3.5 Stars
This is an ARC copy given for an honest review. It will be released July 2, 2013 and is definitely the first book in a new series.
I absolutely love the premise of this story because I love fairies! Caspian is half fairy. In this story a half fairy/half human is called a “changeling”. Technically this term is used to describe a child that is suspected of being 100% fairy left in place of the 100% human child. So I don’t know if the author is just taking some liberties here or if she is saying that changeling children are actually 50% fairy. His father is a prince of Annwyn (the world the fairies live in), but Caspian has never met his father. He also has a special talent. He can see and understand the history of an item by touching it which is called psychometry in this book. Caspian is divorced and runs an antique shop (obviously his little trick comes in handy in determining the value of antiques).
Lydia is human and is grieving the loss of her grandmother who raised her. Lydia is a Calloway and the Calloway House is very famous in Charleston. Lydia’s grandmother did many things to keep the house and one was to be a place where all the “movers and shakers” of the 20’s and 30’s could keep their mistresses. Lydia has hired Caspian to do an appraisal of the house and all the things in it.
Caspian has always kept his fairy repressed, but Annwyn has chosen this moment to come knocking. The banished fairies are making trouble for Caspian, but if he makes a deal with them he could lose his soul. All of Annwyn and those who are banished are frantically looking for a mirror that is gate into Annwyn. The Annwyn Court is in upheaval and Caspian (and thus Lydia) is thrown right into the middle of it).
What I didn’t love about the book was the inner dialogue of both Caspian and Lydia. At times they were both overly dramatic and making leaps of logic that the reader should be able to get without it being spelled out. They both waffled back and forth so much I wanted to smack them. Waffled about what, you ask? EVERYTHING! If something could be waffled then they waffled. Should I sell the house or should I keep it? Should I sell the diaries or keep them? Should I invite him over for dinner or tell him to get lost? Should I call him or not? Should I go inside or not? Blah, Blah, Blah! I get that not everyone knows what they want all the time, but these characters didn’t know what they want any of the time. I really hope that they mature some in the rest of the series. Which is odd because, while I don’t know their age, they both come across as forty-ish adults!
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