Disclaimer: The Federal Trade Commission requires me to inform you that I received a free Advance Reader Copy of Coexist from Anna Tan in exchange for an honest review of this excellent, well-written, fairy-tale retelling novella.

Genre & Length: Fantasy/Fairy Tale/Coming-of-Age, 86 pages

The Blurb: 

Jane Hays has been told all her life that it’s dangerous to be out in the forest past sundown. At fifteen, she’s quite sure that it’s all old wives’ tales… yet, why does her village bar the gates every night? Why do they even have gates? When she is caught in an unexpected rainstorm on her way home, Jane ignores all the warnings and seeks shelter in a cottage in the middle of the forest. Soon, she is caught up in a world of magic and beauty – and in the storm of the Fairy Queen’s wrath.

The Fairy Queen is out for blood. There have been intruders – human intruders – in her domain and she will stop at nothing to find them and kill them. After all, it is only fair. She is only seeking retribution for the death that humans leave in their wake.

But Jane isn’t all that she seems to be. And the events of the night aren’t as innocent as they appear.

A tale of magic, fairy creatures and family, Coexist is a novella for the young and the young-at-heart.

My Thoughts

Plot: Well done. It follows the paths of three different ‘groups’, all culminating into a single brilliant finale. Anna did an excellent job of not revealing too much information too soon, but revealing just enough to keep you hanging on the edge of your seat. I had a good idea how the story was going to end by the last quarter of the book. It wasn’t what I would have expected from the first chapter, but it still all fit together.

Pacing: Very good. There were a couple of moments where it moved slowly, but it wasn’t enough to drag my attention away and make me lose interest.

Writing Style: Fresh and easy! It wasn’t dumbed down at all, but was still easy to fall into and a great stimulating read. You know, one of those stories you come away from feeling refreshed, instead of confused or depressed. 😉

Would I read this book again: Yes!

Get Coexist on Amazon or Smashwords.

READERS! ANNA IS OFFERING A SPECIAL COUPON CODE FOR 50% OFF OF COEXIST ON SMASHWORDS. ZM78D IS GOOD UNTIL MAY 7, 2016.

About the Author:

Anna Tan grew up in Malaysia, the country that is not Singapore. In 2015, she traded in a life of annoying other bean counters for one of annoying the online world with questions about life and death and everything in between. The answer is sometimes 42.

When she is not writing or nitpicking over other writers’ copy, she can be found reading a book or attempting to organise her room.

She can be found lurking at the following places:
Website | Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads

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