City of Fae, Pippa DaCosta

Pages: 336

Publisher: Bloomsbury Spark

Release Date: 7^th May 2015

Edition: UK e-proof, NetGalley review copy

From the moment Alina touches London’s hottest fae superstar, breaking one of the laws founded to protect 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 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.

I’ve come to associate Bloomsbury Sparks with quick, fun and lively novels and City of Fae met those expectations perfectly.

From the very start, Alina’s story throws up mysteries and questions, all surrounding a gorgeous fae rockstar. What has Reign done? Why are the authorities after him? And what on Earth does it have to do with her?! Answers are drip fed as Alina gets to know Reign a little more and discovers more about the deadly fae. In the 70s, the fae came out to the rest of the world and though there are government warnings and laws to keep humans safe, the fae are beautiful and dangerous and endlessly alluring.

The mythology that Pippa Dacosta wove around Reign and the fae was really, really interesting. It’s nothing I’ve ever read before and I loved how completely original it felt. The fae need draíocht to survive and humans are a plentiful resource. The draíocht can be leached from humans by a single touch, but a few too many times and the human becomes bespelled – they’re pretty much high and addicted to the fae who drew their draíocht. This is a risk that Alina dances around for the entire novel, bringing her growing attraction to Reign into question as dangerous situations bring them closer and closer. I really loved the high strung tension between them and the pure risk of them helping each other; it made me race through the novel.

As Reign and Alina become more and more entangled, so does the world Alina thought she knew. Though there is the fantasy staple of the heroine not being quite who she thought she was, I did enjoy the direction it went in. I loved that Alina didn’t like what she discovered, that it wasn’t all good and the high stakes that were placed on her shoulders didn’t feel forced; she was an unfortunate pawn in a centuries old game. Alina’s newfound knowledge led us deeper into the mythology of faerie, giving us a glimpse into the reality of the fae and where they came from as well as why they opened themselves up to humans in the 70s.  

City of Fae is a fun, original and sparky debut and I hope I get to see more of this world.

Thanks to NetGalley and Bloomsbury Spark for the review copy.

Sophie