Isle of Winds by James Fahy

Isle of Winds by James Fahy

Published: December 23rd 2015 by Venture Press

Robin Fellows lives with his grandmother and lives what appears to be a rather ordinary life for a normal twelve year old boy.

But when Robin’s Gran dies, quite suddenly and a bit mysteriously, his world is turned upside down. A long lost relative comes out of the woodwork and whisks him away to a mysterious new home, Erlking Hall, a quiet estate in the solitary countryside of Lancashire.

Suddenly Robin must adjust to his new reality. But reality is no longer what he thought it was…

Erlking has many secrets – as do his newly found Great-Aunt Irene and her servants. After a strange encounter on the train and meeting a cold, eerie man on the platform, Robin begins to notice odd happenings at Erlking.

There is more than meets the eye to this old, rambling mansion.
Little does he know that there is more than meets the eye to himself.

Robin is the world’s last Changeling. He is descended from a mystic race of Fae-people, whose homeland, the Netherworlde, is caught in the throes of a terrible civil war.

Not only this, but in this new world there is a magical force that has infiltrated the human realm.

Before he can wrench power from the malevolent hands of the Netherworlde’s fearsome tyrant leader, Lady Eris, he must first search for the truth about himself and the ethereal Towers of Arcania.

Note: I received a review copy of this book from the publisher in return for an honest review. This in no way influences my opinion. 

Silly old me accidentally requested the second book in the series without actually realising that it was the second book in a series. Obviously when I realised my mistake, I had to request a review copy of the first one!! Note to self: check before requesting!! Although, having said that, I can’t say that I went all too wrong by requesting this series. I actually relatively enjoyed the book and I have already started the second book. Talk about binge reading!! I think I am going to format this review in the form of a list, so that it is more coherent and I can get all my thoughts down! So, without further ado:

Likes:

• The REALLY weird beginning. The beginning was really weird and it had me hooked! I wanted to know what on earth was going on purely because it was odd. It kept me turning the pages and turning the pages some more to find out what was happening. I don’t think I have read a beginning like that in a long time!
• All of the characters. I actually like all of the characters, even the bad ones, because they were fleshed out so well. I felt like I could have been wherever they were when they were talking and I could have taken part in the conversation. Some of the characters were a bit naive and others not so much! Each and every character had their own voice, so they were never in any danger of blurring into one another!
• The description of the setting itself. I was there. I swear I was there. Well, considering it doesn’t exist, I obviously wasn’t there…. but I was there through James’ writing! It was amazing!! I had all of these images in my head like a movie and I just want to be in the Netherworlde right now!!
• The twist! I was not expecting what happened. I don’t want to give too much away because it would give some of the rest away, but I LOVED the twist! Give me more please!
• Also, the ending. I was really satisfied with the ending. I think it left enough questions that need to be answered, without it hanging too much onto a cliffhanger. I guess a cliffhanger wouldn’t have mattered too much to me because I already have the second book in my claws … well, my kindle’s claws. Who’s counting?

Dislikes:

• I feel like it peaked a little bit in the middle? It fell into a bit of a lull, so when I had to put the book down, I wasn’t all that bothered about it. I hate it when a book does that, but I think the beginning and the ending made up for it!
• I think I have been on instagram too much recently, because, for a while, I was actually reading this book in the voice from the author!! I mean, obviously this isn’t his fault, it really is my brain’s, but it was still really distracting! For anyone who has heard the author speak, he sounds as English as English gets and that is coming from an English gal! Like I said, this wasn’t really his fault, it was mine, but it distracted a little from the beginning of the book! The characters began to find there own voices a little while through!
• I didn’t feel the pull to know what was happening. I wanted to know what was going to happen, but I also want to know who won season 7 of Hell’s Kitchen. I didn’t have a problem putting the book down to catch on on a fest of “YOU DONKEY”s and “GET OUT OF MY KITCHEN”s. Which was a shame.

All in all, I enjoyed this book and I am intrigued to see where the plot goes, but it missed that wow factor. I think the writing was really great though, which also contributed to this book getting a 4/5 stars.

Have you read this book? Did you like it?

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