Lavender is a guarded and reserved young girl who loves to explore and doesn’t want to be held back my anything like marriage. Unfortunately, her father Remy, arranges for her to be married to Erkin, the bumbling smith’s apprentice. Lavender is determined to never live a life like her mother where she is nothing more than an apathetic servant. Erkin, in a bid to befriend Lavender, takes her on a forest excursion. Lavender soon finds herself lost in a Faerie world where she is taken on wild adventures that gives her the inspiration and strength to save her mother and herself. As she struggles to fight for the things she cherishes, she is caught in a desperate fight to save her village. But she may not end up being the hero readers expect her to be.

Lavender has a captivating story arc. It has a strong Alice in Wonderland feel to it, although this story has a lot more twists and turns. The plot was the strongest element of the story. Lavender was able to simultaneously balance two worlds, the real world and the Faerie world and combine those worlds in unexpected ways. The plot is developed in such a way that it keeps the reader engaged as they are trying to balance the worlds just as Lavender is.

The characters, particularly Lavender, Erkin, and Kerren, are complex and interesting. The in depth development of the characters combined with the emotional roller coaster Lavender is on makes for an interesting read. Sophie Welsh does a fantastic job of capturing the passion and despair of the characters. There are so many secrets in the story that Lavender is trying to balance that kept me intrigued. She devises a plan to save her mother and also finds that she is more like the Faeries then she thought. Was she going to be able to keep things a secret?

While the duality of the worlds was interesting, the logistics of the Faerie world was hard to understand. The story mentions that Lavender becomes smaller, yet the Faeries themselves call her a giant. The story left a lot of things unanswered and I kept asking myself; how does Lavender interact with the Faeries, how does Lavender enter the Faerie world, how does she get out of it? Why does Lavender “sprout”? Is she a Faerie or was she exposed to something? Is this somehow tied to her mother, whose past we never fully know? The book only suggests that Lavender’s mother Kerren may be somehow tied up with this.

All these points are frustrating only because other things in the novel are clearly explained and I begged to know more. I’m hoping that all the loose ends are cleared up in future works as the world that is created is fascinating. While the novel was enthralling and detailed, the loose ends make the ending bland. Readers will celebrate Lavender’s mother Kerren’s final moment of triumph as she emotionally breaks free, but I feel that it is muted because instead of a resolution, it’s more of a hint, which left me wanting more. Which I suppose is a great tactic because when you have such a fascinating world coupled with unanswered questions, it leaves me asking: Where is the next book?

Pages: 488 | ASIN: B011ZJOA46