Amanda Ashby

A real roller coaster ride of a story. One that when you start you just can't find a way to stop reading. I finished this last night or rather in the wee hours of the morning. We begin learning about the life of Jessica, a strong, well put together mother and wife. Doing everything she can to keep her life as perfect as it can be, unfortunately her big sister does her best to turn Jessicas well-crafted life upside down. I began feeling sorry for Jessica as it seemed she worked so very hard show more to keep everything on track. She didn't deserve the drama and turmoil that occurred when her sister went missing. Once I began to read Ashleigh's story, I found myself almost heartbroken for her. She had had so much disruption in her life at such a young age. her life contained many "demons" that she tried to silence with over drinking. The more I read about the sisters the more enthralled I became with them...and then came the addition of a third point of view and another sister...Grace. She was almost an outsider to the family drama, yet still was a very large part of all that had happened. The story takes the point of view of all three sisters. As we get further into the story more and more secrets are revealed and all three sisters are still connected to them. Now we are learning that no one is really what they appear to be, they all have secrets to hide. This was such a compelling story that I found myself hooked from the start. And the end? I never saw it coming. The author gets a word of thanks for keeping me reading and very, very surprised at the end. show less

This is so much fun to read! You only have to look at the cover to see those serious ass kicking shoes and the don't mess with me sword to know this ain't no Tinkerbell she's chasing. Oh, well actually Emma, our heroine, is chasing little Tinkerbells at first because she was assigned that position by the principal-Fairy Slayer. It doesn't matter that her mother was the best dragon slayer ever and she hunted with her mother. It doesn't matter that she scored highest on dragon slaying tests. show more It doesn't even matter that the entire school knows she'll be the next dragon slayer. She's assigned to be a fairy slayer. A f-a-i-r-y- s-l-a-y-e-r! The first in history. Even the esteemed Sir Francis, the most powerful slayer of all time who wrote the book on slaying elementals doesn't know how to kill a fairy, so what's a girl to do?

And for six weeks she hunts down little Tinkerbells (for some reason I imagine little Smurfs with wings) because they're annoying, but otherwise harmless (and I find smurfs annoying). The only problem is, Emma hasn't killed one fairy. Now as a fairy lover, I had a hard time with the fact that she was going to kill these little, for the most part harmless, elementals. But she didn't. She found them annoying at most and informative at the least. The only time she really tried to kill them was when she was trying to convince the principal Mr. Kessler that she'd be better at dragon slaying by being the best fairy slayer. But she couldn't find their kill spot, ever. So she never killed one. Not the Tinkerbells.

The fairies actually bring a little levity to a serious situation further along in the book and become almost endearing, all but one fairy. A huge evil ancient one that only Emma can see and no one believes her when she explains it. What's worse, she has to partner with Curtis Green, the dragon slayer, the one that took her spot, and cross train him on fairy slaying. Again, she doesn't know the kill spot, hasn't been able to kill the little Tinkerbells equals embarrassing. But Curtis is on crutches after a dragon slaying accident and follows her with fascination, watching her lure them with skittles and frappuccinos. But they fly away laughing at the two hunters. Wings trump legs!

Emma is definitely a flawed character. She's a sophomore at Burtonwood school that specializes in children with "the sight" meaning they can see elementals-fairies, trolls, dragons, demons and so on. Her mother died five years ago and her father remarried and they are expecting a baby boy. Emma is less than thrilled. She thinks her father is trying to erase the memory of her mother. Then there's the fact that Emma is single minded in trying to change the principle's mind about becoming a dragon slayer as if she's got something to prove. But she's vulnerable and in her weaker moments, we see her emotions, fears, and pain at the loss of her mother. The story is told through her eyes and feelings in third person point of view.

Curtis is her male counter part, confusing as boys are apt to be. He blows hot and cold so that Emma never knows if he likes her or not but he always has her back and always believes in her. He, too, is flawed making him sensitive and caring. He has secrets that he has to keep from Emma, secrets that perhaps make him more hesitant to trust Emma. But it doesn't stop him from trying to get her to reconcile with her family as he has none. And when she tells him about the evil ancient fairy, he has something that makes him able to see it too and together they work on a way to kill it.

The first part of the story is the world building and always tends to move at a little slower pace than the rest of the novel. But as soon as the campus and classes are laid out and Emma's friends are introduced, the action starts and the pace is quick. Fairy Bad Day is a long book for a paper back - it isn't mass market size. But it seems to fly by as you're reading it, really no pun intended.

Amanda Ashby is very good at snarky humor in this especially with the fairies. They are almost always up to something funny whether it's mooning Curtis or taunting Emma. They seem to like to shop at the GAP though I didn't know clothes came in fairy size. But the fairies provide a bit of levity at times that it was definitely needed. During a fierce battle with the ancient fairy one of the little fairies says, "So there is a Sir Francis hotline. I knew it!" as Emma comes up with yet another idea.

Loni and Tyler are two side characters I'd love to see more. They were great friends to both Emma and Curtis. Both the plot and characters were very well developed and worked great. I was frustrated, scared, happy and in the end satisfied. I don't want a trilogy Amanda, but I wouldn't mind seeing these characters again! They were funny and endearing and reminded me of friendships I made long ago. We just didn't get the heels or the sword. Hey Amanda, where can I get some of those shoes?

Heather in Sandwich show less

Fairy Bad Day by Amanda Ashby follows Emma Jones, a second generation student of Burtonwood Academy, as she tries to come to terms with not being assigned the same type of magical creature as her recently deceased mother. Instead of dragons, as she has been training for all her life, she's been assigned fairies: small, annoying, but hardly dangerous, creatures.

Fairies like to hang out at the mall, wear the current fashion and eat Skittles. They also like to insult their attackers and make a show more nuisance of themselves. To Emma's eternal frustration, they are also damn near impossible to kill! How can she prove herself worth of dragon slaying if she can't even handle one pesky fairy?

There is something bigger at stake. It's tied to the history of the academy and the fighting of magical creatures. The book suffers a bit from a pacing problem, in that it takes longer than it should to introduce the main plot. The first third of the book is given to Emma's life in school and the mall rat habits of the fairies. show less

There seems to be a connection between Australian authors and quirky YA romances featuring fairies. First there was Justine Labelestier’s How to Ditch Your Fairy and now Amanda Ashby’s Fairy Bad Day. Forget the awful pun title, the book is actually quite amusing.

Emma Jones is a star pupil at Burtonwood Academy (a school specially set up for sight gifted teens who can see the supernatural creatures such as dragons, goblins and fairies that they refer to as elementals) and is a shoe in to show more be given the title of dragon slayer, just like her mother, a renowned dragon slayer. To her surprise Emma gets the humiliating assignment of fairy slayer (there’s a lot of debate about whether fairies even need a slayer, they’re annoying and mischievous, but not deadly) and the prize of dragon slayer (Emma’s job) goes to Curtis Green, Emma’s mysterious, good natured and frustratingly handsome classmate.

Adding to Emma’s frustration and confusion is her pregnant stepmother Olivia, a trio of obnoxious and effortlessly fashionable fairies (Rupert, Gilbert and Trevor) who find Emma not at all threatening, and persist in taunting her at every opportunity, and the Darkhel; a huge malevolent dangerous presence that only Emma can see.

Somehow Emma has to sort out her life, her feelings for Curtis and Olivia, regain the title she believes is rightfully hers and save the world in time for Induction.

Because of the type of book Fairy Bad Day is the outcome is never really in doubt, but there’s a lot of fun in seeing Emma and her friends Loni, Tyler and Curtis get there. This is largely achieved with some snappy Joss Whedonesque dialog (it was not at all surprising that the author is a fan), some interesting characters (Loni is obsessed with astrology and Tyler has a five legged cockroach as a pet) and Skittles. I know I’ll never look at the multicoloured candy the same way again. Who knew they could be deadly given the right circumstances?

Fairy Bad Day is a huge amount of fun and a quick easy read. If anyone was prepared to do it right it would make a really good teen TV series. One thing I found unusual was that the back cover blurb was written in first person, yet the book itself was done in 3rd person. Given that most Urban Fantasy and Paranomal Romance is written from first person it’s an easy mistake to think that Fairy Bad Day would have worked well done that way.

It won’t change the world, but it may give you a laugh or two. show less