Birth of the Fae by Danielle M. Orsino | Review

I haven’t read a lot of fantasy over the past year, but was drawn to the plot of Birth of the Fae: Locked Out of Heaven. I liked the concept of Angels turning into faeries and I’m usually drawn to origin stories. This novel offered an interesting story about new beginnings and hope with several fantastical elements.

I was provided a free copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.

Angels have been cast out of heaven after a battle with Lucifer. They were given no explanation and find themselves left on earth unaware of what to do next. Leaders rise among the angels, they begin to create new societies and transform into other beings. In time, humans arrive and the fae must decide how to ingratiate themselves with humans.

Birth of the Fae felt like your typical book one in a fantasy series. There was a lot of world-building and character development. There was a slower pace to the novel as we learned about how the societies were formed, the structures of government, and the different types of fae. Ironically this spans generations, but time is lost. Even so, tensions were building that will probably continue in the following books.

This story mainly follows two characters, Queen Aurora and King Jarvok, each representing the dark and the light. We see each kingdom develop and grow, however it would have been nice to see more of King Jarvok. He is left out for almost half the book and then the climax happened. I wanted to learn more about his side leading into the ending but instead got a very quick overview.

I liked that this novel plays with the idea of dark and light, or good or evil. Neither kingdom is calling themselves evil, but their actions often toe the line. There were religious elements introduced and I wonder if that will carry over or be more prominent in future novels. I found it intriguing that the fae battled themselves about their past and present lives, struggling with faith and limitations.

Overall, I enjoyed Birth of the Fae. This was not a long book, which you often find in fantasy, and easily read over a weekend. There was a lot going on towards the end of the novel and I’m interested in how it continues because the possibilities were left wide open.

Book tour arranged by TLC Book Tours.