The Faerie Locket is a middle-grade high-fantasy book, a companion novel to A Practical Guide to Faeries, written by Susan J. Morris.
It's Jade's 12th birthday but so far no one seems to be remembering. Her sister Vira isn't around to play, as she's off being important at her Ranger training, hanging out with elves all day. But Jade is determined to have fun. Vira's the one that got her obsessed with faeries, what with the abundance of stories of a faerie world in which Jade was a pixie and Vira was an elf - stories where Jade got to be the heroine sometimes.
So Jade slips off to the treehouse that is one of her favorite places and hopes to get a peek at real, live faeries. In the treehouse there is a locket! She's convinced it's a birthday present from the faeries. But when all of a sudden a pixie appears and begins to lead her on a dangerous adventure to Feywild (the faerie land), Jade doesn't realize that the pixie believes her to be Vira.
But it's too late. The locket is already around Jade's neck and cannot be removed. So she finds herself stepping into the role of prophesied savior of the summer faeries! Apparently the Ice Queen and winter faeries are slowly but surely taking over the summer faeries land - putting them all in great jeopardy. Vira was brought to help them with her known cleverness and training. But instead they got young Jade - but she isn't saying a word!
Thing is, putting on the locket also turns you into a faerie. So it's not just the entire faerie kingdom hanging on Jade's incapable fingers - it's her own survival as well!
The Faerie Locket is a fun, lighthearted, magical tale of faeries. We have a delightful, enjoyable, dangerous quest for our birthday girl whose been sadly mistaken for her older sister. There's a childish tone to the book, but it's entertaining, funny, and sweet even for older fantasy lovers. The Faerie Locket brought out something like nostalgia in me. It reminded me of how it felt playing as a little girl, without ever being boring.
Plus, it's full of imagined characters and a likable, adorable pixie friend named Pip - the only one who knows Jade's secret. The Faerie Locket may not be a book for everybody - but any of you bibliophiles who like a bit of fantasy fun, and don't mind it fluffy and young, will find a core of good-natured entertainment here.
I was rooting for Jade the whole way through to prove herself and have victory against the Ice Queen (which, yes, has some shades of a faerie version of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe but manages to pull it off somewhat). I was always involved and smiled often.
And I'll frankly admit it: The Faerie Locket is a sparkly, girly, cotton-candy kind of novel. And you know what? There's nothing wrong with that! :)
*Check back here tomorrow for a special Tuesday post! Joanna Philbin, author of The Daughters series, will be stopping by the Bibliophile Support Group for an interview! Don't miss it!!!
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