Rebel by R J Anderson

January 2010, Orchard Books
304 pages, Paperback
Review Copy

Fantasy, Children's

Cushions: 3
Daggers: 1
Smiles: 3
Nayuleska's recommended rating:♥♥♥♥♥


Summary from Orchard Books 


No ordinary fairy tale...

Linden is a feisty faery with a lot on her mind. She her fellow faeries are under threat: their magic is fading, and if they do not act fast, they will die...

When Linden meets Timothy, a human staying in the house opposite her Oak, she knows he can help. Together they embark on a dangerous journey to seek more magic  and discover that there is more to fear from other faeries than they could ever have imagined.


After reading the fairy with attitude's journey of discovery in Knife, Rebel takes off where Knife stopped. Instead of following Knife, it follows Linden, a fairy who plays an important role in Knife's life. Linden has a similar attitude to Knife, but her personality feels different to me as a reader (in a good way). Knife features in the book, but there are plenty of new characters too.


She embarks on an adventure which holds many dangers that had me holding my breath. What Linden learns affects every fairy in the whole tree. She learns that the other fairies, who exist far away, are different to the oak tree fairies. There's a very big difference which involve how fairies come into existence, and the types of fairies in the world. Linden's discovery, which eventually appears back at the oak shocks all the oak tree fairies. It makes them look outside their little (or not so little in the grand scheme of things) world, and see that they need to communicate with the other fairies. 


Unfortunately, there is a problem with this. It's called fairy politics. If only it was just bureaucracy, then Linden's life would be much easier. There is an fairy in power, one who makes it nearly impossible for Linden to achieve her goal. Thankfully I was surprised at the ending. Hope is there for Linden, in an unexpected guise. 


The fun thing about Linden's story is that she travels further than Knife did, further in the world than any current oak tree fairy was been. It's a world which surprises her. There are fairy hunters. Linden has a few powers bestowed upon her to help with her journey, powers that provide funny moments, and also really scary ones. 

I love Linden as much as I love Knife and all the other characters. The issues raised in this book, are ones which will probably be examined in the 2 further books being published in this series! Yes, I'm jumping up and down in excitement at this series having 4 books in it. Fairies rule! I can't wait for all the plots to get unravelled, and for certain fairies to get their comeuppance. 


R J Anderson can be found on her website.

Make sure you've read the first book in the series, Knife.