Book Review: Shadows of the Redwood and The Quicksilver Faire by Gillian Summers

 Yep.  I’m cheating a little by combining these two into one review.  They are the first and second book in the Scions of Shadow trilogy, which is the next part of the Faire Folk Trilogy I reviewed a few weeks back.

These two books continue Keelie’s story as she continues to learn about her father and his people.  She, of course, is pulled into a whole new set of adventures.  This time there is the added drama of teenage dating occurring, not just teenage crushes as in the last trilogy.

Once again, Summers writes in a fairly simplistic and predictable manner.  The characters grow some, but much.  It is fun in that the story continues and Summers explores her union of fantastical and modern America in interesting ways.  She does do a nice job of throwing a twist or two into these two books that separate them from the previous trilogy.  This, to me, keeps the stories from becoming so predictable I put the books down.

It still is not a trilogy I would say is a must read for everyone.  It would certainly be higher on the list for a middle school girl.  Otherwise, I would chalk it up as an to the guilty pleasure list.

Book Review: The Faire Folk Trilogy by Gillian Summers

The Faire Folk Trilogy by Gillian Summers is another young adult series.  The main character, Keelie Heartwood, is a high school girl who is sent to live with her father after her mother dies.  Once she moves in with her father, she discovers all sorts of things that are not quite like what she thought she knew.

Yeah.  This is definitely a young adult book.  I would say middle school age.  Now, don’t get me wrong.  It was a fun book to read from that perspective, but don’t expect too much out of it.  The plot line is pretty simple and predictable.  You can pretty much go into the trilogy knowing what happens.  The characters are not that imaginative, either, but they are all, for the most part, fun to read. 

But the magic in the books is that they are set in modern day America.  Summers just adds the element fairy magic to everyday life.  Most of us dream of things like that as kids.  I would put this trilogy on my list as one of those guilty pleasures – not a necessity but fun none the less.