Blog Tour Review: Fae Child

Fae Child
Jane-Holly Meissner

Published: December 15, 2020
Amazon | Goodreads

When eight-year-old Abbie Brown discovers a quiet pool of water while wandering through the woods behind her Oregon home, she wades out into it and discovers she’s not alone. A wild-haired boy in green stares at her from the other side of the water. Mesmerized, Abbie reaches down to him and is yanked underwater.

She emerges on the other side as an unwelcome visitor to the Otherworld, the land of the Fae, with only the boy Foster to guide her. Back in Oregon, a changeling lookalike has taken her place, bonding with her mother while her father, hiding a secret of his own, views the “girl” with suspicion.

In the courts of the Fae a truce has long been in place between Winter and Summer. What havoc might a human child wreak in the careful machinations of beings older than time? And to what lengths will Abbie’s father go to get her back?

My Review

Oh, how I LOVED this story! And not just because it was set in Oregon (the best place on Earth), but because it was full of everything you could ever want in a story – mystery, family ties, magic, adventure, wonderment friendships, fairies, trolls, elves, wolves…..I know I’m forgetting some things, but you get the picture!

The story starts out innocently enough where our MC, Abbie, is wandering through the forest back behind her house. Yes, in Oregon we do this, wonder around in the forests. On this particular day, she finds a new path which leads to a pond she’s not seen before. Looking in the pond she sees the reflection of a boy, but looking up, she stands alone. She reaches into the pond towards the reflection of the boy and a hand shoots out, grabs her arm and pulls her in. She surfaces in Otherworld, where the boy, Foster, has ‘saved her’ by pulling her out of the water.

Foster is an elf, a guardian of the forest that lives in Summer. He has been practicing magic and opened up a forbidden portal which Abbie has fallen through (or more accurately, been pulled through).

“Old magic, some of the oldest, is woven into the Gate spell. Those who stumble through from their world into ours,” he said, sounding as if he was reading from a textbook, “are copied in body but not soul, leaving a changeling in their stead. The changeling is just like the person they have replaced, but –” he stopped abruptly to glance at her before changing tack and continuing. “They are like a …reflection of you. Since you are not gone, your parents will not look for you.”

Foster and Abbie determine it is best to get her to a return portal right away. Unfortunately, that is located in the heart of Winter, a long distance away, where Foster’s Summer magic will not be of help to either of them.

The story is of the journey to the Winter portal, the creatures and friends they meet along the way. And let’s not forget the changeling left in Abbey’s place. Not all of the action is centered in the Otherworld. There is plenty taking place back at home.

For fans of The Chronicles of Narnia and similar stories, you will certainly want to pick up this Book 1 as soon as you can. It’s a shorter story than Narnia and thus less world-building takes place in this first installment. The focus is truly on the journey and the great characters. Definitely a great addition to the Fantasy genre bookshelf!

Meet the Author

Jane-Holly, an Oregon based writer, has been scribbling stories into notebooks and online for most of her life. She squeezes in time for her four kids, date nights at the movies with her husband, and explaining her first name to everyone she meets. She believes that, if creativity is directly correlated to how messy your house is, she might just be one of the most creative people on the planet.

Sharing is caring!