Mindy Hayes

I don’t usually like contemporary books but I love Mindy Hayes. I will read anything she writes because her writing is always so beautiful and emotional.

Sawyer’s life is utterly heartbreaking and while some readers might be annoyed with the way she handles it all, I found her reactions to be very human. There were many times throughout the book I felt her grief pour from the pages. Losing a significant other at such a young age would be crippling even for the strongest of people. While show more seeking solace in Willowhaven, Sawyer finds out that Dean is also back. Dean was her first love and left a gaping whole in Sawyer’s heart the first time he walked out of her life.

Dean as a character is quite flawed. He isn’t always your knight in shining armor type of character and a lot of times doesn’t do the right thing. But I find these types of characters more life-like. Sawyer and Dean’s stories will keep you reading past your bed time and walking around the next day like a zombie.

This tale of first love will leave you both clutching your heart and wearing a reminiscent smile. There is not one person that doesn’t remember their first love and those feelings! I would recommend this book to all my adult YA readers and for the mature teenagers. show less

Ahh Mindy Hayes, I love this girl. She has taken the fairy scene and given it back some life. I had gotten so sick of the fairy stories out there that I nearly gave up on them. I won’t name names because that is not my personality but DANG I am so glad that I came across Kaleidoscope. It will always hold a special place in my heart because it was my first real indie book! I read the first book in one car ride and completely neglected my husband the whole time.

Ember is a strong second book show more in the trilogy. Mindy has such whimsical beautiful story telling capabilities that you are pulled into Faylinn the minute you begin the book. Calliope has a lot of adjusting to do upon accepting her position as queen. Her coronation nearly brought me to tears, the imagery was just so beautiful. Of course, being queen isn’t all its cracked up to be! Calliope struggles with the her new duties and uncovers some old rules about being queen that does not make her or me happy. I just want a happy ending with Kai gosh dang it!

I would recommend this to all YA fiction readers or for anyone looking to discover an enchanting new world. This series is on the top of my list for my 2013 reads!

Mindy Hayes has become one of my favorite authors of 2013. She just released a more contemporary book and I will be starting that soon! show less

Luminary is the end to something completely magical to me for a lot of reasons. It was a completely beautiful ending to one of the best fairy series out there. Kaleidoscope was also the first indie book that I ever read. I stumbled upon Mindy’s blog in late May of 2013 while researching Vlogs. I watched her Vlog and thought I want to read her writing. Just to my luck she was giving away a copy of Kaleidoscope. I read it in ONE car ride on the way to see my newborn nephew. Mindy does show more fairies the right away, there are a lot out books out there that don’t.

Luminary made me cry, hate Mindy Hayes, and then smile. Kai is still his stubborn but completely lovable self and Calliope is still wonderful and completely selfless queen. There are a lot of things going on in this last book and it it will definitely keep you reading well into the night. It is so much easier to picture the setting and be passionate about the characters because of Mindy’s writing. Luminary was the best book in this series but I will always crave more from the Faylinn world.
I am going to warn all the readers with soft hearts, there are a lot of deaths in this book! I was forewarned by Mindy so I was able to process the deaths a little easier but it was still hard. She made me fall in love with characters that I started out hating. Now that is darn good character development.

Original Post: http://thepassionatebookworms.com/?s=luminary show less

The faylinn series is one of my favorites! The covers are beautiful! The main character throughout 1-3 is from Walhalla, SC. I love novels that have a setting in SC. The story of Calliope’s transformation from human to faery and the transition from the human world to Faylinn is exciting! Especially as she learns to take on her new role. I love the different perspectives that take place in the 3-5 novels. I enjoy being able to follow the story from others' points of view. Maybe on my next show more reread of this series, I will review each book individually. show less