Review – The Scholar and the Last Faerie Door by H.G. Parry (5/5 stars)
Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Historical Fantasy
Length: 461 pages
Publisher: Redhook
Release Date: October 22, 2024
ASIN : B0CTZVT4NG
Stand Alone or Series: Stand Alone
Source: Borrowed ebook from Kindle Unlimited
Rating: 5/5 stars
“Camford, 1920. Gilded and glittering, England’s secret magical academy is no place for Clover, a commoner with neither connections nor magical blood. She’s there only to find a cure for her brother Matthew, one of the few survivors of a deadly faerie attack on the battlefields of WWI.
When Clover catches the eye of golden boy Alden Lennox-Fontaine and his friends, doors that were previously closed to her are flung wide open, and she soon finds herself enmeshed in the seductive world of the country’s magical aristocrats. But the summer she spends in Alden’s orbit leaves a fateful mark: months of joyous friendship and mutual study come crashing down when experiments go awry, and old secrets are unearthed. The consequences will only be truly understood many years later, when it’s too late…”
Series Info/Source: This is a stand alone book. I borrowed this on ebook through Kindle Unlimited
Thoughts: I have really enjoyed the other books by Parry I have read, even though they tend to take me longer to read and require a bit of effort. To date, I have read “The Magician’s Daughter” (loved it) and “A Far Better Thing” (liked it). I love the way she blends history with faerie elements to make a plausible story. Her writing is easy to read and engaging.
This story follows Clover whose brother was severally injured by a faerie attack at the close of WWI. Clover is determined to find a way to cure her brother by attending the magical university of Camden and figuring out how to undo faerie curses. However, Camford is only for the elite Family and Clover must work hard to become a scholarship student there. Once in, she catches the eye of Alden Lennox-Fontaine and his friends, and this new group of four embarks on a mission to both cure Clover’s brother of the curse and rescue Alden’s brother from faerie’s clutches. None of them could have predicted the long-term ramifications of the actions they take during their university years.
This story drew me in right away; I loved Clover and her family and desperately wanted her to cure her brother. The characters are incredibly complex and well done I don’t think I could actually pick a favorite they are just all so real and somewhat flawed.
This is beautifully written with some humor throughout and seamlessly blends into the world post WWI. This definitely has some dark academia vibes along with that whole concept of one beautiful, perfect, and life-changing summer that leaves larger waves in its wake. I am always impressed by Parry’s ability to blend the faerie world into actual world history.
Like all of Parry’s previous books, this did take me a bit to get through. I am not quite sure why that is. I think part of it is that the chapters are so long (usually taking 15-20 minutes to read a chapter according to my Kindle). So when I finish with one, I am not quite sure if I have time to read another (I hate stopping the middle of a chapter). Then I am always a bit reluctant to pick the book back up because I know it is going to be at least a 20-30 minute commitment. However, once I start reading again, I am reminded of how beautifully this is written and how engaging the story is. Then I finish a chapter, see the next one will take 20 minutes to read and start the cycle all over again.
I still think this was something special, and really enjoyed my time reading this. I was a bit surprised at the huge jump in time mid-book, but it worked well for the story and really showed the commitment of the faerie to get its goals. It also shows the ability of people to gloss over and ignore things that are unpleasant rather than try to fix them.
My Summary (5/5): Overall this was engaging and beautifully written with fantastic world-building and a wonderful cast of characters. I am always impressed by how Parry merges actual history with the faerie world and creates a seamless and intriguing story. This did take me some time to read, even though every time I sat down to read it I was again impressed with the writing. There was just something about how long the chapters were that prevented me from binge reading it. I would recommend to those who enjoy faerie and historical fantasies. I do plan on checking out more of Parry’s book. I know I haven’t read her Secret Histories series yet and honestly I am not sure I will read that one, it doesn’t really sound like something I would enjoy. However, I do plan on reading “The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heap” and “Heartless” at some point.
