Crescendo by Rachel Haimowitz

4 Stars

Song of the Fallen - Book 2

I've had this in my TBR pile forever it seems and I wonder why? I loved the first book - Counterpoint - a lot, but for some reason I never got around to reading this one. I shouldn't have waited so long. Why? First off, because I enjoyed it, but secondly, because it follows right on the heels of the first novel (they could really be two halves of a whole epic brick of a fantasy novel) and I had forgotten many of the little bits and bobs of the plot that would have been nice to remember reading this one.

As I said, I enjoyed this one a lot. An epic fantasy, elves, dark creatures, big battles, intimate fights, slaves and magic songs, at the heart of it is the love story between Freyrik and Ayden, man and elf. I liked that the love story, while being very very important, didn't overshadow the plot of the book, but was like one half of the whole.

I did get the feeling, however, that near the end, the author just wanted to be finished with the story. It felt a little rushed. I would have liked more of Rik with the elves and how that bridge got built. I'd have liked to see it instead of just being told about it. I would also like to have seen more of some of the secondary characters, especially the some of the elves that we only really get to meet near the end of the book. And I would also have like more depth to the solving of the problem of the 'dark elves'.

But, I did like it a lot. :)

Counterpoint by Rachel Haimowitz

4 STARS

Song of the Fallen - Book 1

I love it when two of my favorite genres, fantasy and romance come together successfully. (Especially written by an author I've come to really enjoy.) 

In Counterpoint, that's exactly what happens. 

I had a few nitpicks - I wasn't quite clear how Ella was able to get by so easily, I had a tough time getting a visual in my head for both Ayden and Freyrik (probably more my fault than the author's), and I found myself wondering a lot about Kona. But, all this is small potatoes, really. :)

The elf and the human falling in love, we see it a lot in fantasy. When it's done badly, it's BAD, when it's well done, it's the story of Ayden and Rik. The emotions take their time to develop, they're questioned and studied by the characters involved and in the end, you believe it because it seemed so damned natural. 

Another thing that was so well done was the epic battle scene. It flowed, it was detailed, you could hear and smell the battle. The author obviously did her homework because it worked perfectly!

My only real complaint is the cliffhanger at the end. I knew this was the first of a series, but the ending totally caught me off guard. I'm not a huge fan of the dum-dum-duuuum endings, preferring a resolution to the current storyline with the hint, the suspicion, the feeling that something else is coming. Your mileage may vary. :)

Anyway, I loved it and am looking forward to reading Crescendo, book 2 of the series. If fantasy and romance turns your crank, I can highly recommend Counterpoint.