Title: Midsummer Night (Aetherial Tales #2)
Author: Freda Warrington
Publisher: Tor Books
Publication Date: November 2010
Hardcover: 480 pages
Genre: Fantasy
Source: Review Copy
Guest Review by Jo
RATING: 9/10 – Excellent, this will remain on my bookshelf forever
GOODREADS SUMMARY:
A sensuous, suspenseful modern fantasy of love, betrayal, and redemption. Decades ago, in a place where the veil between our world and the world of the Aetherials—the fair folk—is too easily breached, three young people tricked their uncle by dressing as the fey. But their joke took a deadly turn when true Aetherials crossed into our world, took one of the pranksters, and literally scared their uncle to death.
Many years later, at the place of this capture lies a vast country estate that holds a renowned art facility owned by a visionary sculptor. One day, during a violent storm, a young woman studying art at the estate stumbles upon a portal to the Otherworld. A handsome young man comes through the portal and seeks shelter with her. Though he can tell her nothing of his past, his innocence and charm capture her heart. But he becomes the focus of increasingly violent arguments among the residents of the estate. Is he as innocent as he seems? Or is he hiding his true identity so that he can seek some terrible vengeance, bringing death and heartbreak to this place that stands between two worlds? Who is this young man?
The forces of magic and the power of love contend for the soul of this man, in this magical romantic story of loss and redemption.
REVIEW:
Freda Warrington’s second book in her ‘Aetherial Tales’ is not necessarily a sequel to the first, Elfland but it does have some references. I hadn’t read Elfland, but felt I wasn’t missing out on anything by reading this book first.
After a hard time of being betrayed and an unfortunate end to her athletic career, Gil rents a house on the coast of Scotland with the idea of shielding herself away from the world. Gil cannot forever escape isolation and soon takes a walk where she enters an alternate town where everything is different and doesn’t seem right. She meets a mysterious man, learns about the Aetherials, and the themes of trust and redemption play a big part in this enchanting book.
This book’s subject may contain magic, but the author’s writing is just as magical. Freda Warrington’s prose is gorgeous, and I often felt that this world she wrote about was possible which made the story all the more real and often intense.
I cannot write too much without giving away some plot points, and I wouldn’t like to ruin this for anyone wishing to read it. ‘Midsummer Night‘ pulled me in, and weaved it’s spell around me and I’m hoping for more mysteries and magic in this world Freda Warrington has given us.
VERDICT:
A book with everything. A gorgeous sumptuous plot, with fascinating characters blending the supernatural with our own world.
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1 Comment
This sounds like a fabulous book
I'm definitely going to check out the series.
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