Christie Rich

What I Thought:

I was drawn into this book in the first few pages. Yes, I loved the cover - colourful, emotional and beautiful, but those first few pages- wow. I've never felt so much pain and love woven together. Between the encounter of two important characters, in a very forced but loving way, the birth and loss of a child and the fact that neither character can forget the fleeting moment they shared; I found myself unable to turn away from this book. I have never felt SO much in just a show more few pages, and Rich didn't let me down in the pages to come.

The characters in this book are detailed and have a depth of character and emotion that I expect from an epic fantasy, but not the length. I do love my epics, but I found this book had everything and was still able to be read in a few sittings.

Travis and his mysterious woman have a bond to be rivalled in the real world. They experienced a moment, forced or not, that left them bonded together in memory. A love of a moment, that has started the wheels turning. Travis takes the chance and makes a move to try and save the girl in his memories. It is a chance that could change everything.

Throughout the book, there were a mixture of characters, such a Ralya - strength, determination, will and stubbornness, as well as a strong need to thinks things through and never move to fast - Travis - the same strength, but countered with a fighter's spirit, passion, a will to change and the need for something more - Emily - who is the epitome of a fighter, a survivor, a lover, a dreamer and the one who will do anything to anger the man who took her life away.

These characters all have a strength and determination, and this drives the passionate story that Rich has woven for us. The pace and plot of the story were excellent. There was always enough happening that you were never bored, had enough detail to feel a part of the story and the action kept you on the edge of your seat!

This book has completely drawn me into the story of the Elementals. Like so many others, I wish I had read the previous series, but now I am off to fix that! I cannot wait to read the second book in the series. I NEED to know the story. I love the characters and want to see how things progress. I highly recommend this book! show less

Five:An Elemental Enmity by Christie Rich, was a fast paced, action packed read!

I honestly didn't know what i was expecting from this book coming in, because i usually pick the hardcore vampire love story over the pixie fairy tale. But this book was everything but cute and cuddly!
This book is a "Breath of fresh air" compared to my own stereo-typical views of fairies: having wings, pointy features,fairy dust,and being plain cute and boring... But Rich's take on the fairy world is filled with show more scary mystical creatures and "fae" hotties that will make your mouth water...

Five is about a not-so ordinary girl or so she calls her self a "grown woman" named Rayla, who is afraid of the dark and lives on a pig farm with her Aunt Grace, who has made it a point to shelter Rayla, her entire life. Rayla and her best friend Cassie escape their home town of imprisonment and embark on an adventure to St. Mary's College to enjoy the freedom of college life, so they think...
Through out the course of this book Rayla is sure she is being stalked by something other-worldly, and begins to realize she is not going to have the normal life and freedom she set out for.... Rayla then finds out piece by piece what she is and about the power that's inside her that may not be hers to claim.

This book was an overall great read! all the characters in this story were well thought out and the story line was tide together great! I was captured from the very first page of the book. This book is filled with magic,Mystical creatures, Hot Hot Fairy men,and action from start to finish. But the best thing about this book is that it may be about magic and things that don't really exist in the real world but Rich did make the characters relate-able in the sense of how teens fresh out of high school think they know everything that's out there in the world when we have no idea... We still have more learning to do than we think.... Rayla's character was whinny, sometimes self-centered, teenager know it all in a good way.. i could really relate to her because i was that way and probably still am lol! but i recommended everyone read this book its great for all ages, and i would DEFINITELY re-read and buy this book when it is available! P.S. and Who knows there might be a sequel?!

(I did this review for a Read to review for the author) show less

What an interesting read! I have to say that Dreamscape was different than a lot of things I've read lately, which actually was a great feeling. There is an incredibly unique world in the Dreamscape. One that, while it might not always make total sense, is really easy to get lost in. I wasn't sure where Amelia's story was taking me, but I can tell you that I didn't mind following along.

Amelia is a great character. Despite her rough life, and her equally harsh treatment by most people around show more her, she's fairly well adjusted. She's strong, fierce, and isn't afraid to take care of business when the need is there. I have to say that I honestly was rooting for her from the very first few pages. Even before Seth even came into the picture, I knew Amelia could hold her own.

Which is why when Seth did make his way into the story, I was pretty wary of him. His character is, for lack of a better word, strange. He comes off as very obsessive at first, in an almost creepy way, and it isn't until you read on that you really find out why. I'll admit it took me a long time to like him and, even once I did, I never fully fell in love with him. He doesn't make a very good first impression, let's leave it at that.

However once the Dreamscape comes into play, things get interesting. I've seen other reviewers mention how they never quite understood the mechanics of the Netherworld, and I honestly agree. However allowing yourself to get lost in it really helps. Here is a world where anything is possible. Which means that everyone would want to control it, right? There's a classic battle of good vs. evil here, and Amelia is right in the center.

The beginning of the story is a little choppy, but I promise that if you read it it gets so much better. By the time I reached the ending I was amazed. Dreamscape is a book that I picked on a whim, and I am honestly glad I did. I'd like to see a little more character building with people other than Amelia. Also it'd be nice to understand the Netherworld better. For now though, I'm content. Check this one out! show less

I received this book from the author through ARR, thank you.



Where to start? I guess I have to start with saying I have very mixed feelings about this book. I wanted to like this book a lot because of the concept behind it. The flaw in the story was the poor execution of the characters which I will go into more a bit later. This book is told in first person through Rayla, a college freshman’s eyes.

Cover: Edit: This review was for the old cover. The current cover is the girl in the purple show more dress and is much better looking. I think more could have been done with the cover. The idea of the symbol for the Elements is good, but the image is a bit dull. In my mind, elements are powerful, take fire for instance. Where are the bright, roaring colors of fire? Even wind, could be the sky, where are the bright colors of the sky? And then there is the green and browns of the earth. The cover needs to have richer and brighter colors.

Storyline: I like the story line for the book. The idea of the Fae, the Order and the Elementals are a great idea. The idea that the Fae could be compared to fallen Angels is also interesting. I do have a problem with the amount of religious overtones that start to appear the further the story goes a long, however. The pace of the book was fine; I didn’t find it too slow or too rushed.

Now the characters:

Rayla is the virginal female who is ‘special’ to the point of having five gorgeous Fae Lords competing to bond with her. This is the cliché storyline of young adult romance novels. The female lead ends up falling for two gorgeous men, in this case Fae, and can’t make her mind up. But let me give a guess. She’ll choose Zach (who she couldn’t guess was Ammon once Luke told her the name) because Zach’s the most powerful and mysterious. Rayla may even turn out to be Fae like the troll said, which means she will likely be immortal too and then Zach and Rayla can live happily ever after.

I didn’t mind Rayla so much in the beginning, but my dislike for her started to grow as soon as she met Zach, the mysterious ‘man’ she couldn’t resist even though she knew nothing about him. She didn’t trust him, but she would throw herself into his arms any time she could. Rayla also seemed pretty clueless. She couldn’t guess that Zach was a Fae Lord and it was pretty obvious right away. When there are clueless lead female characters like this, I get very exasperated with them and it takes away my pleasure in reading the story.

One thing that annoyed me was the way Rayla acted toward Zach. It pretty much went like this, “How could you?!” Rayla is angry. Zach makes a joke. Rayla likes him again and can’t stay away. Zach lies to her. She’s angry. He tells her he didn’t technically lie, rather omitted. She forgives him. This happened over and over and over again in the story. Rayla’s moods toward Zach changed per sentence depending on what Zach said. It appeared that no matter what Zach said, she’d be a little mad then, “No big deal.” I was getting whiplash with how often Rayla changed her mood. Rayla is weak and easily swayed by whomever she is with. The little resistance she gives in pushing away from choosing a partner doesn’t convince me that she is strong, only that she doesn’t want anyone making up her mind for her in the matter. Predictably Rayla falls quickly “in love” with Luke near the end of the book because he’s so open and honest, and there is the second romantic male love interest. I wanted to roll my eyes.

As to the other characters, everyone falls “in love” with each other too quickly. I would say it’s more ‘lust’ on the female’s part since the Fae lords are manipulating their feelings, and more ‘power lust’ on the part of the Fae Lords because they wanted to enhance their own power. For the Fae, the female humans are nothing more than tools. And the females once bonded, look what happened to Jessica, were pathetic. I think the message to teenage girls that a woman is not complete and satisfied without joining with a male is a poor one to give in a female YA romance story. What I disliked, and many other reviewers have already posted, is the way so many of the characters fell ‘in love’ with each other so fast. It was very unrealistic.

Cassie: I’m going to cut Cassie a break. I think she was treating Rayla poorly because she was very terrified of having to be institutionalized again. Her times being institutionalized were probably painful and traumatic for a child, so Cassie was going to deny everything to Rayla. I liked that she finally admitted that she could see the Fae and troll because it seemed to make Cassie’s character stronger. She wasn’t afraid any longer of being called crazy. I did have a problem with her wanting desperately to have a boyfriend though. Once again the author gave the message that women need to have a boyfriend, that there can’t be a strong single female character in the story. I was surprised that Cassie didn’t seem to be very upset when she told the story to Rayla about her dad being the head of the Order. I would have thought she would have been devastated but I didn’t get that feeling at all.

The Fae Lords: I really dislike the lack of information that Zach and the other Lords give Rayla, no one informs her unless they decide it’s necessary, even though she is the most important Element. Another poor message to young women, that they shouldn’t worry their pretty little heads over the serious stuff, the men will take care of it. Just like Rayla’s aunt, the idea is to keep Rayla clueless. How could Rayla’s aunt really think that leaving someone with no information is protecting them? The more information someone has, the more prepared they are to confront obstacles.

Favorite Characters: Styx and Sister Mary Margaret. Styx was cool and funny. Styx was a great character to add to the story. It would be interesting to find out about his herd that is being kept captive, and by what, and how Rayla fits into everything. Sister Mary Margaret was self-assured and knew that the more information that Rayla had, the better off she would be. I wonder what happened to her.

The romance aspect is typical YA female romance. There is nothing unique about it even though it’s between Fae and an Elemental. The history of the Fae, the Order and the Elementals are what make this story unique. I just wish that the characters were fleshed out fuller and better executed, especially Rayla. The book was easy to read and it kept my attention but because of the characters, I can only give this book three stars.

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