This is an excellent book. A very good beginning to her new series about the Fey. I love Hamilton's style and have read almost all of her books and never been disappointed. Her writing always sucks me in and I am caught reading for hours with no thought to the passage of time.

Background: This book is about the fey, magical beings. In these books, there was human vs. fey war and the fey must of lost because they were kicked out of Europe and only the US would take them in--but that was during Thomas Jefferson's presidency. The fey moved to the US and there were established two courts of Sidhe (the most human like and the most powerful and beautiful fey) The Seelie Court or all things light and beautiful and the Unseelie Court or those who take in everyone. The courts were allowed into the US under a very strict set of rules and regulations and if someone breaks them, then all of fey are tossed out on their ears.

The main character, Meredith, belongs to the Unseelie court and her aunt is the Queen--that makes her a princess, but she has a problem. She is part mortal and therefore some of the Unseelie don't like her and are trying to kill her. She left the court three years earlier to escape the assassination attempts. She left and went to LA and has been making a living as a magical detective, but a new case she is working on causes her to lose the glamour she has been using to disguise herself. Now she must go back to the fairy mounds. Her aunt has some plans for her, but she knows not what.

The plot of this book is that Merry is found out and forced to go back to the Unseelie court. She has no idea what her aunt has planned for her or even if she will let Merry live. Merry also needs to find out if she can answers to a couple of questions left over from the case she was working on. One of the Sidhe was breaking two to the rules by letting themselves be worshipped as a god and by giving some very powerful magic lotions to humans. Can Merry find the culprit and can she survive living in the fairy court again? I can't say more without giving the whole plot away.

Hamilton does a great job describing all the creatures that appear in this novel. She also does a good job in describing the fey courts and the rules that govern them. She covers us in court intrigue and rules, at times it can be hard to keep up, but it’s worth it. There is intrigue, sex and violence in this book as well as magic--be prepared.

Her characterization is also good in this first novel. They each have their own dimension. I especially like Merry, and Frost. Merry is our main character. She is half sidhe, part human, and part brownie. She is third in line for the throne of the Unseelie Court. She has been hiding in LA away from the court, blending in as human for three years because her cousin has been trying to kill her. She has a sidhe outlook crossed with human feelings. She is a very interesting character. She is just coming in to her powers, which are very interesting. She is a strong female character who stays strong--she doesn't lean on one of her male counter parts, which is what usually happens to these great strong female characters. Frost is one of the Queen's guards. He is described as have long white hair and very light eyes with pale white skin. He is also a very tasteful dresser, vain really. He has been celibate for 800 years. he begins as an arrogant sidhe, but we see levels of personality begin to emerge throughout the novel.

This book moves fast, but you are never really left behind. It can be a bit complicated, but it promises to be the first in a great series. It doesn't disappoint.


Recommended: Yes