Liviania’s review of Faery Moon (A Tess Noncoiré Adventure, Book 3) by P. R. Frost
Urban fantasy released by DAW 1 Jun 10
I dislike reading series out of order. I always feel like I’m missing something. Luckily, I was able to understand the magic system in Faery Moon, the third Tess Noncoiré book, without reading the first two. Tess is a writer and a warrior who accidentally discovers a power struggle that could undermine the stability of several worlds while on vacation in Las Vegas with her mother.
During the novel, Tess makes several surprising discoveries about herself and her mother. These scenes had excellent emotional intensity even without the build-up that likely existed in previous novels. Less satisfying were the revelations about Scrap, the imp bonded to Tess who turns into her Blade. Perhaps it was because I didn’t like Scrap much. His sense of humor didn’t send me and his sex scenes were kind of gross. (I get that imps find different things attractive than humans, but I don’t need that much detail.)
The romance worked fairly well, but it was a standard love triangle. Tess lusts after Donovan Estevez, her former stepbrother and the foster son of a demon, but doesn’t want to let him in since he won’t tell her about his past. She’s also getting closer to Guilford Van der Hoyden-Smythe, her friend and mentor. I found him a little boring, even after learning more about his past, and thought their relationship lacked the passion of Tess and Donovan’s. (I was surprised to learn so much about everyone’s pasts. It seems like that would’ve been spread out over several books. It did make it easier to keep up with things, so I guess I shouldn’t complain.)
The mystery of how a group of fairy dancers was enslaved and how to free them works better than the romance and is well-paced. Tess steadily figures out more facts until she solves the problem. She truly comes off as competent while much urban fantasy relies on telling the reader that the protagonist is competent.
Faery Moon was an entertaining read and has the advantage of being different in focus from most urban fantasies. On the other hand, it didn’t excited me enough that I picked up the first two. I might read P. R. Frost again, but I don’t have the urge to seek her other novels out.
Grade: C+
Summary:
Tess Noncoiré, successful fantasy writer and Celestial Blade Warrior, has gone to a writers’ conference in Las Vegas, taking along her mother, who is depressed over the death of her demon husband.Taking in one of Vegas’ Big Acts, Tess is amazed to see winged dancers flying about the stage, seemingly unsupported by any wires. Then she discovers the dancers are actually faeries, held captive in the casino against their will. And if Tess and her sidekick demon Scrap don’t help the faeries return to their own dimension, they-and their realm-will die.
Read an excerpt here.
Other books in this series:
