Fairy Keeper by Amy BearceMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
One of the great things about fantasy stories is that they allow people to confront real-world problems in a setting that is safely distanced from reality, but still meaningful. Fairy Keeper does it well. It touches on issues of addiction, child abuse, and - perhaps most intriguingly - people's position in the natural world and the (over)use of natural resources.
The story centers on Sierra, a young teen who struggles with her role as a born caretaker of fairies - which, in this world, resemble humanoid bees. Sierra's job, which she hates, is to harvest fairy nectar for her alchemist father, who transforms it into an addictive elixir. When Sierra's fairy queen vanishes and the rest of the fairies die, Sierra's already difficult home situation grows even more dangerous. She is propelled onto a quest to retrieve her fairy queen - the only thing that could save the life of her younger sister.
Sierra and her companions have an interesting combination of personalities, and the relationships between each of them evolve over the course of the story. There are a lot of magical creatures to be seen, and my favorite part of the book was watching Sierra's relationship with the fairies become deeper and more complex than she expected. The style of writing is, well, ok. I found there to be rather too many stretches of the characters walking and walking without much happening, other than Sierra ruminating on things that already happened.
Still, if you're looking for a middle-grade-ish fantasy novel, this one is worth checking out for its handling of unusual themes.
Thanks to Curiosity Quills for the free review copy.
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