Review: The Exile (The Fae #1) by C.T. Adams
The Exile is everything I like about Urban Fantasy!
What I liked: First, let me say when I found out C.T. Adams and Cathy Clamp were going their separate ways, I was pretty much devastated as they (Cat Adams) write one of my favorite series. But they had a plan to pick up their separate careers and I wanted to give each of them a chance as individual authors.
I was very surprised by how much I enjoyed The Exile. I love any novels about The Fae and it seems each author who writes about them has their own take on Fairy. In Ms Adams' Fairy there is only one court. No Light and Dark Seelie (believe me, some of the bad Fae more than make up for a split court) which was very different from other books about Fairy.
The protaganist, Brianna, is one of the daughters of the King of Fairy by a human (?) mother. We do get some background on Brianna's mother but I feel there is more to be revealed. In my interpretation, I think her mother leans toward being a witch, so not completely human in my eyes. Brianna has some pretty good spell casting abilities but is not as immortal as the rest of the Fae. Of course, she has a love interest but at the moment it's just a strong attraction with hints of heat.
The rest of the characters have pulled me in and made me want to know more and more. I get the feeling this series is going to become very complicated with all the different sects of Fairy taking sides in the coming war. Trying to pin down the different factions to alliances may be a whole different drama.
Ms Adams has made a very good start with her world building and characters. Brianna is very strong and has intelligence but hates the politics involving surviving Fairy. There are many characters with different points of view included by the author.
What I didn't like: This is more observation than something that bothered me. If you read Laurell K. Hamilton's Meredith Gentry series, The Exile might feel familiar. A basically human Fae princess, hated by her Fae siblings but is The King's favorite. She's left Fairy to live in the human realm in order to survive and avoid all the political drama. Ms Adams' story has more depth and less sex which is refreshing but there are many similarities. Just giving you a heads up.
Basically, I started The Exile expecting nothing and ended up entranced and not wanting to put the book down. Readers might not like all the POVs but it didn't detract from the story at all for me. As long as the POVs flow in a logical manner, I'm fine with them.
You don't want to miss out on this new series by a veteran, excellent author.
Highly Recommended!!!!
