Review: A refreshing read!
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 11 7, 2012
There were two things that convinced me I absolutely have to read this novella: the incredible cover (yes, I am often influenced by beautiful covers) and the fact that the story is inspired by Norse mythology, which in my opinion is way more fascinating than the Greek or Roman ones (or I've simply read too many books featuring these two and I need something new). Nordic Fairies, the first part in the series with the same name, didn't disappoint me, for it was a truly refreshing read.Right from the first pages we are enveloped in a fairytale-like atmosphere, even though the action is placed in modern day New York. Svala is a Nordic light fairy who is constantly torn between her duty and her consuming love for Viggo, the lover she can only spend some time with when they complete their assignments. Now she finds herself in a dangerous situation, when she must find out why Viggo chose to expose himself by becoming a famous young actor, while keeping her distance and controlling her overwhelming feelings. If they meet before finishing their current assignments, they might lose each other and this is a risk none on them is willing to take.I liked the fact that the characters were presented step by step and, as a reader, I got the chance to learn more about them while delving into their fascinating story. Svala is just my kind of female lead character: she's a strong, down-to-earth girl who always thinks twice before risking what she has. Viggo seems a bit more impulsive and I hope I'll find more about him in the next novellas. Nordic Fairies is quite short and there wasn't enough space for his point of view. The two form a very nice couple and I was really involved in their unusual love story, always wanting to see them together. They seem to have a powerful connection that helps them survive the time they are apart, and who wouldn't like to have that in real life? Even when they see each other after six years, they are just as in love as the first time... which was in the 10th century.As I said before, what fascinated me the most was the inspiration from the Norse mythology. We have two types of fairies: the Ljósálfar (light fairies) and the Dökkálfar (dark fairies). Svala and Viggo are both light fairies and their goal is to keep the balance between light and darkness in the mortal world, while the dark fairies are trying to disrupt it. The author made me curious enough to go and look up more information about these two kinds of creatures. What I found out was that the Ljósálfar and Dökkálfar are actually light elves and dark elves mentioned for the first time in the Edda, written in the 13th century. Remember Tolkien's elves? They were inspired by these Nordic fantasy creatures.Ok, so if I liked Nordic Fairies so much, why did I give it only 4 stars? Well, I didn't quite agree with the way it ended. To tell you the truth, I felt cheated when I reached the last page. No, it's not the fact that it ends in a cliffhanger, which it does, but the fact that it ends in the middle of the action. There were a dozen things left unresolved and, even though the story has a promising beginning, it does not have even the slightest conclusion. I understand that this is supposed to be a series of novellas and I even like the concept, but it's not fair to leave your readers hanging like that, right in the middle of everything. I believe that in a series, every novel/ novella needs to be round and complete in some way, it needs to have some kind of resolution, so the readers wouldn't have the impression that there are, like, at least 10 missing pages from their copy. It doesn't sound very fair-play and there might be readers who might refuse reading the next installments just because of that.