Review – The Faeman Quest (The Faerie War Chronicles, Book 5) by Herbie Brennan (3/5 stars)

Reading Level: Middle Grade
Genre: Fantasy
Length: 368 pages
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens
Release Date: January 4, 2011
ISBN-13: 978-1599904764
Stand Alone or Series: 5th book in the Faeie War Chronicles
Source: Swapped through Paperbackswap.com
Rating: 3/5 stars

I really enjoyed the first four books in the Faerie War Chronicles and was excited to see another book be released in the series. I didn’t enjoy this book as much as previous books in the series; probably because it’s been so long since I read the other books in the series (it was five years between the publishing of the fourth and fifth book…then it took me another few years to get around to reading it).

This book takes place 15 years after the last Faerie Wars Chronicles novel and focuses on Henry and Blue’s daughter Mella. Mella is determined to meet her human grandmother and causes a number of issues in doing so. This wouldn’t be that big of a deal except that Lord Hairstreak is up to his shenanigans and determined to take over the throne.

This was an okay book. Given the long time between the publishing of the fourth and fifth book, I had a bit of trouble remembering all of the characters. I also didn’t enjoy Mella as much as Henry and Blue. This was a fun little story set in the same world as the previous books and there are cameos by all the main characters in those previous books; but there just wasn’t anything here that was really engaging to propel the story forward.

The writing is humorous and snappy; but a bit silly too. The book switches between a lot of different points of view and in this case that just broke up the story too much and made it flow poorly. Pacing was a bit off at times too and there were parts that were just plain boring.

Overall this is an okay addition to the series, but I would only recommend if you are a huge fan of this series. Even though this is a full length book, it feels more like a quick and fun story set in the same world as the previous four books. The story is mostly forgettable; despite the fact that this book is a bit of a dud…I would recommend the first four books in this series as excellent middle grade fantasy reads.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:
– Series Enders Reading Challenge
– You Read How Many Books? Reading Challenge
– Mount TBR Reading Challenge