streets of Edinburgh. Overall, I thought she did an amazing job with this book and bringing the fae folklore to life. The characters were completely sassy and enjoyable to embrace the journey with. I can't wait to read the sequel!

Happy howling everyone and fourth of July weekend if you live in the US.