Review - Outcast by Lauren Hillman

Outcast by Lauren Hillman

Independently published on 19th July 2017

Star Rating - ***.5

Goodreads Challenge - 57/50

 

I received this from the author in exchange for an honest review. 

 

Synopsis from Goodreads 

Merissa is a faerie with no magic, no memory... and no friends. Until a hummingbird arrives with an ominous message: The Queen wants her dead.

With the help of the hummingbird Chippen, Merissa sets out on a dangerous journey searching for the one faerie who may know the truth about her past. Instead she finds more questions when they meet Griff, a gypsy boy with pale grey eyes and one heart-melting dimple and Merissa discovers they have a strange connection. Soon her past will endanger them all.

But she is a faerie. And faeries are protectors. So if anything will help Merissa regain her lost powers it will be to save her friends. 

My Thoughts

This is a really cute middle grade fantasy that I found really enjoyable. It was super fun to read and had some great overall themes. The story is set in the fae world and focused on one faerie called Marissa who is an outcast among her kind. She is shunned by her village and doesn't know where she comes from. Whilst trying to figure out her past she meets a messenger from the Citadel and gypsy boy. Together they go off on an adventure to discover who she truly is.

This is an independently published story that I was sent a copy of by the author and I'm really glad I was. I thought it was a really cute middle grade fantasy that I can see being loved by lots of children. As I was reading I did notice some grammatical errors but not enough to break my flow of reading so overall I found this to be quite an enjoyable reading experience.

Although I enjoyed the overall story I did find the plot and the characters to be quite surface level. There wasn't as much depth as I would of liked however, I do understand that this may be because of the age group the book is intended for. That being said there were some really lovely ideas that I would of liked to have seen developed a bit more such as how things worked in the Citadel.

I also thought there were some really good themes covered in this book. There was a big emphasis on the importance of friendship as Marissa meets several new friends on her journey after beginning the story as the outcast of the village. I also liked how it showed how it's okay to be different in some ways and not to let others get you down. Marissa showed a certain level of self determination throughout the story and I believe all of these things should be promoted in stories for children.

Overall I thought this was a really fun story with some good themes. I think children who love mythical creatures and faeries will love this book. I didn't realize when I picked it up that it was part of a series and I would love to see how it concludes. 

Overall Rating (3.5*)