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Spell Hunter (Faery Rebels #1)

by R.J. Anderson (Goodreads Author)

3.93 of 5 stars 3.93 · rating details · 1,923 ratings · 311 reviews

Forget everything you think you know about faeries. . . .

Creatures full of magic and whimsy?

Not in the Oakenwyld. Not anymore.

Deep inside the great Oak lies a dying faery realm, bursting with secrets instead of magic. Long ago the faeries mysteriously lost their magic. Robbed of their powers, they have become selfish and dull-witted. Now their numbers are dwindling and the...more

Hardcover, 336 pages

Published April 28th 2009 by HarperCollins Children's Books (first published January 8th 2009)

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May 17, 2009 Kristi (The Story Siren) rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: signed-books, books-i-own

Another fantastic debut novel! This book was just full of awesomeness. I absolutely loved reading it! The plot was something totally different, which was beyond refreshing! No faery courts, good vs. evil, life sized fae in the book. This is the type of faeries that I had always imagined hiding amongst flowers.

The characters were extraordinary. Knife was so fascinating. Such a complex character. She really made this novel. And the secondary characters were just as outstanding. They were almost as...more

11 likes · like · see review

Aug 23, 2008 R.j. rated it 5 of 5 stars · (Review from the author)

I am shockingly biased in favor of this book, so please disregard the five-star rating. *coughs delicately*

65 likes · like · see review

Mar 17, 2011 Chachic rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: actual-books-owned

Orinally posted here.

Knife by R.J. Anderson was published as Spell Hunter in the US and is the first book in the Faery Rebels series. I got the UK edition because I think it looks much better than the US one and the UK covers for all the books in the series match. The picture below doesn't do the cover justice because it's a lot nicer in person - the blue stands out against the black and the print is shiny. I've heard a lot of good things about this book, especially from Sounisians because I be...more Orinally posted here.

Knife by R.J. Anderson was published as Spell Hunter in the US and is the first book in the Faery Rebels series. I got the UK edition because I think it looks much better than the US one and the UK covers for all the books in the series match. The picture below doesn't do the cover justice because it's a lot nicer in person - the blue stands out against the black and the print is shiny. I've heard a lot of good things about this book, especially from Sounisians because I believe R.J. Anderson is a member of that LJ community.

I know there are a lot of YA faery series out there - I've given several a try but I stopped with just the first book in most of them because I feel like they weren't for me. Knife was different because I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and I'm glad that I already have a copy of Rebel. Ever since Bryony was a young faery, she's had this longing to go outside the Oak to discover what's out there. In this series, fairies are small creatures so they're scared of crows, foxes and even cats and dogs. Humans are viewed as monstrous creatures intent on harming them. However, Bryony doesn't understand why her people aren't brave enough to fight back. She gets the chance to prove herself when she's apprenticed to the Queen's Hunter - the person responsible for protecting the Gatherers who reluctantly leave the Oak to collect food. The Hunter also provides whatever meat, skins and fur that she can acquire. When Bryony takes over the position of Queen's Hunter, she chooses to change her name to Knife.

I really liked the faery world created by R.J. Anderson and I think it's my favorite so far out of all the faery series that I've read. It was interesting to note the similarities and differences in this world and other faery lore. I can't reveal much without mentioning spoilers but I really liked how the faeries' magic worked. Knife is such a feisty heroine. She's inquisitive even as a child and she questions the rules of the Oak. There's a mystery behind that and why her people lost most of their magic and Knife is determined to find out more about it. She's different from all the other fairies because she's not content with the status quo. She's willing to take risks even if it involves endangering herself. It was fun to see everything through Knife's eyes as she tentatively explores the world beyond the Oak and the humans that live in the House. I really liked how the friendship between Knife and Paul, a human teen, developed - initially, they were just curious about how different they are from each other but eventually, they connect and bond over common interests like their fascination with art. I highly recommend Knife to fans of faery stories and MG/YA fantasy readers. Like I said, I'm looking forward to reading Rebel and I have a feeling I'll be purchasing Arrow soon (I've seen it in local bookstores).(less)

5 likes · like · see review

Aug 11, 2011 Kathryn rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: first-in-a-serie, middle-grade-lit, books-i-own, read-2011, cover-lust

rating clarification 4.5

Be prepared, this book is awesome !!

I've only read three book during this past month and I am ashamed.. but glad I haven't sunken to my routine of not reading ANY books at all!!
Which is why it took so long for me to finish this book.

I am not sure if it was my lack of interest of reading this month has driven me to read this book agonizingly slow or that this book simply had a quite slow development.
But nonetheless, I cannot explain how glad I am to have continued readi...more

5 likes · like · see review

Sep 09, 2009 Melissa rated it 5 of 5 stars

I will always think of this book as titled "Knife" as (full disclosure) I knew it in some of its earlier stages. However my friendship with and love of this book's author does not at all account for the voraciousness with which I consumed it. I had it in my possession for many months and due to a crazy schedule only opened it last night: a bias in favor of the author's success does not at all account for staying up much too late with it, trying to read it while I was driving (!), using one hand...more

4 likes · like · see review

Apr 22, 2009 Emily rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I've wanted to write a super-duper review for this book, but I just can't find the words to describe how fabulous it is. I admit I'm biased-- I've known RJA for years, and fell in love with her writing with her fan fiction. I've been privileged to help with the editing process on this novel, but I hadn't read the most recent revision until this was published. And it was amazing. I've always been a fan of fairy tales, and this one is a classic-- and yet, it isn't. It's both familiar and unfamilia...more

3 likes · like · see review

Apr 15, 2009 Shannon (Giraffe Days) rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, ya, 2009, autographed, review-copy

There aren't many faeries left in the Oak. Since the Sundering, the only faery with any magic is the Queen, Amaryllis, and the old skills have been lost. The Silence is killing off faeries, but no one knows what it is or what causes it.

When she was a young faery, Bryony was adventurous and yearned for the outdoors - a place she was never allowed to go. So she is shocked but excited to be apprenticed to Thorn, the Queen's Hunter, whose job it is to protect the Oak and hunt squirrels and other sma...more There aren't many faeries left in the Oak. Since the Sundering, the only faery with any magic is the Queen, Amaryllis, and the old skills have been lost. The Silence is killing off faeries, but no one knows what it is or what causes it.

When she was a young faery, Bryony was adventurous and yearned for the outdoors - a place she was never allowed to go. So she is shocked but excited to be apprenticed to Thorn, the Queen's Hunter, whose job it is to protect the Oak and hunt squirrels and other small animals for food.

She excels at her job and welcomes the dangers. Her handmade bone knives aren't good enough to defeat the crows that attack them, so she slips into the human's stone house to steal a silver craft knife. This is barely the beginning of Bryony's fascination with the humans.

With her apprenticeship finished and Thorn retired, Bryony takes a new name: Knife. She becomes increasingly obsessed in discovering what happened to the faeries' magic, why their creativity and artistry dried up, what causes the Silence, and why they are forever being warned away from humans.

Circumstances see a surprising friendship grow between Knife and the young human Paul, who lives in the stone house, and together they discover the truth - with enormous implications for their own friendship.

After a bit of a slow start, Spell Hunter eases you into a vivid world of faeries that borrows from folklore while adding new and interesting elements of its own creation. These faeries are selfish beings, who speak to each other only to issue chores or bargain. When they die they leave behind an egg from which hatches a new baby faery, which is given the name of its mother. As Paul points out, why then are faeries so female?

One of the things I liked about this story is that, while it has an English-like setting, it never actually says where it is set - it could be anywhere where oaks grow that has old manor houses dating from the 17th century. I liked it because it added to the fantastical, fairy tale, mystical quality - not bogged down by mundane, "real" details.

While Knife doesn't narrate herself, the story is told from her perspective alone, and a lot of her personality comes through in the way she perceives things around her. She makes a great protagonist, and her thought patterns and understandings are alien enough to be convincingly "faery". It's quite funny at times, the way she interprets human things.

By about halfway through, when the mystery really started to pick up, I became quite engrossed in this book and eager to see where it led. I wasn't disappointed, and while I get the moral of the ending, I admit I didn't like how it turned out.

This is a great book for younger readers, but a fun tale for older ones as well. (less)

4 likes · like · see review

Oct 03, 2012 Susana rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: e-book, r-j-anderson, 2012, favorites

A very gripping and charming adventure.
I absolutely loved reading it!

3 likes · like · see review

May 08, 2011 Yola NY rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy-romance, punya, terjemahan, faery

WOW! aku suka endingnya!!

another faery stories...
yehah, cerita ttg peri emang nggak pernah bisa bikin aku bosen.. sebelumnya udah pernah baca crta peri yg macem2,, tapi beneran deh cerita peri yg satu ini lain dr yg lain!

1. ukuran peri yang biasanya diceritain seukuran manusia di novel2 yg lain, nah di sini ukuran peri itu keciiilll bangett.. peri yg dewasa malah cuma 15 cm..

2. peri di sini bukan termasuk sumber kreativitas.. mereka malah belajar dari manusia..

3. peri dalam buku ini tinggal di d...more

2 likes · like · see review

Dec 09, 2009 Becky rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

As the blurb says, Knife is not a fairytale. It happens to be a story about a faery who is unlike any faery I've ever read about. She is a strong-willed heroine and at times even a little savage. Knife lives with a colony of faeries who each have roles to fulfil within their community. Knife dreams of being a Gatherer and going outside of the Oak which is home to the colony. Knife unlike the other faeries is not afraid of the outside world. She is insatiably curious, particularly when it comes t...more

2 likes · like · see review

Nov 04, 2012 Jennifer Wardrip rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: trt-posted-reviews, trt-gold-star-award-winner

Reviewed by Breia "The Brain" Brickey for TeensReadToo.com

The first FAERY REBELS book, SPELL HUNTER, is a story about, you guessed it, faeries.

The story begins on a day in the life of a faery named Bryony. She is young, impetuous, and exactly like you would expect someone her age to be. Bryony lives with the others of her kind in a huge oak tree. The only faeries that are allowed to leave the tree are the gatherers when they are searching for food, or the Queen's Hunter when she leaves to protec...more

2 likes · like · see review

Mar 04, 2009 Angela rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2009, faeries-and-fey, pub-harp, for-kirsten

This was a fun faery story with faeries that are more like what I imagined traditional faeries to be like, but not quite. Yeah, I think the line in the book synopsis says "Forget everything you think you know about faeries" is an apt description.

This book builds from beginning to end. At the start, I thought it was a cute middle-grade story that I'd be interested to share with my girls when they got older. By the end I hooked and wanted to know for myself what was going to happen with Knife and...more

3 likes · like · see review

Dec 24, 2008 Deva Fagan rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2008-read

I found lots of things in this marvelous book: a compelling adventure, a nuanced world, and engaging mystery, and a sweet and occasionally heart-breaking romance. Most of all I found two characters to love: Bryony (later Knife) the faery, and Paul, the young human who becomes her friend.

I loved seeing the worlds of both faeries and humans through Knife's eyes. I read eagerly as she pieces together the clues to understand the deadly affliction upon her own people, and struggles to understand the...more

2 likes · like · see review

Oct 28, 2011 Kat rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: my-uber-favourites, yay-for-faerie, young-adult, almighty-covers-of-awesomeness, series-i-will-finish

There was a faery on the cover, and not just any faery, but a Brian Froud faery, so this little marvel had to be bought. I really can't get enough of the wonderful world of Fey, and if you're the same, then I implore to choose this as your next literary conquest, and even if you're not, read it anyway because it's seriously good.

It is a story of a little faery who dreams of something bigger, who craves freedom and knowledge of the wider world. But when she gets her wish, she is ill prepared for...more

2 likes · like · see review

Jan 25, 2009 Cindy rated it 5 of 5 stars

what an absolutely delightful read. you always know when a book has found its way into your heart when you are filled with regret when the story is over. faery rebels is a middle grade novel--a genre i have not read in some time--but it is a book to be enjoyed by all ages.

knife is a fearless faery intent on finding out the truth of her people's past, when she befriends a human friend, paul.

with evocative prose and wonderful storytelling, anderson slowly unravels the mystery behind the faeries' u...more

3 likes · like · see review

Jan 26, 2009 Maria M. Elmvang rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 5-stars, 2009, fantasy, owned

Well, I originally bought this book because I know the author. Turned out that was a brilliant investment, because I can honestly say it's a book I would love to own no matter who had written it.

"Knife" is an alternate look on fairies from what we've seen in many recent books ("Tithe" and "Wondrous Strange" spring to mind), but - IMHO - a more 'correct' one (which makes no sense at all, I know, but bear with me). I loved being introduced to the life and society of the fairy court, and seeing the...more

2 likes · like · see review

Sep 28, 2012 Ithlilian rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult

I didn't really have a lot of time left to read this when I gave it a shot, but it's so simple that it was easy to fly through. I was ok through the faery society, and through the big people section, but lost interest almost immediately after that. I wasn't invested in any of the characters, or their plights, and I feel like this is a relatively simple story to make. Just wasn't impressed.

2 likes · like · see review

Mar 16, 2009 Vivienne Serendipity Reviews rated it 5 of 5 stars

Before I say anything about this book, I have to say I just loved it. I loved it so much, that I know now I am going to have to buy it and have as one of those books that you just keep in your collection. It will definitely be read again.

But first things first though, let me tell you a little bit about it so you can make your own mind up about it.

The story is about a faery called Bryony who desperately wants to leave the world of the Oak Tree to see what happens outside. It is very rare for any...more Before I say anything about this book, I have to say I just loved it. I loved it so much, that I know now I am going to have to buy it and have as one of those books that you just keep in your collection. It will definitely be read again.

But first things first though, let me tell you a little bit about it so you can make your own mind up about it.

The story is about a faery called Bryony who desperately wants to leave the world of the Oak Tree to see what happens outside. It is very rare for any of the faeries living there, to venture into the outside. The only faeries ever allowed out are the Gatherers who gather berries and seeds for everyone to eat and the Hunter who catches and skins all their meat. Everyone else stays inside. There are no male faeries, only female ones; when they die, they disappear and an egg is left behind, from where a new faerie hatches.
As Bryony grows up, she still dreams of seeing the World outside and gets her chance when she is chosen to train as the new Hunter. Bryony becomes the best Hunter the faeries have ever had and is granted the wish to change her name to Knife ( what a cool name for a faery). She chose this name after an obsession with creating the best weapon to kill prey with and her bravery at stealing a metal blade from the house where the feared humans live.

Whilst Bryony is outside, she becomes fascinated by the people living in the house by the tree. She befriends a young teenager, paralysed in a car accident and helps him to feel good about himself and empower him to be creative.

When the Queen of the Oak finds out, she does everything she can to stop the friendship as she believes humans to be too dangerous for faeries to know. Knife sets out to prove to the Queen that faeries need contact with humans in order to evolve and to help the sick faeries recover from a disease called The Silence, which basically causes faeries to lose the will to live.
I won't tell you any more, because I don't want to give the story away.
I was very skeptical about reading this before I got it out from the library. I had enjoyed Tithe and thought that this might be a really tame version of that. After reading the first page, I nearly put it down, as the first couple of scenes reminded me of The Borrowers, where Arriety is desperate to go outside and where Pod is seen by a 'uman'. However, that is where the similarity ends and after that I was gripped. The story is just as enjoyable as Tithe, though there is none of the vulgarity in it, which I found in Tithe.
Knife is a very strong character, who is desperate to live her life the way she wants to. She has a constant dilemma between helping her fellow faeries and living to her own needs. The relationship between Knife and Paul the human, is beautiful and at first I had not seen any romantic intentions between them as it was so subtle, but as you reach the end of the book it blossoms.
The Queen of the Oak tree is an unusual character and I couldn't make out if she was really good or bad, as she seemed to walk a very thin line between both.
Overall, I loved this book, it was beautifully written and charming too read. It is a romantic story with a twist. It is definitely a faerie story for the teenagers of today, but I would also recommend to adults too. It made me wish there were faeries living at the bottom of my garden.
I almost feel that faeries are finally coming of age, they are no longer seen as the domain of children, but can stand up their shoulder to shoulder with the teen fictionals characters of vampires, witches and demons.
As I understand from reading the sites connected to this book, it is known by a different name in America and Canada. There is it called Faery Rebels: Spell Hunter. Here is the cover for you. I have to say I prefer the Knife cover as it looks more sinister and would probably attract more adults to read it.
This is the first book by R.J Anderson and I hope she writes many more, which I can then add to my collection.
Did I mention earlier, how much I loved this book, well I did, just in case you forget. If you like Holly Black, Cassandra Clay or even Stephanie Meyer, you will definitely enjoy it, so go forth and buy it, but someone leave me a copy so that I can have one of my own to become one of those well loved, well read books we all cherish.(less)

1 like · like · see review

Aug 23, 2008 R.j. rated it 5 of 5 stars · (Review from the author) · review of another edition

I wrote this book, so naturally I love it. :)

4 likes · like · see review

Feb 04, 2013 lin-lin rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: adventure, fairies, fantasy, young-adult, my-favorite

Pertama kali tertarik dengan buku ini karena covernya, dan saya senang, UFUK tidak mengganti covernya. Dari covernya tentang seorang gadis dengan sayap capung dan latar belakang pohon, saya sudah tau kalau cerita ini mengenai peri dan ini ketiga kalinya saya baca buku YA yang bertemakan peri.

Di buku sebelumnya yang saya baca tentang peri, The Iron King, tokoh perinya adalah elf itu loh yang biasa ada di novel-novel high fantasy dengan kuping lancip panjang seperti Legolas. Nah kalau disini peri...more

1 like · like · see review

Mar 29, 2011 Victoria rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Victoria by: Royston Froud

Shelves: fiction, read-in-2011, young-adult, sci-fi-fantasy

Well. I must say, that reading all the reviews on here before I started and seeing many of them use the words "...but I'm biased" put me a little at unease when I began this book. Now that I have finished, I think that that unease was completely unfounded and that those who feel this 'bias', probably aren't in reality.

It’s difficult to resist a book with a cover as beautiful as this one, with its shining, shimmering front and its black edged pages. I understand all that jazz about not judging...more Well. I must say, that reading all the reviews on here before I started and seeing many of them use the words "...but I'm biased" put me a little at unease when I began this book. Now that I have finished, I think that that unease was completely unfounded and that those who feel this 'bias', probably aren't in reality.

It’s difficult to resist a book with a cover as beautiful as this one, with its shining, shimmering front and its black edged pages. I understand all that jazz about not judging a book by its cover but sometimes that’s all you’ve got to go by and I’m a sucker for a good cover! When my fiancé gave me this as a birthday gift, I couldn’t wait to get stuck into it – I wanted to know more about the moody looking faery on the cover with the strange name, stamping her feet. I wanted to know about her world. These were strong feelings arising simply from the cover of a novel and the question was whether the story and the narration would live up to the expectation that its appearance had created. Well, I certainly wasn’t let down.

Learning about the world and the culture of the Oakenwyld was fascinating. Anderson has created a fully functioning and fully coherent community in which the reader immerses themselves. It is easy to forget that you are actually reading this and not a fly on the wall of a real faery world, inside a real oak tree. The narration is descriptive and Anderson’s vocabulary is substantial to say the least. Whilst managing to create a whole and detailed look at a specific event or place, Anderson does not make it overly flowery or so fussy that the reader is ploughing throw paragraph after paragraph of unnecessary ‘bumpf’. She uses enough description to make it clear in the reader’s mind whilst leaving enough to the imagination. In terms of narration, it was very well written.

I personally found the story gripping too. I wanted to keep reading and this novel kept me up well past my bedtime, struggling to keep my eyes open just long enough to find out what happens next. There is enough detail about their world and culture to be interesting and to make the rest of the story make sense without becoming boring or bogged down. The story flows at a pleasant pace. The mystery is an excellent one, with discoveries made in just the right places and I kept changing my mind about what I thought that outcome would be. I was not entirely correct with any of my guesses (although not entirely incorrect either). The love story, whilst not being ‘my thing’ as such, was handled brilliantly and didn’t overcome the rest of the tale, such as it has in other novels (The Lovely Bones being in mind). The tension and suspense works well and Anderson reveals twists in the plot at just the right moments, making me at one point audibly gasp – to which my partner turned suddenly and proclaimed “oooh…that sounded like a good bit!” I only have one real issue with this novel and that is the ending. Apart from it being overly soppy and more than a little cheesy (which is fine if that’s your thing but it’s something I struggle to stomach), I thought that some of the issues in the novel were not concluded or satisfactorily answered. I do however realise that this novel is only the first in a series of them and hence, is not the end as such. I have ordered Rebel, the next book and I hope to find at least some closure of these issues in there.

So, apart from the ending and perhaps the overuse of the phrase “it was all I could to stop myself” or whatever (something I can’t bear because as a sentence, it makes little logical sense and it is something that is making a greater appearance in literature all the time, especially young adult literature) I thoroughly enjoyed the novel. I am hoping that this strength continues through the next novel (as well as the others, if I get that far) and I have already recommended Knife to a number of other readers. Overall, an excellent quick read to immerse yourself in a world that is quite similar but not-quite similar to our own.
(less)

1 like · like · see review

Aug 01, 2012 Isa rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: everyone

Shelves: young-adult, urban-fantasy, read-2010, favorites, owned, love-hate, cozy, mystery, romance, worth-re-reading, otp

Some more thoughts and a silly summary/parody at Bookmarks.

Generally speaking, I know how good a book is if I almost die while reading it. I tend to read while walking and if the book is good enough, chances are I'll stupidly walk into traffic and almost give some innocent driver a heart-attack.

That didn't happen with the Faery Rebel series, I only tripped and fell onto some train tracks while reading them, but I knew then and there that they were wonderful.

First of all, the main protagonist i...more

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Nov 12, 2009 Liz rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2009, sci-fi-fantasy-etc, urban-fantasy, ya, to-hunt-down-and-steal, action-adventure-etc, kids, romance

Finished!

UPDATE: It's been nominated for the Carnegie! I'm glad to see I've got good taste :P

ORIGINAL REVIEW:

I. Loved. This. Book. It was just perfect from beginning to ending. It surprised me in places, and the Last Dramatic Scene was amazing. Totally not what I expected at all. R. J. Anderson's done a new twist on traditional fairies. The characters were interesting, and bringing in adults was a new one on me, but I really cared about them. I liked it. It was new, and fresh, and it totally imm...more

1 like · like · see review

Jan 16, 2010 Miss Clark rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: adventure, brambleberry-library, fairytale-fantasy-sci-fi-mythology, year-end-picks, children-s, favorites

This book was a charming delight! The Faery culture that Anderson has created was unlike anything that I had encountered and exploring it with Knife as she seeks the truth about the Sundering that stole her people’s magic and the plague that is now slowly but inexorably killing them was just the sort of adventure I wanted.

The Faery society is foreign. The niceties and emotions we take for granted are unknown to them. They lack creativity. They have no understanding of such concepts as love, frie...more

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Feb 18, 2009 Tez rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

1 like · like · see review

Mar 30, 2009 Yan rated it 5 of 5 stars

This book was simply…wow. And that, my dears, is an understatement. Just when my hope begins to diminish on Team Faery, Team Zombie is popping out some good books, R.J. Anderson writes this beauty.

When I started to read Faery Rebel, my brother asked me what’s it about? I passed the book to him which he promptly read the back summary. He said that Disney is bound to make a movie out of this to which I reply, they probably will. So why did I tell you this little exchange between brother dear and...more This book was simply…wow. And that, my dears, is an understatement. Just when my hope begins to diminish on Team Faery, Team Zombie is popping out some good books, R.J. Anderson writes this beauty.

When I started to read Faery Rebel, my brother asked me what’s it about? I passed the book to him which he promptly read the back summary. He said that Disney is bound to make a movie out of this to which I reply, they probably will. So why did I tell you this little exchange between brother dear and I? To showcase you the appeal that it has. This book shows great potential for middle school students and high school students, as well as adults who adore fairies! We are talking about awe worthy, sigh escaping, silly little grins, and childish giggles type of book! And that, my friends, is just the starting point.

What I love first about Faery Rebel was the fact that it is quite different from other fairy type novels coming out. Most of which dwell in the “Fairy World” with kings, queens, courts, and all of that confusing stuff. This was more of the Disney type of world—where they are 7 inches tall, live in a tree, and in the human world. This might seem cliché to some, but after reading about 4 series with the same background information and whatnot, I am quite sick of it. This was considered a breath of fresh air for me!

Knife was too precious. She reminds me of a little child who I want to hug and pamper. The innocence of not knowing anything in the human world, the batch of new emotions surfacing when she meets Paul, that made me want to read more. But of course, human size she can probably kick my butt. The way she handles her tasks, her confrontation with humans, the way she tried to solve the mystery of the ever declining fairy race, it was magnifique!

The characters surrounding Knife were as equally impressive and divine. Each had a motive, a purpose, and executed it in a wonderful fashion.

The plot complex, well as complex as you can without boring anyway. The descriptive language was there. The build up in storyline, the climax, the ending, was…sigh. I cannot simply tell you how wonderful it all was. Read it. Just grab a copy and read it.

Overall: Faery Rebel impressed me and I eagerly wait for the sequel! It was a stunning piece of work that R.J. Anderson should be proud of.(less)

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Feb 24, 2009 GirlwiththeBraids rated it 5 of 5 stars

The faeries of the Oak went through a terrible event called the Sundering but a hundred years later, none of the faeries know what it had been about. With the Oak’s population dwindling, Knife is appointed the Queen’s Hunter. Maybe she could find out what has caused the Silence that has been taking some many of the faeries’ lives and cure it. When she takes a mayor interest in humans, Knife visits the House and becomes friends with the teenager, Paul. No one knew of Knife and Paul’s friendship,...more

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Feb 20, 2009 Giovana rated it 5 of 5 stars

I got this book to read with my seven year old son. He loved it so much he would not put it down. He got ahead of me so I had to wait until he finished it so I could finish it. So I finally got my turn, and loved it so much I'm debating starting it over again. The writing is brilliant. The story is well developed. This is a fantastic book. In the words of my seven year old: There's got to be a sequel!

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Mar 27, 2009 Stephanie rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: own

OMG. This book was really, really good. I loved the Knife's wit and her independence. I loved the plot because it's so unique especially since it talks about faeries[faerys?:] that no longer have magic anymore.

I thought characters were well-written as well because I felt like I got to know Knife really well. I loved her sense of adventure and her curiosity which was how she was able to find herself on the road to getting back the faerys' powers. The Faery Queen was someone who I was holding my...more

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Mar 06, 2009 Rose rated it 4 of 5 stars

I really liked this one!! Books about all-female magical societies, where the men come in only peripherally, always irritate me because I don't like ignoring half the human race. This book moves towards inclusion, not seclusion, which was an amazing breath of fresh air. Quite apart from the themes, I just liked the main character and the human she watches.

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About R.J. Anderson

R.J. (Rebecca) Anderson was born in Uganda, raised in Ontario, went to school in New Jersey, and has spent much of her life dreaming (and writing) of other worlds entirely.

*** ABOUT MY BOOK RATINGS ***
5 stars means that I loved the book so much that I foresee myself reading it again and again -- I reserve this for beloved classics and others that really knocked my socks off.

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Quotes from Spell Hunter

“I'm just a little cold," said Knife, pulling the blanket closer about her shoulders.
Paul wrapped his free arm around her. "It's all right," he said. "I've got you."
"Yes," said Knife, smiling up at him. "You have.” — 12 people liked it

“I found her lying naked on the lawn at midnight, can I keep her?” — 6 people liked it

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Spell Hunter (Faery Rebels #1)

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