As soon as I heard there was a new young adult fantasy coming out that was inspired by Wales and Welsh mythology that was actually written by a Welsh author I was so excited! Most of the time when you search ‘fantasy books about Wales’ they’re written by an author from the USA or some other country and they’re usually not very good. But The Wicked Lies of Habren Faire by Anna Fiteni is one of the best books I’ve read all year.
Set in the 19th century in the Welsh countryside, Sabrina Parry knows the world is tough and cruel. Her mother is dead, her dad in prison and it’s up to her to provide for her ailing grandmother and sister, Ceridwen. She hopes to set her sister up with a wealthy man to marry in order to protect her.
But one day Ceridwen disappears into the eerie woods and when Sabrina follows her she discovers that the stories of fairies she grew up hearing are actually true. She’s drawn into the beautiful but decaying world of fairies and monsters where she meets an annoyingly handsome fairy prince that offers her a dangerous deal that she is forced to accept if she wants to save her sister.
This book is packed-full of Welsh history and folklore. It discusses the history of Welsh mining, we see lots of interesting monsters from Welsh mythology. It’s stuff you don’t typically see in these types of books but it was so interesting. The author clearly cares about the sad history of Wales.
This has the beginnings of what could be a fantastic romance and it ended in a surprising way that I didn’t expect and haven’t seen in other fae fantasy romance books. And honestly? I kinda loved it. The characters start as reluctant allies. Our main character, Sabrina, doesn’t want to have to work with this fairy but she has to if she wants to save her sister. But, of course, as these books always go it’s not long before she begins to have real feelings for him. But that doesn’t mean they don’t have genuinely hateful feelings for each other throughout the book. Their relationship isn’t an easy one where everything falls into place as soon as they admit their feelings.
One thing I really loved about this book is Sabrina’s relationship with her sister. It’s what the book is about and you might expect them to have a nice relationship. However, the relationship between Sabrina and Ceridwen is a very complicated one. Ceridwen has been keeping secrets. Sabrina can be a bit unlikeable and part of that comes from the way she feels about the responsibility she feels like she has to take care of her sickly sister.
It’s compared to Sarah J. Maas. That doesn’t seem like an accurate comparison to me. It gave me the idea that the book was going to be one thing and it wasn’t like that at all – and that was for the better. This is better than any Sarah J. Maas book I’ve ever read. I do, however, enjoy the comparison to The Cruel Prince by Holly Black.
The Wicked Lies of Habren Faire is a fantastic standalone fantasy that had a very satisfying ending. However, it left room for what could be an interesting sequel and, personally, I’d love to see it.
5 stars.
