From the Bookshelf of Aussie Readers…

The Fairy Wren

Ashley Capes

Start date: May 1, 2018

Finish date: May 31, 2018

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May 02, 2018 Brenda rated it really liked it

Shelves: own-read, fantasy, gift-from-author, 5000-books, aussie-authors, 2014-release, read-on-kindle, mystery

Paul Fischer and his bookshop had been partners for a long while – but the introduction of e-readers had seen a downturn in sales. And with the rents of their street in Stony Bay due to rise, Paul knew he had no choice but to sell. He wasn’t sure what he would do – he was preparing for a divorce from his wife Rachel – soon to be ex – his business was worthless, and his rent was becoming a struggle.

But with the appearance of a little blue fairy wren, and a young Italian girl into his life, Paul f ...more

25 likes · Like · see review

Mar 01, 2016 PattyMacDotComma rated it liked it

Shelves: australian-author, arc-netgalley-done, kindle, fantasy-folk-myth-super-magic

3★
Capes handles his words well, and I enjoy his writing style. I also enjoy fantasy where we are asked to suspend disbelief in order to accept some extraordinary connections between events or characters—in this case between Paul, the protagonist and the fairy wren of the title (and subject of the most beautiful book cover I’ve seen in a long time).

I’m happy to overlook conventional rules and accept that something unpredictable might happen, but it doesn’t mean I accept that real-life consequence 3★
Capes handles his words well, and I enjoy his writing style. I also enjoy fantasy where we are asked to suspend disbelief in order to accept some extraordinary connections between events or characters—in this case between Paul, the protagonist and the fairy wren of the title (and subject of the most beautiful book cover I’ve seen in a long time).

I’m happy to overlook conventional rules and accept that something unpredictable might happen, but it doesn’t mean I accept that real-life consequences aren’t dealt with as they would be in today’s Australia. I don’t need all loose ends tied up neatly, but I need to feel a sense of explanation as to where they’re headed.

Paul’s got everything going against him. His bookshop’s being closed, he’s in debt, his wife’s left, his best friend seems to be a petty crim, a pre-teen Italian girl speaking no English turns up on his doorstep, as well as a gorgeous fairy wren that may or may not mean something somehow.

Things and people and events keep turning up out of the blue. When a woman who turns up suddenly on his doorstep to warn him about her boss (with whom he’d had a row) she unexpectedly comes onto him and things heat up. I have no idea where that came from or why—nor did Paul, but he enjoyed it.

Meanwhile, his wife has an intervention order out against him, but then SHE turns up at his door—one day while the aforementioned love interest is “visiting"—so she beats a hasty retreat.

When the best friend/petty crim approaches him with yet another scam, Paul is so beset with problems (in spite of, or maybe including, the new love interest), that he weakens and listens. The petty criminal activities escalate, and things get messy.

“Despite the bravado, he didn’t have any ideas, no clever plan. The store was gone for good. He’d fucked it up and was left with a house he didn’t own, several hundred kilograms of unsold stock and a slew of legal issues. What he did have was a degree in business management, a crazy bird stalking him and a headache.”*

I wish the plotlines were tightened, but I will check whatever Capes comes up with next. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy for review.

*Quotation from advanced review copy, subject to change.
...more

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Feb 18, 2022 Rhoda rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Paul has a bookshop in the coastal town of Stony Bay, however it is no longer doing well and the rent is about to go up. All manner of other things are going wrong in Paul’s life when he gets a strange phone call, which he thinks may be from his estranged wife Rachel, asking for help - but he does not know where she is.

Following this call, he begins to frequently see a fairy wren everywhere, which appears to be beckoning him to follow it….

It’s difficult to summarize this book without spoiling m ...more

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Oct 16, 2014 Ashley Capes added it · (Review from the author) · review of another edition

Dec 16, 2014 Stuart Barnes marked it as to-read · review of another edition

1 like · Like

Jan 19, 2016 Kate Moffatt marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Apr 23, 2018 Kim marked it as to-read

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