Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Fairy Tale by Cyn Balog

Title/Author: Fairy Tale by Cyn Balog.

Genre: YA/Fantasy.

Publisher: Delacorte Press.

Source: Library.

Favorite character: Pip.

Favorite quote: "His smile...feels like sunlight after a long rain."

Morgan Sparks has always known that she and her boyfriend, Cam, are made for each other. But when Cam’s cousin Pip comes to stay with the family, Cam seems depressed. Finally Cam confesses to Morgan what’s going on: Cam is a fairy. The night he was born, fairies came down and switched him with a healthy human boy. Nobody expected Cam to live, and nobody expected his biological brother, heir to the fairy throne, to die. But both things happened, and now the fairies want Cam back to take his rightful place as Fairy King.


Even as Cam physically changes, becoming more miserable each day, he and Morgan pledge to fool the fairies and stay together forever. But by the time Cam has to decide once and for all what to do, Morgan’s no longer sure what’s best for everyone, or whether her and Cam’s love can weather an uncertain future. – From Amazon.com

All in all: A wonderful book about self sacrifice and self discovery.

What I didn’t like: **SPOILER ALERT: The only thing that I didn’t like was how fast one of the characters fell for another one. But honestly, it was still done well and I'm going to pretty much excuse it. I mean, it is a fairy tale after all.  :END SPOILER ALERT**

What I liked: Is our future sealed? What if everything you thought you knew was pulled out from under you? How far would you go to fight change?  To keep the person you loved?

Fairy Tale grabbed my attention from the first line and kept my interest all the way to the end. It flows easily and the writing is humorous and clever.  The dialogue is realistic and at times sweet. I felt a lot of sympathy for Morgan and rooted for her and Cam and wondered how they were going to be able to save him from being taken away thereby saving their relationship.

I had mixed feelings about Morgan and her relationship with Cam.  On the one hand, she is only interested in him and their relationship.  She would rather spend every minute of her free time with Cam than participate in anything for herself. While she does acknowledge that this may be pathetic, she rationalizes that she has the most fun with Cam, so why do anything else? The answer, as Morgan finds out, is because she has defined herself through him. She was always Morgan and Cam, never just Morgan. At least, that’s the way she saw it.   On the other hand, I did feel her anguish as she grappled with fears about losing Cam forever.  It is always heartbreaking and bittersweet to think of the end of one's first love.  Also, it's not just a breakup.  She is losing someone very close to her.  Cam will be taken away forever and they have known each other since they were babies.

I thought it was interesting how she compares herself to Pip. Pip lost his home in Otherworld. She is afraid to lose Cam who to her, is her world. Pip doesn’t fit in here and she’s afraid she won’t fit in either without Cam. Her whole existence has been built around him. However, this is the whole crux of the story. Morgan’s self discovery.   She wants Cam to be happy, but she also doesn't want to be without him.  "Does this make me selfish?"  She asks herself.  Well it does, but that is also a very human feeling.

Although Cam is nice and funny and clearly wants to make Morgan happy, it is Pip who I really like. He is the new, weird kid in school until he gets some help from Morgan. He has a huge amount of empathy because he had to endure the hardship of being a human among fairies. And now, because he grew up among the fairies, he has to endure being different among humans.  However, he never seems to let any cruelty bother him and he is as enchanted with the human realm as I would probably be in Fairyland.  He is the one who tells Morgan to not let her gift (of psychic ability) control her, but to instead control her gift.  He basically tells her not to give up.

Morgan ultimately has to make a choice and while the ultimate outcome may seem a little too convenient, I feel it occurs organically and it was still a bit of a surprise.  I love how the main characters are willing to sacrifice themselves in some way for Morgan but ultimately it is she who has to step up and make the right decision.

5 out of 5 stars.


6 comments:

Anonymous said...

It bothers me in romance stories when the girl is all about their partner and so wrapped up in that person they almost are not an individual anymore (I can't stand that in real life either), but if the character realises that, it sounds like it might actually be a refreshing read rather than a frustrating one.

It's a good review, thanks for sharing.

P.S. I'm loving the new look, your blog is looking great! I especially love the banner down the bottom.

Midnyte Reader said...

The book actually took place in about a week, but I thought it was longer b/c the author took so much time...so maybe that is why it felt natural. Her bf was her life but I could also see the other side because it was just sad also.

Thank you! I love my new look too. The designer is Blogging Bella Designs (she has a link on the side). I originally had the bottom on the top, but then I flipped it.

Jenny said...

Really great review, I'm excited to read this one! I do like a girl that at least realizes she's a little too attached to a guy, it makes her more believable:) This just sounds like a great story, thanks so much for sharing!

Tasha Nicole said...

Wow you do great reviews!
The books sounds interesting and I can't wait to check it out!

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