The Falconer by @_ElizabethMay Review + #Giveaway

The Falconer by Elizabeth May
(The Falconer, #1)
Release Date: May 6, 2014
Publisher: Chronicle Books; 378 pages
Rating:

Heiress. Debutant. Murderer. A new generation of heroines has arrived.

Edinburgh, Scotland, 1844

Lady Aileana Kameron, the only daughter of the Marquess of Douglas, was destined for a life carefully planned around Edinburgh’s social events – right up until a faery killed her mother.

Now it’s the 1844 winter season and Aileana slaughters faeries in secret, in between the endless round of parties, tea and balls. Armed with modified percussion pistols and explosives, she sheds her aristocratic facade every night to go hunting. She’s determined to track down the faery who murdered her mother, and to destroy any who prey on humans in the city’s many dark alleyways.

But the balance between high society and her private war is a delicate one, and as the fae infiltrate the ballroom and Aileana’s father returns home, she has decisions to make. How much is she willing to lose – and just how far will Aileana go for revenge?

I've been excited for awhile now but I know what you're about to say, why am I only just reading it? I will tell you. I hadn't been in the biggest moods for fantasies, and I've been more on a NA binge and reading a fantasy or paranormal in between those. However, I just read two amazing fantasy books and I now want to read all the good ones. I've heard great things about this so it was only fair that it'd be my next tackle.

While it might have taken me a few chapters to really get in to the story, man did I really get in to it. In fact, I read the majority of the book in one sitting, which the note from the editor warned me might happen. They really weren't lying. I have a thing for books involving faeries and it doesn't really matter what kind they are, I have a soft spot for them. These faery were evil, killing humans to survive.

Aileana is awesome. There is really no easy way to describe just awesome she is but wow. She's a lady by day (though not by choice) and a huntress by night. Or murderess, whichever you feel fits her better. All it took was her mother's death to change her future. She envisioned herself marrying, having bairn of her own and just doing what women in the 1800's do but then witnessing her mothers death made her see that it really wasn't the life for her. She can see faery which is seems like no one else can see. But more than that, she can taste them when they're near. It's weird, right? But it totally fascinates me. It's like she can taste their power and each kind of fae have different tastes.

There are two guys but I wouldn't call it a love triangle at all. Though I would be all for that because I, personally, really like Gavin and even though Aileana says there are no longer those kinds of feelings for him, I'm not sure I entirely by it. I especially don't believe he doesn't feel that way for her. There is a line near the end of the book that completely says otherwise and I may have been giddy when I read it. I may have read it a few times, in fact. Gavin has been a friend of Aileana's since her childhood and, in fact, he is the brother of her best friend, Catherine. The only person who still trusts her after all of society believe Aileana is the one who murdered her mother, not some crazed animal (which is what they were told).

Now insert the mysterious Kiaran McKay who is the one secretly training her night after night to go around town, murdering faery before they can kill her kind. What he's really training her for is something much larger than what any of us, Aileana included, anticipated. He's not one to be trusted and he has many secrets hidden away but the question is, will we ever find out what they might be?

There isn't a lot of romance in this book but there's the hints and the build up of one and I really liked it because it didn't take away from the story. It wasn't needed, either. That's coming from me so you know it's a great story if the lack of romance really didn't bother me.

The worst cliffhanger in the world. I'm not even kidding you. I may have thrown the book when I read it and flipped to the next page then realizing that was it. It's a cruel, cruel way to end a book. Usually, I find, cliffhangers in second books are far worse than first books. If this is the case, I'm terrified to read the next book.

If you love fae, like me, this is something you should definitely check out. It also happens to be in my favorite time period (1800's, which I'm fascinated with) and in Scotland. I mean, it's Scotland so how can you not get excited? The story, itself, is beautiful, exciting, thrilling and emotional. It's really a book filled with everything you would want and then some.

Thank you so much to Chronicle Books for allowing me the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

One US reader will have the fantastic opportunity to win the ARC of The Falconer (read only once, by me, who takes extremely great care of my books) by Elizabeth May. The winner will have 48 hours to respond to their email before a new winner is randomly selected. This giveaway ends on Thursday, July 17 at 11:59 PM EST. Good luck and may the odds be ever in your favor!

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