Queer fairytale retellings are the best thing ever! I really enjoyed this story. Great characters and storytelling. The novel was very engaging and plot-heavy and I really liked that. You get what the synopsis promises1

Sleeping Beauty continued...

Lava Red Feather Blue was not the type of book I was expecting. I'm not one for standalones but I really enjoyed reading of a Sleeping Beauty retelling featuring Merrick and Larkin's adventures after the beauty wakes up.

Merrick wakes Larkin up from a 220 year long sleep that he was forced into. When Larkin awakes, so does Ula Kana, a fae hell bent on destoying the humans of Eidolonia. Now they must find a way to trap her again, before the government forces Larkin back into his restless slumber.

Wizards and WiFi

The integration of technology into a fantasy world/realm was interesting. I'm not a huge fan of tech in my fantasy books, but the author addresses that through her characters, which I thought was an interesting twist that modernized the story. The fact that Ringle did is so well impresses me, which is what kept me reading.

I found the story a bit juvenile but the writing and sexy scenes is what made it more of an adult fantasy. Those more intimate scenes were written tastefully with enough suggestion to know exactly what was going on, which I thought made the book that much better. Ringle keeps the language relatively clean while still delivering content that readers might have been looking for.

Young and the Restless

I don't find that Merrick acted his age. At a certain point in the novel, we learn that he is close to 30. I swear I thought he was 14-18 up until that point. Maybe it was his dialogue or the way he presented himself, or maybe compared to Larkin he seemed really young to me.

Once I understood that we were waking up Prince Larkin, I got really excited. The connection between a centuries-old character and one from today is always a fun experience. I was worried that since this was written as a modern day fantasy with tech, the book would focus on Larkin learning how to use a phone and getting mad at the TV. There were glimpses of incomprehension here and there, but it was never the focus which made the book for me.

Love is love, and people are people

A lot of LGBTQ+ books tend to present characters who deal with homophobia or coming out issues, which are prevalent in the community and are important to talk about. However, I think it's just as important to present characters as living normal, happy lives.

This is exactly what Ringle does. We have M/M romance, F/F romance, and a non binary character, and not once are these mentioned outwardly or present an issue. I think it's great to present these characteristics as normal to society, because they are normal.

Great standalone book

We get a nice finale at the end of the book that gives us closure and solidifies the standalone-ness of the book. I thought this was a perfect ending to a great story, and I'm happy to leave it as a standalone to keep the characters just the way they are.

This story felt like a warming hug from the beginning until the very end.

Throughout the book we have this captivating narrative and amazing descriptions which help us visualize the surroundings with ease and even feel the magic all around it. So, yes, it was really captivating! The setting was lovely, like a dream world.

I loved the characters, all of them! They were so different from each other but if we pay attention, we get to learn something from each one of them. For me, the theme and the message this book passes are the most important things to retain from this reading.

One of my favourite things about this book was how the author managed to create a world where LGBT isn't even a matter of discussion. Everything is so normal that no one questions anything, no one feels out of place. We can't even say it's something "acceptable" because it just feels normal and right. That was amazing and I absolutely loved it.

Also, especially by the end of the book, we are taught the lesson of accepting our differences and living with each other in peace and harmony. Friendship and loyalty also have a strong focus here as well!

Even though I could focus a little bit more on reviewing this book on a technical level, I think the essence here is really all the emotions we go through and what we can retain by the end. This book will leave you thinking about your friendships, about acceptance and wanting to be a better person overall.

Big thanks to Netgalley and Central Avenue Publishing for providing me with an e-ARC.

Lava Red Feather Blue by Molly Ringle
Pub : Jan 5, 2021
4.85⭐
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This book told the adventure of Prince Larkin, who was put to sleep in 1799 by magic as a way to contain Ula Kana- a fae who is bringing chaos and destruction to human in Eidolonia. Over 200 years had passed and Prince Larkin was awaken from his slumber by a half-fae called Merrick resulting for Ula Kana to be also awaken. We follow how both our main character learn how to overcame their fears, know who they can trust, calm the people of Eidolonia and once and for all stop Ula Kana without using unwilling sacrifice.

- i tried my best explaining the story without spoiling too much😂.
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First off, i gotta admit that i really couldn't get into the story at first read. Maybe it was because of the writing style. So i decided to read it again from the beginning and this time i was able to enjoy the story. For me, the book is quite fast-paced but not to the point you won't be able to take in the story.

The story is really engaging for me as there are moments that i need to put my phone down because i was overwhelmed, angry and shock. Dialogues between character is also very funny and easy, especially between our 2 main character.

I love how author displayed the weaknesses and fears of the characters shows us how they handle it. I'm glad that the characters actually solved their disagreement by communicating(thanks Lord and Lady), i've had enough of stories where small argument could've been settle just by talking but both parties refused to communicate and it leads to a freaking huge misunderstanding.

Also, the fact that the author shows us the aftermath of the war, the consequences, the traumas, the grieves, the angers, the acceptance and how everyone is faring.

All in all, truly a engaging and wholesome read. I did cried a few times reading this and i really encourages everyone to read this.

#lavaredfeatherblue #netgalley

This fun Sleeping Beauty-esque fantasy read has it all - fae, witches, magic, an enchanted island and royalty.

220 years ago Prince Larkin was put into an enchanted sleep to stop a Civil War with the fae realm. Flash forward to 2020 and Merrick, a half-fae & flying witch, somehow wakes him up. Now Merrick has to deal with an 18th century prince in a 21st century world, and an island that's now on the brink of turmoil.

I really enjoyed this book! It was the perfect blend of adventure, romance and fantasy. I loved all the characters! Merrick, Larkin, Merrick's family - they're so delightful! And the tension between Merrick & Larkin throughout was perfect. 😉

If you're looking for a fun, fantasy read, pick this one up!

Thanks to @centavepub & @netgalley for this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

This book was a very readable tale. Fans of The Binding by Bridget Collins may enjoy it as it does revolve around LGBTQ characters although this isn't a central theme. I did finish this as an easy read but wouldn't be a book I would choise reread.

This may be an unpopular position but I did feel that writing Cassidy as non-binary felt a tad forced. I could be wrong, but although the narration was at pains to say that those defining themselves as non-binary was common, I didn't notice any of the other characters being coded this way. Personally I found making Cassidy non-binary smacked a little of box ticking rather than part of creating a rounded character. Other readers are of course free to feel differently.

I’d like to take a moment to thank Netgalley, the author, and the publisher for an arc in exchange of an honest review.

Where to start?
Would you believe this is the first MLM novel I’ve ever read? Not on purpose, but since I only read sci fi and fantasy it doesn’t pop up often. I didn’t even realise when I picked it up (though I guessed pretty fast).

I absolutely loved this novel. Sadly seems to be a stand alone but after the resolution at the end I feel this would be fitting. I’m not sure there would be room for more exploration.

The writing is lovely and both character voices are very distinct - the fact they’re from different time periods really does help. Occasionally I would find language used in one of the sections didn’t quite fit but it was minimal.

I enjoyed the blend of technology and the modern world with magic and the Fey, in a way that didn’t actually cause issues. I liked the tensions between people though I wish those things were solved as easily in real life.
I did really enjoy the fact that this wasn’t a coming out story and that being lgbt+ was not questioned and was just part of life. The only time I wondered was about Cassidy being gender neutral/ non binary simply because everyone automatically knew to call them by they their pronouns and I wondered if this was as automatically intuitive to people. It was never an issue and I didn’t even notice it until I realised their child called them by their name not mum or dad. So clearly it’s not a problem!

I kind of wished we got more time with the side characters but overall I felt everyone had a distinct voice - only Cassidy felt underused.

I genuinely think this was a lovely romance that didn’t solely focus on romance. I really recommend it - I needed something nice to distract me in hard times and it made my heart happy.

There is some sex but honestly it’s very tame even for my asexual tastes so I doubt many could find it too racy. It’s really sweet.

A queer sleeping beauty retelling? Count me in. I was so excited to read Lava Red Feather Blue and I loved the first half of the book. However, around the halfway point I started to get a bit bored. I felt like I saw a lot of the events coming and I just lost interest.

Overall, I did enjoy the book, but I agree with some of the comments of other reviewers.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a eARC in exchange for a honest review.

This story was so amazing and made my heart swell with all sorts of emotions!

If you love retelling with queer twists then this might be the book for you! LRFB is a partial Sleeping beauty retelling following the quest and adventure of Prince Larkin and Merrick Highvalley as they battle through the unknown to try bring peace to the two worlds of Fae and their own.

I absolutely loved that this was put into a contemporary setting but had the added elements of witches and Fae, combining worlds and ideas that I never thought possible!!

Thank you so much to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with an eArc in exchange for my honest review!!


I cannot reccomend this book enough to people.

Molly Ringle manages to combine and engaging fantasy novel with a cute queer romance but for my taste the second half in particular was a bit too busy with the plot to really develop the romance aspect. An enjoyable read but a bit unbalanced for what I was expecting.

* First Thing's First, I would Like to thank netgalley for Access to the eARC in Trade for my Honest Opinion**

I really enjoyed the world that Molly Ringle Created With Lava Red Blue Feather. I feel that the way the Magical Elements were Weaved into the 21st Century World was well thought of and well executed. I Liked the Premise of a 1700's Prince Trying to Navigate in this Century World I have always been fond of the trope as to me it never gets old and Molly Gave it a refreshing view as to where it didn't feel played out.

Now I did have some Negatives but there more of my Own Personal Peeves, I Could say that the only reason they were negatives were mainly because i was enjoying the book and I felt it would of played off better to slow it down. Towards the end and most of the adventure that Larking and Merrick were on was really condensed and full of info dumping so it made it fly by and so the pacing was to fast to really sit and enjoy it but that is my personal opinion on that matter.

Over all I enjoyed the book and would be really excited to see if there was a sequel as its a standalone its only a wish to see if it were to come.

I would Give this a 4/5



Synopsis:
Awakening the handsome prince is supposed to end the fairy tale, not begin it. But the Highvalley witches have rarely done things the way they're supposed to. On the north Pacific island of Eidolonia, hidden from the world by enchantments, Prince Larkin has lain in a magical sleep since 1799 as one side of a truce between humans and fae. That is, until Merrick Highvalley, a modern-day witch, discovers an old box of magic charms and cryptic notes hidden inside a garden statue.

Experimenting with the charms, Merrick finds himself inside the bower where Larkin lies, and accidentally awakens him. Worse still, releasing Larkin from the spell also releases Ula Kana, a faery bent on eradicating humans from the island. With the truce collapsing and hostilities escalating throughout the country, Merrick and Larkin form an unlikely alliance and become even unlikelier heroes as they flee into the perilous fae realm on a quest to stop Ula Kana and restore harmony to their island.

Thanks to Netgalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I was really excited to read this adult fantasy m/m romance about a sleeping prince and the witch that awakened him and in the process also wakes up a powerful fae that wishes to eradicate humans. Sadly, I didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would. It started pretty decently with a nice world building of this secret island that is in our planet but as the story progressed, my interest started to dwindle.

We follow our two protagonists as they embark on a journey to the Fae world so that they can finally put an end to the murder of humans at the hand of some fae. Here is where things got pretty basic and repetitive to the point that I struggled to get to the ending. They go to 3 different territories and give some gifts, partake in a tradition of the territory and something bad happens but OH they overcome it and then they go on their merry way. The world building is very basic and simplistic as well.

The characters... Well, I felt very disconnected from them and even though they were going through dangerous situations I couldn't really care for their well-beings. Everything was told and not shown, specially the last chapter, and it didn't really helped with making the characters more real. The romance therefore suffered from a lack of chemistry, I could understand why they might like each other but it was just so dull.

Definitely not my cup of tea but it would be enjoyable to other readers

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

“He recognizes this place, this sleeper. Any Eidolonian would.

This was Prince Larkin’s Bower, in the heart of the palace, honored and guarded at all hours, no one allowed to enter its sanctity since it was sealed up in 1799.

And Merrick was inside it.”

From what I read, this novel was a gay Sleeping Beauty retelling that involves magic and creatures in this secluded island where humans and faeries lived separately. It goes over themes on race, sexuality, good vs evil, etc. This had a dual POV between the two main characters: Merrick and Prince Larkin.

Based on my experience reading it, I didn’t really care for the first 1/10 of the story and on some occasions I felt like I was pushing myself to finish some scenes even after. But that’s mostly because fae genres aren’t really my thing.

So why 4.5 stars? The simple answer is: Merrick and Larkin’s friends to lovers to enemies to lovers trope. They were so CUTE. I was sold in rating this book either 3 or 4 stars for about 1/3 of the book, but the way their love grew just made this book too good for me to not love it. ♥️

But other than the romance between the two main characters, the dialogue and scenes between the characters especially within Merrick’s family and with Larkin was too funny hahaha.

I kinda wished it had a 3-POV too tho, like maybe two or three quick scenes on what’s going on with the villain’s POV instead of the characters just getting news about them on earlier scenes, but overall, I surprisingly really enjoyed this book. Maybe I’ll even get a physical copy of it at some point to reread it with different lens next time.

If you would be interested reading about a half-fae/half-human and a prince awoken after sleeping for more than 200 years after, traveling together and falling in love with each other when a wicked fae queen threatens both human and fae worlds and possibly their love, then this book is for you.

Thank you Central Avenue Publishing and Netgalley for providing me an eARC of Lava Red Feather Blue in exchange for an honest review.

The concept of an adult take on a queer Fae story set around a quest into the dangerous magical land seemed to me more than thrilling.

The passionate and a little careless Merrick Highvalley has mostly good intentions when he accidently wakes up Larkin, a prince who was lay to enchanted sleep two hundred years before, in order to secure a truce between people and Fae living on Eidolonia. But the prince isn't the only one that awakens. Ula Kana, a powerful Fae who's set to destroy the humans that she believes are a threat to the magical inhabitans of the island, comes back as well, full of rage and ready to set everything in her path on fire. As it turns out, the only way to save the island might be a dangerous journey to the heart of the Fae realm.

Both Merrick and Larkin were really enjoyable leads, and it didn't take long for me to grow fond of them. They're motivated and lost, adorable and stubborn, humanly flawed - which we know should be obvious, but auuthors happen to fail at that sometimes. Rooting for the protagonists definitely helped me enjoy the story, and I like how there was no chosen ones or super extraordinary abilities they would posess. The chemistry between characters appeared quickly, but without cliche insta-lovey scenes - their interactions had a realistic edge of awkwardness to them, as well as maturity, and, for the most time, lacked overly dramatic parts. A truly lovely romance to follow, it was hard not to cheer for them, and nice not to have needless "obstacles" create annoying angst and misunderstandings. Not that there weren't any, but the point is to make them realistic, and that the author succeeded at. Most of the relationships and characterisation was actually handled well, and was the main reason I enjoyed the book.

The fae world was creatively set up - I particularly appreciate the fae taking differing forms for a change (aka not only ubergorgeous human-like creatures that are so popular right now). I wished their realm was painted more vividly though - supposedly it was such a beautiful image, but I had difficulty conjuring it in my mind.

The writing style generally was far too simple. You're very much aware of every instance the author is Introducing Information™, because it either appears in a form of awkward descriptions or artificial dialogue. It wouldn't make much difference if there had been a "We're doing the worldbuliding now" sign there.
To be fair the entire story felt dragged at times - it could do with a bunch of edits. Some parts were redundant, some long-winded, and often telling instead of showing. The entire ending was but a summary of recent events, boring and forced, as if the author really wanted us to now how each storyline ended, but didn't feel like actually writing it.

Despite the high stakes the story also failed to keep me concerned - at some point it became rather obvious that whatever obstacle the characters came across, some magical help or solution would soon appear. The entire quest felt structured like a children's movie or game.

"Go to point A, villain appears, they barely manage to escape (likely with some deus ex machina help or other equally bizarre thing), they reach A and they have to do X. "
Repeat.

And, you see - I am sentimental, childish at times. I love hope and appealing to higher values and light-hearted stories. But the power of love and a speeches defending the dark forces is not something I can take seriously in an adult fantasy. And that's probably my biggest issue with the book - I could ignore the lacking worldbuilding, and the writing style, and simply have fun with the plot. But adventure needs to keep you on the edge of your seat, and not make you roll your eyes.
Honestly, if it wasn't for the sex, this would have felt like a MG. Which in itself wouldn't be bad, but you do except more than helpful magical animals appearing just in time for rescue from an adult novel. Instead it feels like an "epic" Hollywood fantasy movie, entartaining and naive.

Oh, the villain! I would have forgot. Which, honestly, is rather telling. Ula Kana was straight up a cardboard character - a Disney villain, one could say, except they have cool songs and actual motif, so pick some worse kind of children movies instead. I think I just accepted that at some point, and started treating her like a inanimate obstacle rather than antagonist. She's just Evil™, if you know what I mean.

Overall, the truly well rounded characters, the banter, and an engaging plot held potential for a far better final effect. It wasn't a bad story, rather an unpolished one - with some work on the writing style and perhaps the design of the plot the author could create a book that's really awesome. I hope her future stories will live up to the potential.
I felt like I should have lowered the rating more, and yet I don't really want to - I did have fun, and I'm genuinely curious for how the author develops in the future.

(Also beware that it's a romance, after all. So traditionally - the world is falling apart, but a make out session won't hurt anyone, huh? ^^
i didn't mind, but it's something you should be aware of going into it )

It’s 1799, and on the magically hidden South Pacific island of Eidolonia, the humans are locked in a war with the fae. The fae were already on the island when humans arrived, and the relationship between them has always been uneasy. Now, a group of fae led by Ula Kana seeks to destroy the humans and get rid of them once and for all. The only way for the humans to elicit the help of the other fae is to agree to a truce: Ula Kana will be put into a magical sleep — and in return, a human royal must be put to sleep as well. Prince Larkin is that human, but he didn’t volunteer. Instead, he is being secretly compelled to go along by witch Rosamund Highvalley, in order to create peace between the humans and fae.

In 2020, Merrick Highvalley is a modern-day witch and descendant of Rosamund. Merrick finds himself frequently in trouble for using his magic in violation of the government rules, but the current leaders are a corrupt bunch and Merrick has a rebellious streak. Prince Larkin has now been asleep since 1799, and is a national hero for the way he saved the country. When Merrick stumbles upon some of Rosamund’s old notes and magical artifacts, he can’t help but be intrigued. He hopes that something in there might help him cure his father’s illness. Instead, Merrick finds a portal that leads to the very bower where Larkin rests in his magical sleep. And before he knows it, Merrick has managed to accidental awaken Larkin. The only problem is that once Larkin awakens… so will Ula Kana.

Fearing trouble for both of them, Merrick hides Larkin while the prince adjusts to life over 200 years after he first went to sleep. Larkin is disoriented by modern life, but he also is wary about reporting to the authorities; none of them noticed when he was magically compelled to agree to sleep and he isn’t sure he trusts them now. But Ula Kana is back to her old ways, terrorizing the Eidolonian cities and wreaking havoc. Merrick feels incredibly guilty, knowing that he inadvertently put this all into motion, and he is determined to do something about it. When he realizes that Rosamund’s notes include her plan for containing Ula Kana without the need for a human counterpart, Merrick decides to venture into the fae realm and try to implement the plan himself. With the authorities on his back, and determined to do something to help his people, Larkin goes along.

The world of the fae is a dangerous place, and Larkin and Merrick must undertake three complex negotiations with the fae in order to secure Ula Kana’s capture. Not to mention that there are plenty of creatures in the fae realm that would more likely kill them than not. On top of that, it doesn’t take long for Ula Kana to discover their plans and she continues to hunt them through the fae realm. But Merrick and Larkin are determined to see their quest to the end and save the people of Eidolonia — if they can make it out alive.

Lava Red Feather Blue is a story that combines the fantasy and modern worlds together in an interesting way, with a bit of a Sleeping Beaty twist. Unlike most fantasy I have read, this story largely takes place in present day, except for some early scenes where we see Larkin being compelled into his magical sleep. We spend about half of the book in the human side of Eidolonia, as the story sets up and we see Merrick and Larkin try to navigate keeping the prince hidden, as well as Larkin attempting to adjust to the modern world. Eidononia is a magically hidden island, but it exists within our real, contemporary world, just with a lot of magic users. The second half of the story then takes the men into the fae realm where there is more of a traditional fantasy feel, yet still with a sense of modern life (Merrick has a cell phone that allows him to magically check in with the human side, for example). This combination makes for an interesting setting and some nice world building. I enjoyed the wide variety of creatures the men encounter in the fae realm, as well as the way magic is worked into the human side of things.

As you may have noted from my lengthy introduction, this is a story that takes a lot of set up, and the early part of the book feels like it is laying a lot of groundwork. Given that this is a longer book, it does take a while to get going into the action, but I did really like seeing Merrick and Larkin get to know one another, deal with government threats, and figure out how to implement Rosamund’s plan. When the story shifts to the fae realm, it takes on somewhat of a road trip feel as they embark on their quest. There are three fae with whom they must negotiate to get their help capturing Ula Kana and each require their own trials before they agree. I found the fae realm to be creative with all the various creatures, as well as challenges the men face, and it is a good chance to see Merrick and Larkin bond and begin to fall for each other. That said, I felt that the encounters with the fae didn’t seem quite as intense as I would have expected. Instead, things seemed a little repetitious and not to have quite the urgency I wanted. This holds true for Ula Kana as well, who is supposed to be this terrifying, almost all powerful fae, but who mostly flies in and out scaring them before being chased off by other fae. We do learn a little bit just why Ula Kana is so much more hostile than the other fae, but there wasn’t enough substance to her character to make her really feel like the big bad threat that is presented.

I enjoyed both Merrick and Larkin as characters and think their relationship development felt natural. They are forced to depend upon each other almost from the start, and there is a nice connection that grows as they follow their quest. These guys are both willing to risk themselves for others and manage to be brave and resourceful when it counts, but also not too perfect. They feel real and I liked the juxtaposition of Larkin as this 18th century royal paired with Merrick as a modern day witch.

A couple of other notes. This story brings up some nice themes around the rights of indigenous people. In this case, the fae allowed the humans to settle, but found themselves on the losing end of land deals and shady practices from humans who wanted increasingly more territory. While Ula Kana’s methods are clearly wrong, the story does recognize that the humans have played a big role in creating this conflict as well. I also appreciated that Eidolonia is presented as a totally LGBTQ-friendly place (even in 1799, where Larkin has a male partner). Not only are same sex relationships commonplace, but those outside the gender binary are also totally accepted during both time periods (Merrick’s sibling is nonbinary).

Overall, I found this one an interesting fantasy with a somewhat different style than most I have read. I enjoyed getting to spend time in both the human and faery realms, as well as having a fantasy that largely takes place in the modern day world. I think the story is a little too long and there feels like a lot of set up to get things going. At times, the quest seemed a little slow and the threats not quite intense enough. But in the end, I found this one engaging and enjoyed the story and the characters.

3 hmmm stars

Straight upfront, I have to say that I'm a tad bit underwhelmed by this book, and I won't lie, I find that I am rather disappointed by that.

But before I get into the nitty gritty of everything that made this book fall flat for me, allow me to introduce the characters to you- we have our first protagonist, Merrick Highvalley (or "Hoi-valley" if you're an 18th century person displaced in time), a descendant of the most celebrated witch in history, who also happens to have trapped our prince, the second protagonist, Larkin Dasdemir, in a suspended sleep (much like the sleeping beauty) to protect the country from a murderous fae, who then happened to get accidentally awoken by our dear first protagonist 200 years after the event.

Still with me? Oh good, let's continue then.

The story goes so that Larkin had to be put to sleep so that the Ula Kana, said murderous fae could also be put to sleep, and thus stopped, but the condition remained that for as long one slept, the other would sleep too, so when Merrick accidentally awakens Larkin, he also unleashes Ula Kana upon the greater world, and now they must stop her before she destroys their country, Eidolonia, which can I say is the most fantastical name on the history of all fantasy names? No? Okay, moving on.

And so Larkin, who now refused to sleep for centuries again, and Merrick, who had brought upon the Eidolonian definition of the apocalypse upon everyone, thus set out to attempt to implement the method that Rosamund Highvalley, the aforementioned all powerful witch who had trapped Larkin, had later devised to successfully stop Ula Kana.

But for this they had to do the most dangerous thing of all- tread into the feyland!

*shocked in sarcasm*

The story this far was quite interesting, and I had incredibly high hopes, and then they went into the feyland, and the story, like their now nightmarish reality, devolved into a mess.

To put it in short, they had to visit the three current rulers of the different territories in feyland, and give them gifts, do something they want you to do, and then give them a blade that they would then plunge into the land and create a cage for Ula Kana. And that went about as well as you can image.

The first one, Sia Fia, was your quintessential faery, who drinks and revels and dances the night away in pleasures, and our boys were made to join her, which was kind of expected. They also kind of made out when in her realm, and then immediately fought when they left it, because her realm amplifies your lust and lowers your inhibitions and stuff, which I found stupid to be honest, their fighting that is, and not the powers of Sia Fia. I kept thinking that maybe it was the effects of the next realm, which amplifies your anger, making them fight like kids, but no, it was all them.

So the next one was like I said, a realm where you get irrationally angry, because the fae living there were all hunters and loved fighting and wars, and so the ruler, Arlanuk, wanted them to dun dun dun, fight with each other, which they were already geared up to do. So first they argued, like idiots if I might be allowed to say, and then proceeded to fight physically, again like utter idiots. And in the process, somehow Larkin dies, and Merrick immediately freaks out, and brings him to life using the power plot halo, *coughs*, I meant an all healing potion, or some shit.

And then they have sex. Because of course they do.

And then they reach the land of sadness and sorrow, ruled over by Vowri, an overgrown leaf? A sky blanket with voice? A cloud with voice? I honestly don't know. But what I do know is that Vowri gets totally fucked over in the story, and I, defender of just antagonists, am completely disgusted by the humans who do a total 180 on her when the deal they AGREED upon, doesn't go to their liking, and lay a siege on her and... kill her? I think?

The book completely devolves by this point and I was just rolling my eyes at the events that occur. It has a happy ending, so obviously they manage to trap Ula Kana in her desert cage, and Merrick somehow ends up dead in the process, but is then revived because, I reiterate, this book has an happy ending and the author has a sad inability to kill characters, and I was honestly like, did you just kill the protagonist and bring them back to life? DID YOU JUST DO THAT AGAIN with the other protagonist?! Like who the fuck even does that? ٩(ఠ益ఠ)۶

Long story short-

I wanted to enjoy this book, and for a while I did as well, but then my mind just ran off analyzing everything, and the story then, was quick to fall apart unfortunately.

LAVA RED FEATHER BLUE and I got off to a rocky start. The eARC was poorly formatted (something I’ve seen a lot of reviewers mention) which didn’t help matters, but more than that, the first few chapters just didn’t really click for me. It felt flat and overly full of exposition. I very nearly DNFed it.
Things started to pick once the protagonists crossed paths and kept improving from there.
For me, the most exciting part of the story wasn’t the modern/magic blended world of Eidolonia but Larkin and Merrick’s quest and journey through the fae realm (which luckily is the majority of the story). For the part, LAVA RED FEATHER BLUE was a five-star read, with a climactic ending that had me all wrapped up in emotions.
As I say, I loved the journey through different parts of fae territories, where each ruler has challenges for the protagonists to overcome and partake in. The world was rich and exciting, and the pace moved quickly without either getting bogged down or missing details. It’s a vivid story.
LAVA RED FEATHER BLUE has two protagonists – newly awakened Prince Larkin and awkward half-fae Merrick. Both characters are utterly charming and the romance between them feels completely natural and well-developed as it weaves through their adventure. Both characters have flaws and weakness, but the way they butt-head and work together gives both them and the journey depth.
I’m really, incredibly glad I stuck with this one. I’d give LAVA RED FEATHER BLUE five-stars but for the shaky start and, as it’s a standalone with a nicely rounded out ending, I recommend it to any fans of faeries, quests or fantasy in general.

This a wonderful queer retelling of Sleeping Beauty, set in a magically hidden Island named Eidolonia. When the witch Merrick accidentally wakes up the Fae Larkin, put to sleep as a part of a truce between humans and Fae, everything changes and it wakes also Ula Lana, a faery who wants to destroy humans from the Island. Merrick and Larkin are forced to work together and save everything, while dealing with their own feelings.

Amazing and intriguing. The worldbuilding is great, the writing so lush and vivid I could see the characters and the Island!

Review based on ARC provided by the publisher

I wanted to really like this queer fantasy, but....
The world-building is pretty generic. The dialogue felt stilted and was weighed down with information during the first part of the book. When the two MCs finally met and went on their quest the pacing was a bit better and the story was easier to follow, but it was peppered with unreasonable decisions by the MCs.

I should mention that the author stated that queer is not the focal point of the story and she managed this very well.

Gorgeous world-building in this YA fantasy novel that includes both queer and POC representation. Unfortunately it suffers a little bit from very heavy exposition at the start, and the main characters come across as a bit immature and unlikeable at times, which is unfortunate, as with a little tightening this could have been a five-star book. Without spoilers, the fae witch (whose actions ostensibly create a lot of the current world) is given only the most vague description, and Merrick seems to shoot down everyone's ideas, hopes, and dreams, and comes across as younger (and whinier) than I think we're supposed to believe. Still, there's a lot to like here if you can forgive it its flaws. If nothing else, immerse yourself in a really unique and stunning world, clearly written with a lot of love.

Advance reader copy kindly provided by Central Avenue Publishing.