I went in blind Lava Red Feather Blue and was greatly rewarded.
In the first chapter, you have zero idea what’s happening or what kind of world you’re in. You’re just starting to understand what’s going on, and then you’re thrust two centuries to the future.
Merrick is not a perfect protagonist, and I love him for it. Larkin, too, makes a few questionable choices. But they both learn and grow. Their relationship evolved through the story, and it felt natural.
Every once in a while, the dialogue felt a bit stiff, but it wasn’t enough to truly bother me.
I love the world that the author built and looked forward to coming back to it every evening as I read. And really, that’s one of the best things you can find in a book.

Dammit! It took a whole 2 days for me to fail at my new years resolution: Don't fall for cover porn.

This story really didn't work for me. The writing was juvenile and with its cheesy, melodramatic insta-love, teenage swooning and obligatory happily-ever-after, it seemed destined for the younger spectrum of YA readers. But then there are snippets that are definitely more appropriate for the older YA / New Adult readers and may not be suitable for younger readers. It's a bit of a weird mixed bag.

It's almost like someone in the pitch meeting / editing room has recently read of lot of Sarah J. Maas, Holly Black and Charlaine Harris, perused a draft and thought "where's all the sex!?! You've got sexy gay elves here, you need more sex." (view spoiler) "You need to sex it up.", "Sex sells!" and handed Ringle a checklist of must-have tropes and cliches to add to the plot.

Alas, the focus on swoonworthy-fairytale relationships and the characters really affects the overall plot. For example, at one point in the story they're about to take on the second-big-bad of the story - a character Ringle has spent a considerable amount of time building up to be a tough opponent - and ...[SPOILER the antlered-war-chief-fairy ally bellows to start the skirmish ... there is some tingling, crackling, flashing and shimmering in the air, the ground shakes ... and it is it. It is all over 2 paragraphs / 102 words later ?!? We didn't even see what happens in the battle. Wha?!? Am I missing a couple of pages or a chapter? ] . It was just a wee bit underwhelming.

Recommended for fans of: Twilight, The Cruel Prince, City of Bones

Thank you to Netgalley and Central Avenue Publishing for

I've read The Goblins of Bellwater, so, I was confident Lava Red Feather Blue would be a fun and interesting story, and Ringle didn't disappoint!

Let me begin by saying that I loved everything about Merrick and Larkin! Merrick's adorable childhood infatuation with the sleeping prince was just too cute. Separated by centuries, these two lovable protagonists must learn to work together to overcome their differences and save Eidolonia. They were imperfect, compelling characters with very different strengths and weaknesses. I thought the romance between them was well done. It wasn't a love-at-first-sight romance, which I appreciated, rather I think they kind of grew on each other while being forced to rely on each other.

As far as the world building goes, I really enjoyed the blend of magic and technology and the political tension between the human and fae worlds. I think Ringle also did a good job of creating realistic tension between different factions within the human world as well.

Once Merrick and Larkin began their quest the action really picked up, and all the challenges they faced helped maintain a level of tension and uncertainty that really kept me turning pages and rooting for our heroes. Overall, I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it for anyone looking for LGBTQ representation, magic and technology, and quest-based fantasies. Meanwhile, I look forward to seeing what Molly Ringle writes next!

I received this book from NetGalley as an eARC in exchange for a review.

Lava Red Feather Blue follows half-fae, half-human witch Merrick and sleeping beaty-esque prince Larkin as they attempt to save the world from Ula Kana.

This book was unique in plot, which anymore seems pretty surprising for fantasy books. It was definitely a slower burn that I would typically go for, and this made me feel a bit slumpy. I did love the male/male romance and the incorporation of various magical people/creatures and types of magic. If this becomes a series, I may consider picking up the next book because I miss the characters already.

I FINALLY finished this book. It’s one of those books that isn’t bad per say I just found very clunky and difficult to read. I wish I could put my finger on what it was exactly.

The plot was interesting - reverse sleeping beauty with a Prince being put into magical sleep to imprison a bad faerie intent on destroying the human world. I really like the idea of Larkin and Merrick running off to save the day. They were good characters - but a little annoying. My favourite character was Nye and he was barely in it.

I just found it really hard to connect with the story and the characters. The pacing was slow to me and I struggled to pick it up - I read 4 other books in between. I managed to finish reading it, which is why it’s 2.5 stars but it just wasn’t for me.
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Lava Red Feather Blue by Molly Ringle is a fantasy novel that was published at the start of this month. It centres around two characters: Prince Larkin, a human royal who has been recently awoken after being put under a sleeping spell under duress for over two hundred years, and Merrick, a half-fae perfumer, descendant of the witch who put Larkin under the sleeping spell, and the man who wakes him entirely by accident. Waking Prince Larkin also wakes the fae Ula Kana, who is intent on destroying all humans on the island that they live on. Merrick and Larkin have to team up to defeat Ula Kana once and for all, venturing into the dangerous fae realm without any guarantee of their safe return.

Overall, I enjoyed the book. The story was interesting and gripping, with some interesting world building and a great cast of characters, including many openly queer characters which made my little queer heart happy. The exploration of the concept of love given the differences in the perception of time between fae and humans was also really interesting, as was the contrast between the life Larkin had known and life for the rest of the human or part human characters of the book.

Merrick and Larkin had some cute moments as a couple. I love the trope of one character facing or overcoming a fear they hold for another, and Ringle executed it beautifully. The only thing I would say is that as someone who is used to slow burn romances, their relationship seemed to progress a little fast to me. I would have liked some more time to really get to know them and understand why they love each other, but I still think that they compliment each other well as characters.

I would recommend Lava Red Feather Blue by Molly Ringle for fantasy fans looking for a high stakes story with a side of queer romance.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Lava Red Feather Blue is a cute and light read with some humorous moments that kept me entertained and interested throughout. Though billed as an adult fantasy, I would classify this as a new adult read as Merrick, one of the protagonists, appears a bit immature for his age and felt more of an early twenties character than near thirties. Based on content, it is a bit above the level of an average YA read, though more mature readers of the YA audience would do fine with it.

The writing was good and comfortable for me. I found it adequately descriptive, though I could have used a bit more world-building and physical character descriptions. This was particularly true for me with regard to the fae world. However, I did very much appreciate the inclusion of different species and their customs. Also of note was the attention to modern conveniences as experienced by Larkin, who had been in a magically-induced sleep for over 200 years. The address of his exposure to technology was both realistically and humorously handled.

The relationship between Larkin and Merrick is cute and fun. It is a bit instalove-y in the fact that it is fairly predictable, but the progression of the relationship is well-handled and interesting. Their interactions gave me a few good laughs along with some warm fuzzies. Their banter was particularly fantastic.

In fact, the majority of the characters and their interactions were great, with Merrick and Larkin being particularly well fleshed out. The only characters that felt extraneous to me were Merrick's sibling and niece, who provided a relationship for Merrick, but not much else. They did not appear to serve the plot in much of a substantial way and could have been utilized more. This also may have helped to expand the importance of Merrick's involvement in the perfumery. I found the occupation interesting, but there wasn't a lot of exposition explaining what he did or showing how they did it. It would have been a fun inclusion for me.

The author handled diversity and LGBT+ representation wonderfully. Unlike a lot of novels with rep, diverse sexuality does not take center stage in a way that works as a plot device, it simply exists as a matter of course. This was pleasantly refreshing and I appreciated the lack of a heavy hand.

Though I enjoyed the world and would definitely be keen on exploring it more, this novel is a standalone and it does well as one. The plot is constructed nicely and the pacing is great. There is enough action to sustain the narrative from beginning to end. The ending is good and wraps up nicely. I will admit that there is some convenience factor in the final pieces of exposition, but it was fun to read and had a very satisfying resolution. Definitely recommend, especially for readers of light fantasy or those who wish to introduce themselves to fantasy.

* Disclaimer: I received a copy of this novel from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. *

I really liked this book. It's adventure, romance, family trope, loads of representation and an ending that makes your heart happy, the kind that puts a smile on your face. The world building is quality, I was a bit lost at first but soon got to understand everything. It's not a perfect book, there's some flaws, some parts I couldn't understand at all the reason to be in the book. Anyway, overall was a great reading experience and I'm looking forward to read more books by this author

Lava Red Feather Blue is the new enchanting read from Molly Ringle. A different take on the Sleeping Beauty theme, this is an action packed and beautifully imagined book. 1799, and the Island of Eidolonia is at war as fae Ula Kana is rebelling against the humans taking some of the fae lands. The only way to stop her is for Prince Larkin to go into an enchanted sleep that would also enchant Ula Kana. For centuries peace has remained until in the present day when witch Merrick Highvalley, descendent of the witch who enchanted Prince Larkin, accidently awakens the Prince, which also releases Ula Kana who begins her attacks again. Merrick and Larkin, two unlikely heroes, have to cross into the fae realm to try and stop Ula Kana before she destroys the Island.

In Lava Red Feather Blue Molly Ringle has created a wonderfully enchanting world in Eidolonia, an Island hidden with enchantments. From 1700 the fae have allowed humans to reside there in certain parts of the Island, and for some humans the Island has invested it’s magic in themselves, making them witches with three different powers; Exo Witches can manipulate other things, but not themselves, Endo Witches can magically alter their own appearance and Matter Witches who can alter non living materials. There are also the many wonderful magical creatures in the fae realm, huge dragon flies, Kelpie built like horses that travel the rivers, Woodstriders, huge hairy creatures like bears and the fae themselves who change shape and appearance. The different fae realms are based on the elements, earth, air, fire and water, and each realm inspires strong emotions like anger, fear, and love that can overwhelm human visitors. Add to that the beautiful rich colours, the stunning landscape and you have an enchanting new world.

Molly Ringle has also created some wonderfully colourful characters, and a society that is diverse and inclusive. When I first started this book, the thought of Merrick being any kind of hero seemed a bit strange. When we meet him he is helping to make a costume of Prince Larkin for the upcoming Water Festival. He obviously has a wonderful relationship with his sister Cassidy and her young daughter Elemi to whom he is a father figure. But away from that he seems a bit feckless, always getting in trouble with his magic, using it when he shouldn’t, and not always considering the consequences, and it is his sister who is his voice of reason. Merrick’s obsession is with his ancestor Rosamund Highvalley, the witch who enchanted Prince Larkin to trap Ula Kana. It is this inquisitiveness that leads him to accidentally open a portal in the house that leads to the Bower where Prince Larkin has been kept for over two hundred years. Not just content to open the portal, Merrick has to touch the Prince’s face, to remove dust, and ultimately wake him up and free Ula Kana. It may not be loves first kiss from Sleeping Beauty, but it had the same effect. They find themselves in danger, wanted by the authorities, and the only thing to do is go the fae realm and try to stop Ula Kana. Two hundred years is a long time to be away from the world, and I loved watching his reactions to a changed world, the technology, the amount of people now living on Eidolonis, and the fast pace of life. The chemistry between Larkin and Merrick pulses off the page, and no matter how they try to ignore it, and go about their mission, it just follows them around, adding an extra dimension to the book. I did feel that the characters could have had more detail to them, at times they did feel a bit flat, especially at the beginning, but as the book progresses I found myself more invested in them and their story.

Red Lava Blue Feather took me on an adventure to a stunning and fascinating new world, full of colour and magic. The new take on the Sleeping Beauty plot was origional and refreshing, I loved the buff and sexy sword wielding prince and the hapless young witch prone to trouble. Packed full of adventure romance,and danger mixed with folklore this is a heady cocktail of a book that left me feeling nice and warm and fuzzy after I finished it. I really wish this wasn’t a stand alone book, as I would love to return to Eidolonia to catch up with the characters again. An enchanting and charming read, that you can’t help but be seduced by.

This was a magical quest across an island filled with just about every fae creature imaginable. I adored it! It also had the sweetest MM romance. I also enjoyed the twist on the Sleeping Beauty fairy tale.

Lava Red Feather Blue follows Merrick Highvalley, a half-fae, who’s trying to find the away to heal his father from the strange fae sickness that’s rapidly ageing him. In his search, he finds an old box of charms. These charms lead him to a hidden portal where Prince Larkin has been in an enchanted sleep since 1799. Merrick accidentally wakes up the prince that also breaks the enchanted sleep of Ula Kana, a powerful faery, who’s determined to eradicate humans from Eidolonia.

The narrative opens in 1799 when Prince Larkin is sent to his enchanted sleep before fast-forwarding to modern day where we meet Merrick. The story unfolds from both Merrick and Larkin’s point of view.

I adore Merrick Highvalley. He is an absolute sweetheart who will do anything from his family but is a little reckless. He is half air faery. Merrick can fly and has downy feathers like his mother that grow alongside his body hair on his nape, between shoulder blades and on his chest. I loved the exploration of what it means to be half-race. It didn’t feel as though it was just there as a plot point.

The relationship between Merrick and Larkin has a bit of a rocky start. Larkin is a perfect grumpy hero to Merrick’s ray of sunshine, which we all know is my favourite trope. But Larkin is quick to realise that he cannot trust his ancestors or the current government whose agenda is to take over the fae lands. Merrick and Larkin form an unlikely alliance as they head into the fae realm on their quest to ally with the three fae whose lands surround the Kumiahi desert. With these alliances in place, there is the hope of stopping Ula Kana without putting the prince back to sleep.

At the start, I was a little confused about the setting. I was unsure if this was set in our world or somewhere else and found it jarring. But once I got my head around it I adored the idea of a hidden island in the pacific where humans and fae live alongside each other. The island feels as like a part of the pacific. I love the addition of Hawaiian and Maori words for names of people and places.

The representative and diversity in Eidolonia are amazing. Queerness is a fixture on the island even in the 1790s timeline. All races and sexualities are a natural part of the world, which is honestly something we need to see more of in the fantasy genre.

Lava Red Feather Blue was everything I could ever need in a fantasy romance. I’m not sure if we are getting any more from this world — secretly I hope we do! I’m excited to read more from Molly Ringle. Perfect for fans of fae and MM romances.

Thanks to NetGalley and Central Avenue for providing me with a copy.

The beginning of this book really intrigued me and I was so excited to keep reading to see how it all unravelled. However, about 30% of the way through I found that I was quickly losing interest and I didn’t seem to be invested in the characters.

Overall, it had good prospects but unfortunately it wasn’t for me.

““Its strange but I miss you. I meant it truly when I wished to see you again. But I cannot send for you without endangering you”

Title: Lava Red Feather Blue
Author: Molly Ringle
Type: Standalone
Genres: Romance, New Adult, Fantasy, LGBT Romance, Retelling

Lava Red Feather Blue was a delightful surprise. It took me on an adventure to the Fae world, a world I am known to love. I think this year and the past one has been all about finding these hidden gems in books and this story / sleeping beauty retelling is definitely up there. Our fantasy story starts with Merrick as he unravels a spell freeing a prince who was been kept asleep a long with a dark Faery called Ula Kana. A soon as Prince Larkin wakes, so does she and she starts creating a civil war within their country. Soon the two men have to go into the Faery lands and try to capture the evil creature.

I enjoyed many parts of the story, one of my favorite ones being the silly banter and romance that blooms between Larkin and Merrick. It is pretty insta-love, but I enjoyed it and I felt it worked for the adventure they were going on and the time that they were really passing in the faery lands. Something I didn't like about the characters was that they seemed way younger than what they actually were. They were supposed to be grown adults of 26 and 29, but the dialogue sometimes seemed fit for a 17 year old. This didn't make me take them so seriously as I should have.

The action itself was pretty good, I loved the scenes where they venture into the different realms in the Fae territory and have to go through different tasks in order to defeat Ula Kana. Many cute scenes are added here and there that make the story come alive and be very unique as per all those other adventure fantasy stories that exist.


--- 3 stars ---

This book came out on my birthday! So it's actually a shame that it took me until after my birthday to read it, when I've had the arc for a while now.

Anyway, the beginning of Lava Red Feather Blue was really not my cup of tea.
I couldn't tell you what it was, but something about the way we're told about the world just feels clumsy. I also immediately assumed this to be a high fantasy, so I got caught by surprise by Hydrangea, the Giant Flemish Rabbit. But. Lava Red Feather Blue takes place on an imaginary pacific island in the real world, so that's kinda cool! All those popular fae book usually have what feels like half a chapter in the "real" world and the rest takes place in the fae realm.
While we're talking about the fae: I'm really glad Ringle decided to put in more fae creatures than what is popular right now (so, tall, human-looking, hot, assholes) and went with a more diverse setup. There's all kinds of fae, hobs, redcaps, sylphs, and my personal favourite: the kelpies.
It is a really refreshing look, and I especially like the way Ringle mixes together this fantastical world and the modern world with phones and stuff. In my opinion, that's a trope wildly underused and that I call "contemporary but with dragons".
I also really liked that we
a) don't have a 16/17 year old plain-but-hot female main character that falls for the hot-but-mean fae, but instead we get 29 year old Merrick, a perfumer (that's so cool!) and Larkin, a human prince! And also all kinds of diverse characters, with Cassidy for example, who's, as far as I can tell, nonbinary and goes by they/them, and also no lowkey homophobia to go with Merrick's gay ass.

Unfortunately, while the world Ringle set up was pretty cool, the plot fell flat. It's extremely linear and really just "going to place a to do thing b" repeated three or four times, and that's the plot.
Lava Red Feather Blue wanted a lot more than it delivered, which was unfortunate, since it had a lot of potential, what with the racism (specism?) against the fae, the corruption of the government and the regulations placed upon witches. It would've been very interesting to read more about how those restrictions influenced Merrick's life for example, but we saw very little of this considering how often Merrick repeated that he has two strikes and another strike would mean jailtime.

I'm still giving this four stars, even with the flaws, just because I like that there's no main fae-human coupling that ends in wild sex (I'm looking at you, SJM) and the world was really cool! So, give it a try!


@NetGalley and Central Avenue Publishing: Thank you guys for this ARC!

I thought going back into fantasy, Ringle would hit her stride again and the story would magically sweep me away as Goblins did. Unfortunately I felt this one struggled a bit to decide what it wanted to be, and I just never felt connected to the characters or the story the way I wanted to... I never felt engaged with the story or the plot. It moved slower than I wanted it to, and there was a lot of written description that felt like it slowed the pace down rather than added to the complexity of the world that was being built.

There are a lot of people who really love this one - so definitely read more reviews before deciding for yourself. This one just didn't do it for me... It was a fine story, I just never found myself lost in it or its characters the way I did with the earlier book. Lava Red Feather blue, unfortunately, turns out to be in that same vein for me...

I'm really disappointed in my response to this one... The Goblins of Bellwether was one of my favorite books the year it was released. Ringle did an amazing job creating a world out of whole cloth, and populating it with characters who were fascinating and fragile and quirky and wholly engaging. Iwent into her second,
All the Better Part of Me expecting to recreate that magic, albeit in a very different way - and was saddened to find that it was a book that just didn't resonate with me. It was a fine story, I just never found myself lost in it or its characters the way I did with the earlier book. Lava Red Feather blue, unfortunately, turns out to be in that same vein for me...

I thought, going back into fantasy, Ringle would hit her stride again and the story would magically sweep me away as Goblins did. Unfortunately I felt this one struggled a bit to decide what it wanted to be, and I just never felt connected to the characters or the story the way I wanted to... I never felt engaged with the story or the plot. It moved slower than I wanted it to, and there was a lot of written description that felt like it slowed the pace down rather than added to the complexity of the world that was being built.

There are a lot of people who really love this one - so definitely read more reviews before deciding for yourself. This one just didn't do it for me...

Actual rating: 2.5 stars

This book was just okay. It had a great premise but the execution just felt off to me. There was far too much exposition at the start of the book for me to immediately become engaged, the dialogue felt clunky and the descriptions were subpar. The romantic relationship wasn't bad although some of the decisions of both mc's was frustrating at time.

Personally I thought the beginning of this book hooked me but I just lost interest about 25% of the way through. Maybe I'm not the target audience, maybe I'm just dull. This one wasn't for me personally.

Thank you to NetGalley and Central Avenue for giving me a e-ARC in exchange for a honest review.

This story was a Sleeping Beauty retell with a LGBTQ twist to it. I absolutely enjoyed this book from beginning to end. The romance and plot were great. The characters were also enjoyable to read about. My favorite part of this book was the setting.

I felt that at about halfway into the book I got a little overwhelmed and started slow down my reading of this book. At a few various parts I was just trying to push through them. Overall I did really enjoyed this book.

While I appreciate the author's effort to bring cultural diversity into this book as well as its interesting concept, I found the writing lacking flexibility and creativity. So as I was trying to dwell myself in this faerie-inspired island that she has created, it's hard to thoroughly enjoy it. I had been informed before reading that I might find some typing errors, but I doubt that even such an incident would be a sufficient explanation for the anti-climatic feeling I got from her conduction of penmanship.

The main couple itself and the whole cast overall didn't leave me any remarkable impressions either. As I have mentioned above, the author tried to fill this book with a wide range of characters from many ethnics (especially the Hawaiian cultural references) and sexualities being normalized of which I always want to see more in this particular genre, I can't help but find them tokenized and didn't receive much representation in this story. If Ms. Ringle had to dump down clarifications for that in the acknowledgment, I'd say, her effort was not satisfactory, and it could have been done so much better.

As for the concept of this book, it was really enticing to me, since we don't normally see the supernatural factorials being blended into daily life in urban fantasy, but usually seen as some secret society unknown to humans. But this idea was so poorly handled and lack consistency. Many details went unexplained, many others were unnecessary, and some didn't make any sense.

Great concept and intention. But with bad writing and terrible execution.

This story is basically an adult, queer, sleeping beauty set on a magical island in the pacific ocean.

The island of Eidolonia is set in the real world but because of magic it scrambles satellites and boats are often pushed off course so it hasn't been discovered by the world.
I really liked this idea because the pacific is so vast that there very easily could be an island out there with magical beings on it. (In my head anyway)

Around 300 years prior, the fae agreed to let humans stay on the island, they could marry whoever they wanted and go by whatever gender they wanted. The humans on the island also began to develop magical powers of their own from the proximity of the fae.
After a while there was a war between fae and humans, and to gain peace, Prince Larkin was sacrificed and put into a permanent magical slumber.

We theb travel to 2020 where we meet Merrick, a descendant of the witch who put Larkin under the spell and who doesn't really know what he's doing with his life. And after finding some of his ancestors magical trinkets he accidentally wakes Prince Larkin up.
However this also means he awakens the fearsome Ula Kana, a fae set on destroying the humans.
Larkin and Merrick form and unlikely friendship, challenge the corrupt government and then head out on a quest to the fae realm to try and save the island.

There is dual POVs in this book but I have to admit they weren't quite different enough because I often couldn't tell who was speaking.

It's a gritty, self sacrificing and realistic fantasy tale with a unique set up.
Merrick's family and friends were brilliant and the romance was a wonderful slow burn. However it definitely has a bittersweet ending which I found a bit depressing. Maybe because it was a bit too realistic I'm not sure.
That being said I still really enjoyed it and will most likely read it again!

CW: death, ptsd, depression