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    The Faerie Guardian
    The Faerie Guardian
    The Faerie Guardian
    Audiobook8 hours

    The Faerie Guardian

    Written by Rachel Morgan

    Narrated by Jorjeana Marie and Zach Villa

    4/5

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    About this audiobook

    Protecting humans from dangerous magical creatures is all in a day's work for a faerie training to be a guardian. Seventeen-year-old Violet Fairdale knows this better than anyone-she's about to become the best guardian the Guild has seen in years. That is, until a cute human boy who can somehow see through her faerie glamour follows her into the fae realm. Now she's broken Guild Law, a crime that could lead to her expulsion.

    The last thing Vi wants to do is spend any more time with the boy who got her into this mess, but the Guild requires that she return Nate to his home and make him forget everything he's discovered of the fae realm. Easy, right? Not when you factor in evil faeries, long-lost family members, and inconvenient feelings of the romantic kind. Vi is about to find herself tangled up in a dangerous plot-and it'll take all her training to get out of it alive.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTantor Media, Inc
    Release dateMar 17, 2015
    ISBN9781494578671

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    Reviews for The Faerie Guardian

    4/5

    168 ratings18 reviews

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    • 4/5
      The only thing that irritated me was the narrator’s nasal congestion. Perhaps she had a cold, but why record the performance when she’s ill. If not ill then maybe a different narrator should’ve been used. Just saying....

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      As great as the first time I read The Faerie Guardian!
    • 3/5
      The last chapter was bit off.. otherwise I really liked this book
    • 4/5
      Creepy Hollow #1: Guardian by Rachel MorganSource: Purchase4/5 starsI have often shied away from reading novellas because there generally just isn’t enough time for the author to completely develop characters and/or the plot. I am certainly glad I didn’t realize (until after I clicked purchase) the Creepy Hollow series is actually a series of novellas otherwise I would have missed out on a (OK four) fun and entertaining read by Rachel Morgan.Violet Fairdale is a young faerie who is in her last months of training to become a guardian. Violet is an orphan whose family has always served as guardians; guardians are members of an elite group of faeries whose job it is to protect unknowing humans from dark faerie attacks. Humans can’t see fairies and they certainly can’t travel to Creepy Hollow so how is it that Violet finds herself in a heap of trouble after one of her “assignments” not only sees her but hitchhikes his way into Creepy Hollow? Balls!!Violet and Nate (her hitchhiking human) now have to get Nate back to the world of humans so Violet can go before the Council to receive her punishment for breaking some of her people’s most important laws. Here’s the rub: before Violet and Nate can get anywhere near Nate’s home they are both whacked on the head, kidnapped, and Violet’s magic is bound so she can’t work to save them. Balls again! The kidnappers want two things: 1) Nate’s biological mother whom he has never met and; 2) the name of the faerie with the special ability of being able to locate anyone anywhere. I found this short read to be quite satisfying as Morgan does a great job of setting up her plot and developing her characters in a very short amount of time. I like Violet! She has purple streaks in her hair (awesome), uses the work wonky (one of my faves!), and takes her skills and her assignments very seriously. Here’s what Violet must do:1)Get herself and Nate to safety2)Figure out why a faerie would want a human woman3)Continue to bury the secret of her super-special skill and 4)Try not to think too hard about how cute Nate isFor Nate, he has to admit that not only does he want to know who his biological mother is but also accept that he is going to need help discovering her identity. The only problem with his plan is the fact that Violet has been tasked with erasing Nate’s memory. To be continued . . .
    • 3/5
      I like the world building that Morgan has accomplished in this rather short novel. Faerie works kinda like the Tardis, the large training facility is a tree from the outside but once you enter It's just like a regular building, except for the magic clouds in the lobby that is.
      Vi is a likeable lead character and Ryn is pretty good as her bad boy nemesis. Nate is less well defined but he really appears off screen for most of the 2nd half of the novel. I'm intrigued to see where the story goes so I'm off to read book 2.
    • 2/5
      As a Guardian Violet protects humans from any faerie that may sneak into the human realm. And she is on track to graduate at the top of her Guardian class. But while guarding a boy named Nathan, she accidentally brings him back to Creepy Hollow when he grabs hold of her arm. Humans are not allowed in the Faerie Realm. And the faerie paths Violet uses to travel should kill a human. Expelled from school for breaking the law, Violet is tasked with bringing Nathan back to his world. She must also give him a forgetful potion. But her curiosity may get the better of her. This is the first human she’s interacted with. And her heart may have other ideas.The beginning of this story was filled with action and world-building. Rachel Morgan brought to life the magical and colorful world of Creepy Hollow. The interactions between Violet and Nathan were comical as the two tried to understand their different customs and technology. Unfortunately, once I made it through the first part of the book, the rest seemed to fall to pieces.After the events of Violet and Nathan, the reader is put into an average day for Violet. Training, dodging gossip and dealing with school rivalry. At this point in the story, it slowed down the narrative. It felt like an attempt at a typical young adult school setting, but it just didn’t work. After all the magic and conflict, this section only dragged the story down. It should have been introduced earlier, to give readers a better foundation to stand on. Not to mention it never surfaces again.There are abrupt chapter endings that left me confused. Listening to the audiobook, I thought it was skipping. I had to rewind to listen to the last few minutes and confirm that nothing was skipped, the chapter just suddenly ended. This pulled me straight out of the narrative.The plot and subplots were not put together well. The reader is jolted between them, and at times I wasn’t exactly sure what the main plot was anymore. At one point, the main plot seems to end and then pick up another plot altogether. Characters that were in the background suddenly came to the front and become solid secondary characters with the new plot.This is not a series I will be continuing. While I enjoyed Violet and Nathan, the plot jumped too much and by the end of the book, I had no idea what was going on.
    • 4/5
      I've been looking for a good faerie story for a while. I lean toward YA books for that because once we go streamline adult it becomes...well...swamped down with sex and that is not the story I want. I want to escape to another realm, so to speak. :) This was different and I found the plot a little edgy with some nice twists and turns. I will definitely keep an eye out for the next one.
    • 3/5
      Sooo.... Something different to start on from my usual thrillers and on the bat after a few pages I am already hooked. I like a great adventure with action, drama, romance, comedy. Book was great the beginning to the middle but the end it was not like twister but definitely something I really didn't expect or want to even happen. I thought it would be like the underworld where an abomination was born but none. I definitely looking forward to the next book and have already started reading it. So i hope things work out for the better in the second book else I might not return for the 3rd. One thing is that I am still holding thumbs for Nate that's all I can say
    • 5/5
      Wow!! Another free book that I loved!! I didn't want to put the book down. I love it when a book captures my interest from the beginning. In this book we have Violet who is a Faerie Guardian Trainee who accidentally brings a human into Creepy Hollow after doing her assignment. The human, Nate is not supposed to be able to see past the glamour but for some reason he is able to. He also survived the faerie paths. Ryn is also another Faerie Guardian Trainee and has a history with Violet and a bit of a rival to be the top in their class. I loved all the characters. Even when they were being mean to each other. Ryn and Violet put their history behind to search for Ryn's half sister after she is kidnapped. Violet doesn't know why Calla was kidnapped but when she finds out where she is being kept Violet finally finds out that Calla has some unique powers just like Violet does. Violet is able to find people just by touching something that belongs to them.Now I can't wait to read the next book in the series to see what happens.
    • 4/5
      I got this book to read on audiobook. The audiobook was decently done but not wonderful. The main heroine has a very chirpy voice which doesn’t match her character all that well. Additionally a lot of the male voices sounded similar (particularly Nate and Ryn). I really didn’t like the beginning of this book. The story was just too simple and too silly; the beginning is all about Nate following Vi into faerie and getting her into trouble and the chaos that follows when she tries to get him back home. I thought Nate was incredibly unlikable; he came across as selfish and chauvinistic and I truly did not understand what a strong girl like Vi saw in him. I almost stopped listening to this a couple hours in because I just could not stand Nate.The book got a lot better in the second half when Vi starts to unravel the mystery around Nate’s mom and the strange eye tattoo Nate ends up with. Here we get introduced to a lot more of the politics in Faerie and the story gets tons more interesting. Also Nate gets a lot less page space and Ryn gets a lot more (I loved Ryn).I absolutely loved Ryn’s character and really loved the dynamic him and Vi had going on. Ryn comes off as a jerk early on, but as you learn the complicated history between him and Vi things get more and more interesting. In the second half of the book there is a also a lot more discussion about powerful magic items and a plot to collect them and this was very engaging.The action scenes are well done and I enjoyed most of the characters (except for Nate). In the end this ended up being a decent book despite the rough start.Overall an okay read that has a lot of fae magic, romance, and action. I would recommend to those who enjoy paranormal YA reads. The book started rough but got better towards the end. I am unsure if I will continue with the series or not; I’ll have to think about it a bit.
    • 5/5
      Fantastic

      I was expecting mediocre juvenile fiction and quickly realized how wrong I was. The characters are very relatable and their world is rich and detailed. It is easy to lose oneself in their adventures. I will certainly be reading the next book in the series.
    • 4/5
      I really liked this book. I always love a snarky heroine who doesn't use terrible language. (Vi's favorite expletive is "flippin' flip!".) This is one of those books that just ticks every box for me. The world-building is creative and interesting, the characters are awesome and have the most hysterical conversations, the action is intense, the villains are incredibly evil, and the plot is exciting and romantic. I'm excited to see what comes next in the series and am glad I don't have to wait a year to read them. I should always wait until the whole series is out before starting :). A couple of my favorite quotes from The Faerie Guardian :“Seelie Court,” murmurs Nate. “Sounds familiar. Was it in a computer game?”“Do I look like someone who plays computer games?”A grin stretches across Nate’s face. “You look like someone who could be in a computer game.” “I angle my head down and peer up at him through my lashes in what I hope is an alluring manner. I have zero experience in this area though, so it’s possible I look like a total moron.” “You’re not the kind of person to just randomly fall in love. You’re way too . . .”My eyes shoot to his. “Too what?”“Well, you know, emotionally closed off.”“I will emotionally close off every orifice in your face if you don’t shut up about this right now.” Like I said, I do love a clean-mouthed snarky heroine! And I also love it when a books quotes practically write the review for you. Unfortunately, this doesn't get checked out very often in my library, I'll have to start talking it up. I wish the cover of the paperback was the same as the ebook edition that I read because I think it would get checked out more if it was - it was gorgeous!Areas of concern:The *d* word is used a handful of times.There is quite a bit of violence - Guardians against magical creatures and Unseelie against Seelie. A 6 year old child is in mortal danger.Absent/dead parents of the main character who lives by herself.
    • 4/5
      I have received an ebook copy of this book via Xpresso BT review opportunity.The Faerie Guardian is the first book in Creepy Hollow series. The book starts by introducing Violet Fairdale, who is a Guardian trainee on assignment. From there, a number of rule-breaking has been made that leads to indirectly harming the people she cares about and she cared about.What I liked about this book is the modernized kind of way approach to fae realm. This book was easy to read. The nature of action accompanied by magical surge and physical attack made the reading so much fun. Though, I really did not fancy Violet and Nate's romance. I was not into insta-love because I could not see how the 'love' actually evolved and blossomed.On the other hand, right in the start, Ryn and Violet has a very good potential for romantic relationship. Even without revealing their past yet. They really got a very good chemistry, even if all they do when they meet each other is fight. I am actually looking forward what their 'sort of friends' relationship will turn into. They have more sparks than the latter.I like it to the point of wanting to finish the whole series of this book. I just don't like the 'meh' part when it comes to Nate and Violet. I love to see more of Ryn and Vi. Oh! The cover looks simply faerie nice.
    • 4/5
      The Faerie Guardian (Creepy Hollow #1) by Rachel MorganViolet Fairdale is a seventeen-year-old fairy guardian in training. It is Vi’s job to protect humans and innocent Fae from the evil things that hunt them. While on a mission, Nate, a human boy who should not be able to see her kind, followed Vi to faerie. Having broken Guild Law, she is required to return the boy to the mortal realm and spell him to forget. It sounds easy, nope far from it. Violet is a wonderful heroine. She is a hardworking dedicated student, at the top of her class. I love her strong sprit. Both her parents have died, and she doesn’t have many people she can rely on. Despite that she is a good person, with strong values.I enjoyed the storyline of Violet’s once friend, now nemesis, Ryn. They share a thought-provoking past. He keeps you guessing. I am curious where that relationship will go in future books.I enjoyed the world that Rachel Morgan created. She does an excellent job describing environments in a stimulating manner.The Faerie Guardian is an action pact thrilling novel. The story is intriguing. It is mysterious, you never know who Vi can trust. I can easily see me getting hooked on this series and look forward to reading, The Faerie Prince (Creepy Hollow, #2). Complimentary copy provided in exchange for an honest review.
    • 4/5
      This book was addicting and I found myself rarely even looking up from my e-reader! To me the book started out mediocre but by halfway through I was hooked. I immediately started reading the 2nd book, which has a 5 star review coming later this week, after I finished The Faerie Guardian.

      The ideas of a faerie world really intrigued me, and as I was reading, really sucked me in! This may even be my favorite faerie book yet. The world is richly imagined and all the unique powers and gadgets and training kept the readers interested and sets this book apart from other less imagined and creative novels. The Guild and Creepy Hollow are very vivid.

      To me all the characters were well developed and unique, although I did have some problems with Nate a first. Violet, Ryn, Tora, and all the other characters were amazing from start to finish though. Violet is a Grade A heroine with her epic faeries skills, witty comebacks, and narration. And Ryn was so awesome, especially as you learn more about him! There are also many realistic feeling and coping methods to grief you see presented in some characters.

      The pacing is perfect. I was never bored, not once. There is always action. In the end of the book especially there was a lot of heart pounding action. And everything happening is explained perfectly and in way the readers are pulled into the world. Plus, all the magical abilities add charm to the novel.

      One little problem I had with Nate is that he fell for Violet too quickly. However, at least not for Violet I am not sure about Nate, is that it was just more of a "like" relationship. I didn't even really like Nate in the beginning but he really grows into an interesting and really cool character! Although I am pretty sure I'll always like Ryn better as a unique and vivid character.

      The ending of this book has you begging for more. I felt as if with every page I read I became more invested. As I have already read the first two books I am impatiently waiting for the third one! This is a series that could rise to my favorites list, so pick up The Faerie Guardian if you have the chance!


      Overall, I really enjoyed this book and would not hesitate to recommend The Faerie Guardian to any of my friends!
    • 4/5
      Faeries, you say? More faeries? I know, I know. The YA market has become quite saturated with Faeries and Fairies (and any other spelling you can think of ) - especially since the success of Julie Kagawa's Iron Fey series. So, what makes this series different and worth reading? A few things: an original take on human/faerie interaction, amazing world-building, entertaining dialogue and a kick-ass female main character to start.

      In this faerie world, humans are strictly forbidden. They are never to know anything about Faerie. Of course, there are the baddies who want to take advantage of humans, or maybe eat them for dinner, but that's where the Guardians come in. Guardians are an elite group of Faeries who are trained to fight their darker counterparts and protect humans. They use glamour to hide themselves from us. I thought this take on Faerie was unique. Usually faeries - light and dark both - are all about taking advantage of humans in whatever way they can. I found it refreshing that in this world, there are faeries who want to protect us.

      The world was also unique. The fae live mostly like humans do but things we do with technology, they do with magic. They create light with magic, they have "sound drops" that play music into your ears when you stick them to your temples, they even have modern conveniences like bathrooms - with a magical twist:

      I jump off the bed and join him at the doorway to the bathing room. He peers in at what looks like a slice of nature. Grass grows naturally, and a pool fills the center of the room. Scattered amongst the blades of grass are hundreds of tiny blue and yellow flowers. Trees with tangled branches conceal the walls, and water tumbles down a pile of rocks and into the other side of the pool.

      "You are kidding me, " says Nate. "You have a pool in your bathroom?"

      "The bath idea never really took off," I say. "Self-cleaning pools have been in for centuries. And the mini-waterfall provides an excellent shower."


      It's details like these that make me really fall in love with not only the story, but the world it is set in.

      Violet, or Vi, is a faerie training to be a Guardian. Nate happens to be an assignment. After fighting off a baddie, she realizes that Nate can see through her glamour. She tries to high-tail it out of there but Nate hitches a ride with her to Creepy Hollow, the faerie world. So, now Vi is in trouble! She has broken the first and most important rule of Faerie - no humans allowed! As part of her punishment, she is tasked with protecting this human boy while escorting him back to the human world. This is where the action starts. I'm not going to tell you more than that because I don't want to ruin it for you. Suffice it to say that there's quite a bit of action.

      I loved the interactions between Nate and Violet at the beginning of the book. I laughed out loud in a couple of parts and snickered at others. The author did a really great job of writing Nate as a human who learns that magic and faeries are real. He has all these misconceptions based on fairy tales and movies and that makes for some great dialogue.

      "No way," he says, rustling the leaves as he stands. "You can't be a faerie. You're way too big."

      I lower my hands. "Excuse me?" I've been called many things in my seventeen years, but 'big' has never been one of them...

      "Aren't faeries supposed to be, like, really tiny? With wings and a wand and faerie dust?"

      "I'm not Tinker Bell!" ....

      "So you don't have wings then?" he asks, completely ignoring what I just said.

      "Sure I do, they're in my pocket."

      "Really?"

      "No!"



      Of course, Nate and Violet end up an item. This is actually the part that almost lost me. Anyone who has read this blog before knows that I am not a fan of insta-love and Nate and Violet walk a very fine line there. There is no big declaration of love, no declaration that they are soul mates, but things develop a little too quickly for my taste.

      I really enjoyed the storyline and thought the pacing was good. There was a point somewhere towards the middle of the book where it almost seemed like I was reading a different book about the same characters. I can't say more without giving anything away but that was a little jarring for me. This book was originally published as four separate novellas so this makes sense to some extent. We go from romance with Nate and Vi to no Nate and backstory with Ryn instead. Later on, things became more clear and I could see how things fit together but while reading there was definitely a little bit of a disconnect between the plotlines. Generally, this book moved along quickly and was very entertaining.

      My favorite thing about this book was the main character, Violet. She is a strong heroine both physically and mentally. She has a smart mouth and is funny. She works hard to be the best at what she does. She is dedicated to her work and to the people she cares about. At the same time, she still has vulnerabilities and insecurities that make her a believable character. I enjoyed reading from Violet's perspective and watching her question and grow along the way.

      Overall, I very much enjoyed this one. I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys a good fairy tale, fans of fantasy and especially fans of Julie Kagawa and her Iron Fey series. This was an original take on the Fae and I can't wait to read more!

      P.S. I'm Team Ryn!
    • 4/5
      This was reviewed on The Book Hookup

      **We received a copy of this book but that did not influence the review**

      Wow, did this book go from pretty good to really awesome by the end! I haven’t read a book about the fae in a long time so I was way overdue. I loved the main character, Violet’s (or Vi’s) narrative. She was driven with her training and did everything by the books, until her emotions got in the way when she met the human boy Nate. She and Nate seem to hit it off romantically pretty quickly, and while I wasn’t feeling the chemistry because it was so sudden, I went with it because the story was cranking up. Little did I know what would happen down the road in the story, a change in attitude…that I *think* is going to lead towards a very intense romance in the next book. Please, please, please Ms. Morgan!

      Violet’s small promise to help out Nate was a great little story, but by the end the small promise had turned into a great big story. It was built up beautifully and effortlessly, and I was totally sucked in by the end. I can’t wait to see all the loyalties come out in the next book…I love double crossings and I have a feeling I am going to be surprised!

      Then there’s the cover: it is so pretty with the purple (violet) and the dark surrounding it, just like in the story. But the pretty goes beyond cover love here as the world the author has built is so clearly described. From images of the faerie houses with the beautiful bathing pools to the underground tunnels-I felt like I was there. I swear I could hear the water in the bathing pools and the fresh scent of the waterfall, and the awful smell of the dank and dark tunnels underground….I loved it!

      If you love fae and want a great read, I totally rec this book, you won’t be disappointed.
    • 5/5
      Did I find a super awesome YA read with amazing characters and believable romance? And romantic tension? Lots of romantic tension? Did I? Oh, yes... Yes, I did.This is one of my new favorites going on my “epic” shelf! Sweet babies, I adored this thing. Violet, the protag, is a very strong and snarky faerie—truly funny, and not just occasionally so. She's a tough chick and even a bit of a tomboy to boot, which makes her physical prowess that much more believable. And, she's a teenage girl with so little experience with boys, so she does allow herself to get involved with the human boy, Nate. But, she is not dreaming of their wedding day, nor thinking the fate gods had anything to do with their meeting each other.She's a Guardian-in-training who goes out and protects people and fae folk from evil stuff that has the tendency to wreak havoc on innocent people's lives. She has a really sassy guy rival in her Guild named Ryn, an old friend-turned-enemy. A frenemy. He's just yummy and fun. I love characters like that!Then, there's Nate who is really funny, too, and I don't know how I feel about him after having read the entire story, plus the bonus stories. He's just a complex character, I suppose, like any real person, so I'm left perplexed and wanting to know why he chooses to go down the path he does in the story SO badly. Why did you do it? Why, Nate?Back to Ryn—delicious Ryn. Where you have an instant attraction between Violet and Nate, leading to a very immediate relationship worthy of high-schoolers, you have something far slower-burning with Vi and Ryn. They hate each other, but do they really? It feels like that kind of relationship where the two get off on making each other angry. Ryn certainly derives actual pleasure from doing so with Vi, as I learned from reading his POV story at the end. The potential for future romance between the two is seething through the words on the page and I cannot wait to read more about them. I totally ship it!I think what makes this story work is that it goes deep and does it right away in Book 1. We find out why Violet has literally NO friends and why she and Ryn had a falling out. She starts out not having a clue as to why he hates her, but he fesses up and it really allows for the kind of character insight missing in a whole lot of novels I read, YA and adult. Because I can understand what makes these characters tick, I relate to them better and can now get hooked into their emotions, just like how they get hooked into each other, emotionally, after their big blow-up. It's something usually saved for a Book 2 or Book 3, but, seriously, why wait to put in the good stuff? This is why readers read!