Sadly I had to dnf this book. I was intrigued by the first chapter and was excited to see where it went only to be disappointed. The clunky exposition of the next few chapters is what left me to dnf. For an adult queer romance, I do not want to be getting lessons about the world by a character repeating their homework back to other characters. I was hoping that would be the last of it but the more I read the more stilted and awkward exposition I was forced to wade through. It was too much and it killed all desire to carry on with the book.

[ENGLISH/ESPAÑOL]

~ ENGLISH ~

The ARC for this novel was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review: Thank you so much!

You don't know how much I loved Merrick and Larkin and how interesting this story is!

It all begins in 1799, on the island of Eidolonia, where both humans and fae are being tormented by the evil fae Ula Kana, who aims to subdue and eliminate humans.
The war with her has gone on too long, deaths have increased, and Ula Kana has unparalleled power that neither witches nor fae can match.
Humans and fae decide to join forces in order to temporarily contain her, keeping her in a deep sleep until they can find a way to overcome her strength or permanently contain her.

However, the dealings between humans and fae are delicate, and therefore it has been stipulated that a member of the royal family of Eidolonia must share the deep sleep of Ula Kana.
Prince Larkin, under the terrible spell of Rosamund Highvalley, sees himself volunteering and soon joins Ula Kana in her terrible long sleep.
The treaty says that if one of them is awakened, the other will too, and a terrible danger will beset the world.

Two hundred years after Larkin's noble sacrifice, Rosamund's descendant Merrick Highvalley discovers the truth about what happened in 1799 and accidentally wakes up Prince Larkin and, with him, the evil fae Ula Kana, who returns with revenge.
Now Larkin and Merrick must find a way to stop Ula Kana forever, but to do so they will have to trust each other and embark on a journey of no return.

I must say that the plot of this story was extremely fascinating! The story behind it is very interesting, not only because of the conflict between Prince Larkin, his “sacrifice” and the problem with Ula Kana, but also because of the interesting way in which Merrick's world was presented.
I admit that at first I did not get the idea, but the current world with a hidden island full of magic combined with technology? Is incredible!
The entire first part of the book I found myself fascinated by the world the author created, and at times I felt like Larkin: learning everything all over again with curiosity.

The first part is full of information about the world, its inhabitants, the types of witches and that makes it somewhat overwhelming but no less interesting.

And the characters!
Dear God, Merrick and Larkin are beautiful solecitos and I love them so much!
I really liked Merrick, how loving he is, impulsive and somewhat clumsy but full of good intentions and a huge desire to protect his loved ones.
I loved him so much and the development of him as a character throughout the book left me extremely satisfied, especially with the ending.

Larkin, on the other hand, is a wonder that never ceased to fascinate me! A character who comes from another era and has to learn everything anew, while he suffers from the losses he has had in his life. His story left me broken and on more than one occasion I found myself wanting to hug him and comfort him, he is a poor scared boy living the consequences of an injustice!

These two characters took all my heart completely, they are stars 💗.
Even so, I really liked some of the secondary characters, although some of them I would have liked to know more about them!

This book is very funny, extremely interesting and dynamic, but I have to be honest: I would have preferred the book to be a bilogy.
There are some parts full of information that, due to the fast pace of the story, do not allow you to process what they are telling you. The first part was a bit dense for me because of the amount of information that was thrown at us, but I also really liked that diverse world that the author created.
Some of the things that happened, however, could have developed better. As I said, the pace of the book is very fast, so some situations that could have been taken advantage of were put aside very quickly.
At other times the events seemed to happen very conveniently, which bothered me a bit but that did not make me not enjoy the story~.

I think that as a bilogy this story would have been better planned, so the author could expand on some things, she could better develop some parts of the character development and show us a little more of the world.
Still, in some parts where the author talked about traumas of the characters, their fears and how they had to face certain tragedies, I really liked it and I would have loved it more if I had delved into it a little more.

However, I really liked the book! The plot is very interesting and the protagonists completely steal your heart and the intrigue you feel throughout the book is very intense! To Merrick and Larkin, I will carry them in my little heart, I wish there were more books of the two of them.

~ ESPAÑOL ~

El ARC de esta novela fue proporcionado por la editorial a través de NetGalley a cambio de una reseña honesta: ¡Muchísimas gracias!

No saben lo mucho que amé a Merrick y Larkin y lo interesante que es esta historia!

Todo inicia en 1799, en la isla de Eidolonia, donde tanto humanos como faes están siendo atormentados por la malvada fae Ula Kana, quien tiene como objetivo someter y eliminar a los humanos.
La guerra con ella se ha extendido demasiado, las muertes han aumentado y Ula Kana tiene un poder sin igual que ni brujos ni faes pueden igualar.
Humanos y faes deciden unirse para poder contenerla temporalmente, manteniendola en un sueño profundo hasta que puedan encontrar una forma de superar su fuerza o contenerla de forma permanente.

Sin embargo, los tratos entre humanos y faes son delicados, y por ello se ha estipulado que un miembro de la familia real de Eidolonia deberá compartir el sueño profundo de Ula Kana.
El principe Larkin, bajo el terrible hechizo de Rosamund Highvalley, se ve a sí mismo ofreciendose como voluntario y pronto se une a Ula Kana en su terrible y largo sueño.
El tratado dice que si uno de ellos es despertado, el otro también lo hará, y un terrible peligro se ceñirá sobre el mundo.

Doscientos años después del noble sacrificio de Larkin, Merrick Highvalley, descendiente de Rosamund, descubre la verdad sobre lo sucedido en 1799 y accidentalmente despierta al príncipe Larkin y, con él, a la malvada fae Ula Kana, quien regresa con sed de venganza.
Ahora Larkin y Merrick deben encontrar una forma de detener a Ula Kana para siempre, pero para ello tendrán que confiar el uno en el otro y embarcarse en un viaje sin retorno.

Debo decir que el plot de esta historia fue sumamente llamativo! La historia que tiene detrás es muy interesante, no sólo por el conflicto entre el príncipe Larkin, su “sacrificio” y Ula Kana, sino también por la forma tan interesante en que se presentó el mundo de Merrick.
Admito que al principio no llegué a captar la idea pero, ¿el mundo actual con una isla escondida llena de magia combinada con tecnología? Es increíble!
Toda la primera parte del libro me encontré fascinada por el mundo que creó la autora, y de momentos me sentía como Larkin aprendiendo todo de nuevo con curiosidad.

La primera parte está llena de información sobre el mundo, sus habitantes, los tipos de brujos y eso lo hace algo abrumador pero no menos interesante.

Y los personajes!
Dear God, Merrick y Larkin son unos solecitos preciosos y los amo mucho!
Me gustó muchísimo Merrick, lo amoroso que es, impulsivo y algo torpe pero lleno de buenas intenciones y de un deseo enorme de proteger a los suyos.
Lo amé demasiado y su desarrollo como personaje a lo largo del libro me dejó sumamente satisfecha, especialmente por el final.

Larkin, por otro lado, es una maravilla que no dejó de fascinarme! Un personaje que viene de otra época y tiene que aprender todo de nuevo, mientras sufre por las perdidas que ha tenido en su vida. Su historia me dejó hecha trizas y en más de una ocasión me encontré deseando abrazarlo y reconfortarlo, es un pobre chico asustado viviendo las consecuencias de una injusticia!

Estos dos personajes se llevaron todo mi corazón por completo, son unas estrellas 💗.
Aún así, me gustaron muchísimo algunos de los personajes secundarios, aunque de algunos me hubiera gustado conocerlos más a fondo!

Este libro es muy divertido, sumamente interesante y dinámico, pero he de ser sincera: hubiera preferido que el libro fuera una bilogía.
Hay algunas partes llenas de información que, por el ritmo tan rápido de la historia, no te dejan procesar lo que te están diciendo. La primera parte me resultó algo densa por la cantidad de información que nos lanzaban pero también me gustó mucho ese mundo tan diverso que la autora creó.
Algunas de las cosas que pasaron, sin embargo, pudieron haberse desarrollado mejor. Como dije, el ritmo del libro es muy rápido, por lo que algunas situaciones a las que se les pudo haber sacado provecho, fueron dejadas de lado muy rápido.
En otras ocasiones los eventos parecían pasar de forma muy conveniente, lo que me llegó a molestar un poco pero eso no hizo que no disfrutara la historia~.

Creo que como bilogía habría sido mejor planeada esta historia, así la autora podría extenderse con algunas cosas, podría desarrollar mejor algunas partes del desarrollo de los personajes y mostrarnos un poco más del mundo.
Aún así, en algunas partes donde la autora hablaba sobre traumas de los personajes, sus miedos y cómo tenían que enfrentar ciertas tragedias, me gustó mucho y me habría encantado más si hubiera profundizado en ello un poco más.

Sin embargo, el libro me gustó muchísimo! El plot es muy interesante y los protagonistas te roban el corazón por completo y la intriga que sientes a lo largo del libro es muy intensa! A Merrick y Larkin, los llevaré en mi corazoncito, ojalá hubiera más libros de ellos dos y su desarrollo.

I read an earlier book by author Molly Ringle and while the story couldn't charm me I did like some of her ideas and writing. So when I saw Lava Red Feather Blue I knew I had to give it another chance. I have some mixed feelings.

The start to Lava Red Feather Blue was a strong one. We go back in time first to learn a common knowledge to the island set in our world (but shrouded in mist to hide it from the rest of the world). Prince Larkin sacrificed himself to a magical sleep to keep a truce between the humans and fae on the island. But was this really a sacrifice?

We meet Merrick in modern day who has seen the effects of the truce. The good and the bad. As a half-fae, he isn't always accepted for who he is. He manages to awaken Larkin and with him, disrupts the peace on the island. Because with Larkin, an evil fairy rises, bent on eradicating the humans from the island. And you know, I partially feel for this fae because it struck me right of the bat as a twisted white european settlers background. The humans who come to the island basically take a good portion of the land from the fae. I wonder what that sounds like? I don't really know if the author meant to make this link but it is too similar to really discard since this happened during that period. It feels a bit ill thought out.

However I did enjoy the first half of this book. Merrick has a bit of an innocence about him while Larkin is our stuck-up prince. Their interactions with Merricks family and each other is what made the first half of this book for me. They were growing a bond between them despite their differences and prejudices.

The second half has the pair heading into fairy land and that is where I feel very mixed about the story. Of course fairy will mess with your head. But it messed with their dynamic. They argued. Had dumb drama. And then they fall in love. And I didn't quite feel it at that point anymore. Because the bond they had at the start of the story wasn't quite there anymore and I didn't feel they were coming out of it any stronger. The plot also didn't quite hold my attention anymore. The quest in fairy felt incredibly long-winded.

All in all I feel that Lava Red Feather Blue had great potential with the set up of the story and characters, but didn't quite finish it off.

I read the first few chapters when I was trying to select my next read but just couldn't connect with it so decided not to continue. There are elements that I can see people loving though, and it's a shame because the blurb was so good but just not my cup of tea sadly.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Unfortunately, I had a hard time getting in to this book. The synopsis sounded very promising, but I really struggled to engage with it, especially at the beginning. The protagonist was hard to root for and the dialogue seemed a bit off. I noticed that many people absolutely loved this book, so perhaps I will try it again.

3.5 stars

I always love books and movies where there is one character who is completely unaware of modern technology and places, how it's developed etc. and how the other one has to explain.
(Sidenote: before reading this book, I, ironically, also read a book about a fae prince waking from a long sleep and unaware of the current world.) However, this did not change my opinion about this ARC.

This book had a lot of potential, it really did. However, the main chain of events only started at the middle of the book.Therefore, it took me a while to finish it. If the events had started earlier, then perhaps it would have taken less long to get through it. Thankfully, after the main events started happening, it was a quick and easy read.

I genuinely really enjoyed this! Lava Red Feather Blue is basically a spin on Sleeping Beauty. The diversity in here was great to see: we have 2 gay male protagonists and a central gay romance, lesbian rep and a non-binary character!

The book had a such a fun story, and even though it was pretty easy to guess where it was going, there were a couple of twists that I wasn’t expecting. I loved the themes of free-will, loss and hope throughout, and the characters were so real with each other which was lovely to see.

The different locations of the fae world were really interesting, and there were some beautiful elements of what it means to be fae.

A couple of things that didn’t work for me:
- The writing style was pretty info dumpy throughout, but it affected me more at the beginning. I wasn’t invested yet and to be thrown a lot of information about world events was a bit jarring.
- the writing style also felt very modern and conversation-like, however this is set in modern day (I believe) so makes sense.
- the villain was extremely textbook ‘evil for the sake of being evil’, and I tend to prefer a more thought out backstory

Obviously these things are personal preference so if you love these elements, don’t hesitate to pick this book up! It was a fun read, and I’m interested to delve into more of Ringle’s works.

The book started out a bit slow, I struggled a tad too keep going, but the idea of the story made me continue. As I got probably quarter of the way in, it began to pull me in and before I knew it was over. The characters were easily likable and at times you felt a resonating connection. Sometimes in books like this the characters can become quite flat, but as the story built these characters had a well rounded personality that could make you think they were real people. The story itself was well written and a lot of twists and turns you weren't expecting. The ability of the author to build a world and give it life to where you could picture it in your head was wonderful. I cried, I laughed, I cheered them on, over all the book was lovely and a wonderful gripping tale.

I had a hard time getting into this book in the beginning but the idea was such a cool concept i persevered. And Im glad to did since once you make it about a third way thru it really picks up the pace and was a real pleasure to read. A nice refreshing take on the fantasy genre. Overall good book but the front end could have been shaved down a bit.

Thanks NetGalley and the publisher for a review copy!

I have received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Wow. I can't believe that I waited so freaking long to dive into Lave Red Feather Blue. Man, oh man, I'm so happy that I got this book. Even though I waited like 84 years to finally read it's magical pages, I am very happy that I got the chance to dive into it. I'm just sorry that I waited for it to be published in order to do so.

Honestly, there's so much to fall in love with when it comes to this amazing book. The world building, characters, and everything else in between was just completely entertaining from start to finish. I mean everyone was completely realistic in my eyes. They made mistakes, countless mistakes people, but they learned from them and it made them a better person in the end. Which was really refreshing because most books these days characters will magically be perfect at anything (even if it's there first time knowing it existed) and then make decisions without thinking things through or facing any sort of consequence.

So, yeah, this book wasn't like that and that's probably why I devoured it so freaking quickly. Again, I'm not even sorry about it one bit. I am, however, really disappointed in myself for waiting so long to read this. I feel like I need to redeem myself by going out and buying the actual book now.

In the end, I fell in love with everything. The twists, romance, drama, and fights kept me on the edge of my seat. I also feel like Merrick and Larkin are both my spirit animals just because I loved everything about them. The bantering and such gave me life. I just loved the damn book.

Lava Red Feather Blue by Molly Ringle is a fantastic fantasy novel. The story begins 220 years ago when Prince Larkin is put into an enchanted sleep against his will by the witch Rosamund Highvalley in order to put to sleep an evil fire fae who is attacking the human inhabitants of the island. The story jumps to modern times when Merrick Highvalley (ancestor of Rosamund and half-fae) accidentally frees the prince while trying to find a magical object to cure his dad of a fae curse. Merrick and Larkin will have to go on a magical quest to recapture the evil fae when she also woke up when the Prince was awoken.

This is such a fun book. The worldbuilding was great. I loved all the different kinds of fairy folk—the would felt very rich and full. I loved the mixture of modern culture and magic. The setting is an island in the Pacific Ocean where humans and fae live together with magic and its isolated from the rest of our human earth but they still have cars and smart phones. The plot was really fun and all the characters were well crafted. I particularly liked that the main characters, Merrick and Larkin were in their late 20s, it’s not an age group you see a ton in fantasy novels. It’s also very queer which I loved.

I'm a sucker for fairytale retellings!

This was a really cute, new take on Sleeping Beauty. A 1700s Prince is put under a sleeping spell and awakes centuries later to discover the world is a much different place then when he left?! Yes please!

I thought the balance of fae/fantasy elements with modern technology was well done. The magic was well explained and seemed natural.

If I have a main criticism of the book it would be that it was too short. I think for how interested I was in this world 350 pages wasn't enough. I wanted more character development and deeper relationships, I wanted more history of the fae/human coexistence, and I wanted to see more of the island.

Merrick and Larkin were really cute, I just felt like their relationship was a little forced. Give them more time to get to know each other and they would be a natural couple. Seeing as the whole book took place over the course of about a week, I think it was rushed.

The pacing was a little strange in places. There were scenes that I felt could have been given more attention while others had too much time dedicated to them.

Overall, this was a really solid read and I'd recommend it to anyone looking for a nice escape into a fantasy world. I'm hoping for a sequel of sorts so we can see more character development from Merrick and Larkin and see more of the world. 350 pages wasn't enough.

A good new fantasy, but definitely not mind blowing. It was a good read to try something different and new.
The only negative thing was the world building writing, which wasn’t very clear in some points.

Lava Red Feather Blue follows the adventures of Merrick Highvalley and Prince Larkin. In this Sleeping Beauty-esque fantasy setting, over two centuries ago. Prince Larkin volunteered to go to sleep to also bind Ula Kana, a powerful fae hell-bent on eradicating the humans from the country of Eidolonia. Merrick, after discovering his ancestor's box of mysteries, accidently wakes the sleeping prince and by doing so, breaks the spell holding Ula Kana back. Now he must journey through the unknown and perilous land of the fae to trap Ula Kana without sacrificing anyone.

I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked this book. A feel-good adventure with palatable characters, this was a book I did not mind spending 6 hours on.

I liked how well-developed the world seems. The country of Eidolonia blends seamlessly with the modern world and technologies of the 21st century, The author has managed to answer simple questions such as "how can the citizens access the Internet but the outside world can't see into this country" without going too in-depth. The answer is fairly simple: because of magic; but because of how alive the worldbuilding is, it's a good enough answer for me.

I loved the presentation in this book! It is tagged as LGBTQ fiction because we have queer main characters, a world where taking lovers of any gender is accepted, and a non-binary character who, much to my chagrin, is not present throughout the book. Still, it is good to see such rep without it being the main plot of the story.

The plot is fairly simple: two 'chosen ones' who are realistically the only two people capable of completing the quest, on their way to complete a quest that will most likely result in their deaths.
But with this simplicity also comes a lack of spontaneity. There is nothing special about this book. It was predictable - obviously they are going to succeed and save everyone, even if their journey is riddled with danger and grief.

Another problem I have is with the romance. There is good sexual tension between the characters and they suit each other just as much as they clash. But the 'L' word was said much too early for my liking. They haven't known each other for more than 2 weeks, and they're already in love? Yeah, it's going to be a no from me.
While we're on the topic, Merrick is supposed to be 29 and Larkin, 26, but neither act or feel their age. I honestly believed they were both in their late teens - 17, 18-ish - and had to remind myself they're not.

It's a good novel, there's no doubt about that. It's just nothing special.

(3.5 stars) This is a slow-paced, character driven fantasy. For me, the beginning made it a little hard to get into, but all fantasy requires some build up and world building. I enjoy the fact that queerness is just a fact of life in this world and there are many queer and even non-binary characters. There is no drama or backlash at all about this. This was adventurous and I liked the sweet development of the romance. Big props for this being a stand-alone fantasy, which can be hard to come by.

I received a copy of the book from Netgalley to review. Thank you for the opportunity.
An interesting idea behind this story but I found it difficult to get into as the writing wasn't always very clear about the world building.
An OK read.

Queer fantasy adventures! Fairies, of both the good and bad varieties! Witches! Island magic! A centuries-long sleep that leaves a prince out of his element in a modern world! This was a fun read, an action-packed adventure with a little love story, a little hero-saves-the-day, and a little social commentary that mixes just perfectly.

This was such a great book, but I just had a hard time getting into it. I don't know if it was something about the tone of the writing or that I usually tend to like love stories that form throughout the telling of the book, but it was so hard for me to finish this novel. It had so many wonderful fantastical language and images, and Larkin and Merrick were very cute and helped each other grow as characters, and I was also so happy about the non-binary representation as a gender non-conforming person. It had everything I would have wanted in a novel, the perfect Cinderella retelling, but it just didn't do it for me. I think you should give it a try though, you very well may love it!

DNFed, sadly
I recommend this for

People who like retellings, magic, queer romance and faes.

What I liked

I’m actually sorry I had to dnf this. I did like the premise, it’s a queer sleeping beauty retelling and that was the reason I requested it in the first place. It’s set in a non-homophobic world, it’s full of magic, the fae folk is a huge part of the story and like I said it’s a queer romance. Sounds like the perfect recipe for a book I was going to love, right? Sad to say it didn’t work for me. Basically, all I did like was the concept of the book.
Also, the cover is absolutely stunning.

What I didn’t like

There’s not actually a huge reason why this book didn’t do it for me. There’s nothing really wrong with it. All I know is that I tried to push through, but even getting at 40% was hard. It’s sad to say, but the more I kept reading the more I found myself not caring about the characters and what was going to happen to them. The story was really predictable and the characters didn’t have enough depth for me to keep reading just because of them.
Part of the reason is because I didn’t love the writing style. It felt really impersonal and detached from the story. I don’t know how to explain it, except that everything just felt flat.

Final thoughts

I see I’m in the minority here, so maybe this will work for you. I’m still going to say it’s worth a try! It’s not a bad book whatsoever, like I said, I didn’t connect to the story like I wanted to, but maybe you will.

A gem for readers of fantasy. Ms Ringle has created an awesome world where humans and fae live together in somewhat harmony. When the Sleeping Prince is accidentally woken up, all hell breaks loose. (You read that right, it is not a Sleeping Princess). It is Merrick, half-human, half-fairy, who breaks a 250-year-old curse by waking up the handsome prince and now he has to pay for it. And pay for it he does as he enters forbidden and dangerous territory to find and stop Ula Kana before she destroys everything and everyone on his island. What he doesn't plan on happening is falling for the handsome prince from the past, which complicates things. There is plenty of action, fabulous world-building and amazing characters. But this is more than a fantasy novel, this is a story about family and relationships. And ultimately it is a love story with a Fairytale/Lord of the Rings feel written with a humorous undertone. An enjoyable read even for those who don't usually read fantasy.